The iPhone 12 is reportedly “facing delays of between four weeks and two months” when it comes to full scale production of its four 5G handsets for 2020, a report published Wednesday by Nikkei Asian Review notes.
However, Apple has been “aggressively” trying to reduce these delays which, at one point, could have pushed the new iPhone back to 2021. Suppliers have supposedly been working overtime to reduce a massive wait for this year’s iPhone refresh.
“Some final iPhone assembly could be delayed to early October, and it wouldn’t be surprising if there are further delays because there are still a lot of tests going on now and the final designs have not yet been locked down,” one source told the publication.
The report also notes that Apple’s enthusiasm to stick to its usual iPhone release window may have been behind its eagerness to get employees back to Apple Park. Apple began bringing employees back to Apple Park last month, while many other tech giants were announcing employees would be working from the home for the foreseeable future:
“Part of Apple’s hardware development team returned to the head office last month as the company attempted to expedite the final configuration of the new iPhones and keep as close as possible to the intended September release date, according to another source familiar with the situation.”
How many iPhone 12 units has Apple ordered?
Nikkei also shares some details about Apple’s alleged orders for the new iPhone. It claims that Apple set an “aggressive target” by ordering components for 100 million iPhones earlier this year. But it has now reportedly lowered that to 80 million due to the impact of COVID-19 and its economic effects.
Apple has supposedly placed orders of more than 45 million older iPhone units for the second half of 2020. This is to ensure that there are still iPhones available if any additional delays hit the new 5G iPhone 12 handsets.
