A standout feature of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max is reportedly causing assembly problems. The high-end models Apple will launch in autumn 2023 are expected to have the thinnest screen bezels of any handset, but that’s apparently making the panels harder than usual to produce.
If true, this could lower the supply of the iOS devices when they launch.
iPhone 15 Pro Max might be hard to get this autumn
The iPhone 15 series is still a couple of months away — the smart money is on a September debut — but many of the details have leaked out already. One of these is that the two Pro models will squeeze slightly larger displays into chassis of the same size.
Supposedly using record-breakingly thin bezels, the two premier handsets will have screens that are either 6.2 inches or 6.8 inches, depending on the model. That’s up a tenth of an inch for each.
But a high number of these display panels made by LG “using a new manufacturing process” are failing reliability tests during assembly, according to The Information.
This is reportedly not a crisis. “Apple is repeatedly tweaking the design of LG’s display so that it can pass the tests,” The Information reports. And the problem was identified while Foxconn is still in a preliminary stage of assembly of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. In addition, Samsung also makes display panels for the handsets and these are not affected.
The result is that the two new high-end Pro models might be hard to get this autumn, but Apple isn’t expected to delay the launch.
More to look forward to
Somewhat larger displays aren’t the only improvements allegedly coming to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. They’ll have USB-C ports in place of Lightning, for example. And they’ll be the debut of an Apple A17 chip made with a cutting-edge 3nm process. The Pro Max might feature a periscope lens for better telephoto performance.
But these details are all unconfirmed — we’ll have to standby until September to know for sure.
