The official release date of iPhone 14 is still a mystery. But some encouraging news from Asia suggests that the fall launch of Apple’s next phone seems to be on the right track.
Specifically, Foxconn – Apple’s main partner for iPhone assembly – reported that it did not suffer any ill effects from the Covid lockdown in China earlier this spring. “The overall impact of the shutdown on Foxconn is quite limited,” Chairman Young Liu said in a report by Nikkei Asia. (opens in a new tab)added that the company’s manufacturing plants were operating at normal levels.
That could be good news for Apple. Upon news of the Covid lockdown, Foxconn had to suspend operations at its Shenzen facilities. As CNBC reported (opens in a new tab), which is exactly where many Apple products, including the iPhone, come together. Any prolonged shutdown could affect Apple’s ability to ship the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models during the usual early fall launch period.
The optimistic report from Foxconn does not guarantee the iPhone 14 will not experience any delays or chip shortages. But it’s an encouraging sign, especially given warnings from Apple earlier this spring that it expected to experience supply constraints in the June quarter. The bad news is a new report. says regular iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max won’t get the fastest new A16 Bionic chip (opens in a new tab); It will apparently be exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro lineup.
Apple told investors that the Covid-19 shutdown and silicon shortages could hit revenue between $4 billion and $8 billion in the three months ending this June. At the time, that shortage mainly affected Apple’s ability to supply Macs and iPads to customers, but the outlook wasn’t encouraging for the iPhone 14’s prospects.
Based on our predictions as well as previous rumors and leaks, the iPhone 14 could be announced on September 13. And the iPhone 14 release date could take place on September 22. 10 days later. Make sure you check our Apple Store coupons page for the latest promo codes.
Last fall, Apple started selling the iPhone 13 on September 24, which is in line with the time when previous iPhones went on sale. However, Apple quickly ran into supply problems, with demand for the iPhone 13 Pro models particularly high. It wasn’t until early this year that Apple had enough inventory to meet demand.
The timing of the iPhone 12 launch isn’t ideal for Apple either. Occurring in the first year of the Covid pandemic, that 2020 launch didn’t happen until October – and after that, only the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro were shipped initially. The other two models won’t go on sale until November of that year.
Obviously, Apple wants to avoid that situation again. It is not yet clear if the supply chain will work in the company’s favor in the launch of the iPhone 14, but the Foxconn report certainly makes us more optimistic that we will see new iPhones sooner in the fall.
