The iPhone 12 is one of the most awaited phones of the year. Apple usually releases its flagship phones in the month of September and according to various sources, the release is still being planned around the same time. However, due to the covid-19 outbreak and the whole global workforce going into havoc, some models of the iPhone could launch a little later.
According to Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, Apple began an “online qualification process” for the upcoming iPhone 12. The changes in the process of making the phone – designing, qualification, and many other processes – has reportedly resulted in a delay of one month than planned.
Apple is planning to release four iPhone 12 models this year – a follow up to the iPhone 11, a new compact 5.4” iPhone 12, a regular iPhone 12 with a 5.8” screen, and a larger iPhone 12 Max with a 6.7” screen. It is important to note that these details are hard to verify at the moment and they should be taken with a grain of salt.
However, according to Kuo, the 6.7” iPhone 12 Max due to its complicated design will not go into mass production until October of this year. On the other hand, Kuo reports that the 5.4” iPhone and the 6.1” iPhone will go into mass production in September for the usual release. There is no word on the 5.8” iPhone 12.
Kuo also reports that mmWave supported iPhones will also face a slight delay.
The mmWave iPhone will be pushed back because the design of the antenna in package (AiP) changes in early April. Additionally, the test lab is closed and can’t offer qualification process services. If the pandemic can’t be controlled well until July, then we think that the shipment allocation of mmWave iPhones will decrease to 5–10% from 15–20%.
