The latest comes from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claimed on Twitter that the camera lenses on the iPhone 14 “likely suffered from coating-crack quality issues.” This comes on the heels of Kuo reporting display panel and memory supply issues last week, but it doesn’t look like iPhone 14 hopefuls have too much to worry about (via 9to5Mac).
Don’t crack up
The camera coating cracking conundrum is limited to a single supplier according to Kuo, so Apple has redirected the order to an alternate supplier and if the analysts’ sources are correct this won’t impact iPhone 14 launch supply. However, as I mentioned at the outset, this isn’t the only potential supply chain problem that the iPhone 14 is facing, so the volume of shipments at launch could still be constrained. This may be compounded by increased orders for the iPhone 14 after a relatively modest update last year and rumors of the lineup change for this year adding an iPhone 14 Max, which would mark the first time the standard model has been available with a larger display. Given the perceived tepid reaction to the iPhone mini, it’s safe to assume that an iPhone 14 Max will likely outperform it in sales. If the rumors hold up we should also see the end of the notch as Apple moves to a pill + hole front-facing camera design, closer to what we’ve seen from Android flagships in recent years. And lest iPhone Pro fans feel left out, you may be getting a 48MP primary camera and the Pro models may also be the only ones to receive the A16 Bionic processor, with the standard iPhones allegedly holding on to the A15 Bionic. As always the rumor mill starts churning faster and faster as we get closer to the launch, so we’ll keep you up to date on all of the latest right up to the expected launch in September.
