iPhone 14 Max production is delayed but that isn’t Apple’s biggest threat

What you need to know

Apple is said to be three weeks behind schedule in terms of iPhone 14 Max production.
It’s thought that Apple could be able to make that up by having people work overtime.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple’s main concern this year won’t be supply, but rather demand.

Apple should be able to get production back on track, but demand is likely to be its biggest issue, says Ming-Chi Kuo.

Ming-Chi Kuo has backed up a previous report suggesting that the new iPhone 14 Max is behind schedule in terms of production, but the analyst also suggests that won’t be Apple’s biggest issue with this year’s launch.

Writing on Twitter, Kuo agreed with a previous report that iPhone 14 Max production is delayed by as many as three weeks thanks to recent factory closures. Shanghai COVID-19 lockdowns have hampered the production of various products, Apple’s iPhone included.

However, Kuo believes that production is “still under control” and that “suppliers can work overtime to catch up” with the previous manufacturing schedule. That would suggest that, come September’s expected launch window, things will be back on track.

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I believe iPhone 14’s challenges will come from the demand side instead of the supply side.

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) May 26, 2022

Kuo then went on to say that he doesn’t expect Apple’s main issue to be supply this year, but rather the level of demand. Ongoing economic uncertainty around the globe could potentially cause the new range of iPhones to be a harder sell than in previous years, causing demand to be lower than anticipated. That, in turn, could of course help with any manufacturing issues Apple may be having come launch time.

Apple is expected to announce four new iPhones later this year; two with 6.1-inch screens and two with displays of 6.7 inches. Each screen size will get a Pro and non-Pro model, with the iPhone 14 Max being the non-Pro 6.7-inch offering. That device is expected to use older Apple silicon — the same as the current iPhone 13 — and sport a notch. The Pro models will ditch the notch for the first time and will surely be the best iPhones Apple has sold to date.