While there have been several rumours and leaks about the iPhone 8[1], flagship variant of this year's iPhone lineup, now it seems like the device's mass production might be delayed due to supply issues. As per the latest information, the smartphone's mass production might be pushed back by a couple of months as the hardware component upgrades custom-ordered by Apple[2] might pose production barriers for the company.
Well-known Apple analyst KGI Ming-Chi Kuo has said that the cutting-edge hardware upgrades might delay the launch of iPhone 8 but the launch of the regular variants - dubbed iPhone 7S[3] and 7S Plus[4], is expected to happen around same time as usual, as per a report[5] by 9To5Mac. These aforementioned hardware upgrades include an OLED display, Apple's own A11 10-nanometer SoC, 3D sensing cameras, and a redesigned 3D Touch module, as per the report.
Interestingly, the supply shortage for the OLED display variant of the iPhone aka iPhone 8 has been tipped to continue "for a while" even after the launch. As the regular iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus variants have been tipped to sport same design with internal upgrades from their predecessor, KGI expects the phones to appear pale in comparison to some of the recent Android phones with bezel-less design.
The analyst has even revised his estimates to predict that a total of 80-90 million units of the new iPhone models (including iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone 8) will ship in the second half of 2017, down from earlier estimate of 110 million units, as per the report.
Although the highest-end variant is expected to face supply issues, the Cupertino-based company is likely to announce all...