Apple is encountering display issues that could make the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max hard to get when they launch later this year. According to people “with direct knowledge of the issue”, suppliers have been experiencing problems with the new manufacturing process that’s designed to produce much thinner bezels for Apple’s best iPhones – and that means there could be stock shortages at launch.
The report comes via The Information (paywall), and says that Apple’s display partner, LG Display, is encountering similar issues to the ones around the launch of the Apple Watch Series 7 four years ago. That too involved a change of panel size – the Series 7 display increased by 1mm – and production problems ended up delaying shipments by several weeks.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard predictions of delayed iPhone 15 models in recent weeks, but it’s the first time the predictions have come with an explanation of why Apple’s shipping dates may slip.
What’s the problem with the iPhone 15 Pro display?
The problems are reportedly occurring where the display is attached to the metal shell of the iPhone, with multiple units failing reliability tests. The Information’s sources say that Apple is now tweaking the design to get around this issue, and that it also has supplies of displays from Samsung Display that it may use instead.
It appears that despite the problems Apple doesn’t intend to delay the launch of either the iPhone 15 Pro or the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but it seems very likely that you may have to wait a bit longer for delivery of those models. This is quite common with modern smartphone launches – last month we reported on delays and extended delivery times around the Google Pixel Fold – and iPhones have suffered from limited availability before, such as with the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max last year.
I think it’s extremely unlikely that Apple will put back the iPhone 15 launch date this year, because that’s not something Apple likes to do. Instead, I think we’ll probably see a relatively limited stock of Pro and Pro Max models that’ll be snapped up in a heartbeat, with customers who order slightly later being given longer delivery lead times. However it’s still possible that the display issues can be addressed: the iPhone 15 isn’t expected to go into full production until August 2023.
