Yet another production issue runs the risk of delaying the launch of the iPhone 12, and this is all down to the camera.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo published a note later this week stating that the coating on the wide-angle camera of the 5.4- and 6.1-inch iPhone 12 models (the standard variants – not the iPhone 12 Pro series) is cracked at high- hot stress testing. The purpose of this test is to evaluate the reliability of the phone in harsh tropical environments, according to 9to5Mac.
Fortunately, it is possible that Apple was able to get away from this one relatively unscathed; as with so many components, the company uses two suppliers for this part, and the samples supplied by the other company have passed the test without fail.
As a result, this hook in quality assurance can no longer slow down the iPhone 12 than it already has, and Apple might even use this episode as a bargaining chip to negotiate a lower price from the company that supplied the defective units.
A wave of bad iPhone 12 news
The other news surrounding Apple’s next handsets has not been exactly good. First, Apple in a July 30 call confirmed that the iPhone 12 range would miss a September launch by “a few weeks.”
Then, this week, we learned that the smaller notch – one of the most anticipated design features of the phone – may not be in the cards for the final model, based on leaked images of a pre-production display unit from Twitter user Mr. White. (The tweet has since been deleted, but MacRumors still has the photos.)
And finally, just earlier in the morning, we learned that it sounds increasingly likely that the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max will miss out on displays with 120Hz refresh rates, which Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will not dispute.
At the moment, it seems like the camera that the non-Pro models are experiencing does not keep the iPhone 12 out of our hands much longer. In fact, the launch of the iPhone 12 may be delayed, with the two 6.1-inch models in the middle of being offered earlier than the cheapest 5.4-inch iPhone 12 and most expensive 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max arriving later. Here’s hoping Apple can stay on target in the home stretch.
