Report says Apple sees demand for 5G iPhone 13 line improving next year

At the beginning of this month, Apple reportedly told its suppliers that demand was fading for the iPhone 13 series. Ironically, the problem was that the new models were too successful which forced delivery dates to be pushed back for weeks. The company supposedly cut production of the iPhone by 10 million units in October, hoping to make up the shortfall in 2022.

The wild card here is demand, as without it, those 10 million units that Apple will build next year to make up for the production cut might end up stuck in the sales channel. Apple, though, apparently sees a turnaround coming within months. A report published Tuesday by Digitimes (via Cult of Mac) says that Apple is confident that demand for the iPhone will return in 2022. 

According to the report, Apple plans on building 30% more handsets on a year-over-year basis during the first half of 2022. Overall, the sources cited in the report say that Apple plans to ship 300 million iPhone units next year. If Apple hits this target it would be a greater than 50% hike from the fewer than 200 million units that Apple shipped in the calendar first half of 2020, according to Statista.

It's been rumored that the global chip shortage has forced Apple to cut iPad production by as much as 50% so that certain components like chipsets could be used on higher-margin iPhone units instead. Older iPhone models have also seen production cuts as Apple CEO Tim Cook mentioned during the company's last conference call that older chips are the ones that Apple has had the most problem obtaining.

There will come a time during the first half of next year when consumers will set their sights on the iPhone 14 instead of the current iPhone 13 series. We expect Apple to offer four models once again, but with some changes. We should see Apple release a 6.1-inch iPhone 14, a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max, a 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, and a 6.7-inch iPhone Pro Max. There will be huge differences between the Pro and Non-Pro models in terms of the cameras, features, and battery life.

While Apple traditionally unveils the new iPhone models during the middle of September, leaks, and renders are usually disseminated by tipsters so by the time we get to September, there are usually very few surprises. The iPhone 14 Pro Max has already been leaked thanks to a render published by tipster Jon Prosser. The render revealed that the rear cameras could be flush with the rear panel eliminating the camera bump.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max could be the lone model not to sport the notch in favor of a punch-hole camera while the non-Pro models will keep the notch and the old-school 60Hz refresh rate. Resembling the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s, the upcoming units will have a stainless steel strip frame and round volume buttons will adorn the left side of the device. To keep the resemblance down to the last detail, Apple will need to include "+" and "-" markings on the up and down volume buttons, respectively.

Even if the look of the iPhone 14 series has been leaked, there still might be enough questions to make the unveiling interesting, assuming that we don't find out in a future leak next year. For example, Apple is reportedly weighing the use of a 48MP primary camera for the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and a periscope-based telephoto camera that would deliver 4-5x optical zoom has also been rumored.

Apple hiked battery capacity sharply on the 2021 models, especially with the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Will we see another sharp hike in battery capacity for the 2022 models? Apple discovered this year that larger battery capacity can help sell the iPhone.