We have been hearing contradicting reports about the iPhone 12launch, with some casting doubts on a September release, and others claiming that Apple is determined to push aheaddespite the challenges that have emerged because of the novel coronavirus. The recent rumors have been more optimistic, and joining them is a report that claims the Cupertino giant’s chip manufacturerTSMCis on track to start the volume production of the A14 Bionic.

Earlier Reports Stated That TSMC Will Start 5nm Mass Production for the A14 Bionic From April

Previously, a report had rubbished rumors that claimed that the A14Bionicproduction will be pushed out up to six months beyond expected mass manufacturing. It was alleged that the iPhone maker has already finalized the designof the 5nm A14 and that the production was slated to start soon.

Today’s news is in line with that, and it says production will commence in April. Apparently, TSMC's manufacturing linesare fully booked for the 5nm node despite the COVID-19 outbreak. The A13 Bionicthat’s running inside the iPhone 11 series was made using a 7nm process, and now that the node has been refined further, we can look forward to improved performance and power efficiency.

TSMC is not expected to encounter any substantial bottlenecks in the production process and at most, the production will get pushed to May, according to a previous report. That said, it’s worth noting that we are talking about the A14 Bionic here and not the iPhone 12 itself and its production might still get delayed because of other factors.

However, for now, there seem to be no supply-side constraints. Just recently, two suppliers had apparently negated rumors that said Apple has asked them to postpone the volume production of components by two months. However, there is still a very real chance that the iPhone 12 launch will be delayed, as even though Apple seems to have the supply side factors under control, demand could very well shift this year as the world braces for a pandemic-fueled economic downturn.

News Source: DigiTimes