If you won’t find the iPhone 15 Pro Max either on Amazon or on the Apple Store and probably not even in stores this Friday, the fault lies with the tetraprismatic lenses that characterize this model for which Apple demanded higher quality than initially expected. This was stated by the usually well-informed analyst Ming Chi Kuo in a note distributed to his clients and also published on Medium.
According to Kuo, the bottleneck that is holding back the availability of the larger iPhone, functional to the 5X zoom, is not only the sustained demand but also this still rare component. It is supplied by Largan Precision which at the moment would not be able to deliver a sufficient quantity due to an increase in the quality specifications of the product ordered by Apple.
To be clearer, Cupertino would have considered the yield of the specimens initially delivered to be inadequate and requested that the yield of the systems be improved. This in fact led to the reduction of production capacity. In practice, Largan Precision would be forced to “throw away” a larger quantity of lenses than it had expected and Apple is finding itself in difficulty for this reason.
This problem is also being reflected in the cost of the component. The price of the single element has increased by 20% due to the increased technical difficulties and this is a serious problem for Largan Precision.
In Ming Chi Kuo’s note it is also anticipated that from next year the tetraprismatic lens will no longer be exclusive to iPhone 16 Pro Max but it will also become a feature of the iPhone 16 Pro.
The fact that Apple demands a high quality of this element and asks that the manufacturer invest meticulously in the yield, it may also affect future availability. Genius, which was supposed to enter the market and offer Apple an alternative to Largan Precision, may not be able to meet this challenge, says Ming Chi Kuo.
