Not even the COVID-19 pandemic
can stop the release of new gadgets during 2020, even if live launch events
have to be set aside for virtual unveilings. That year marked the introduction
of Apple’s iPhone 12 series. As per previous iterations of this smartphone
line, the iPhone 12 had a basic and a Pro edition. One extra model is the
iPhone 12 Mini, with the same hardware as the basic 12 but a smaller OLED
display. Apple conceptualized this as an option for users who prefer smaller
smartphones. Unfortunately they seem to be a disappearing sort, considering how
much Apple has dialed down Mini production.
The Verge tells us that Apple has severely reduced production of
the iPhone 12 Mini version by possibly more than 70 percent, considering the
phone came out with its contemporaries in October of 2020, or four months ago.
While the Mini boasted the same specs as the basic iPhone 12, only in a much
smaller package, Apple failed to consider that the user demand nowadays is for
bigger screens on their smartphones. To hammer home the point, 12 Minis
comprised only 10-15 percent of Apple’s iPhone 12 orders last year. This year
its sales were 5 percent of the total.
The comparable lack of interest
in the iPhone 12 Mini has been so pronounced that some of Apple’s suppliers for
iPhone production have gotten instructions for a temporary halt in making 12
Mini components, instead redirecting the freed-up manufacturing to make more
components for the 12 Pro and Pro Max. Incredibly however, despite the massive
cut on 12 Mini’s production, Apple is still seen to have ramped up making
smartphones this year compared to 2020, with 75 million total smartphones
expected to be made in the first half of 2021.
Aside from the iPhone 12 Mini,
another Apple device that is seeing some production problems (albeit of a
different sort) are two upcoming Silicon MacBooks. They were supposed to start
manufacture sometime in May or June, but have since been rescheduled for 2021’s
second half.
Image courtesy of The Guardian
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