One of the biggest USPs of the upcoming iPhone 12 series is going to be its 5G feature. Unfortunately, that has also pushed up the manufacturing costs significantly, something that Apple is seeking to balance with a simpler battery design, claimed noted analyst Ming Chi Kuo.
As Kuo mentioned in his report, including sub-6 5G will add about $85 to the price while millimeter-wave 5G will make the iPhone 12 costly by $135. One of the ways Apple wants to offset the higher cost is by integrating the battery board having a lesser number of layers while the battery board will also have a smaller area as well.
All of this will reportedly save Apple about 40 – 50 percent compared to what it cost to manufacture the iPhone 11. Apple might also opt for soft board design for the iPhone 12 in 2021 instead of hard boards used in previous gen iPhones, which will further bring down the manufacturing costs.
One of the challenges Apple is facing with the iPhone 12 is to keep the price as close to the iPhone 11 as possible. The company feels any jump in prices for the iPhone 12 will seriously dent its appeal at a time when the world economy is still reeling from the pandemic impact.
Apple could be banking on the new A14 chip that is known to be extremely frugal on battery power to ensure the end-user experience remains the same in spite of the underlying changes in battery hardware. Meanwhile, there have also been reports earlier of Apple not including the power adapter among the iPhone 12 in-box accessories as another means to cut costs.
All of this points to Apple doing all it can to ensure the iPhone 12 is priced within limits and that it can continue with the sales momentum that the iPhone 11 achieved. As it is, the company is forced to defer the launch of the iPhone 12 by a few weeks and is likely to be available only in October against the usual September launch window.
