Apple just started shipping its latest iPhone 16 series last month, and the giant is already working on the manufacturing of the next year’s iPhone 17. For the first time ever, Apple shifted to an Indian factory for the early manufacturing of its base iPhone 17 models. According to The Information, Apple’s manufacturing partner Foxconn has started conducting early development of the base iPhone 17 at a factory in Bengaluru, India. This is a new milestone in Apple’s manufacturing efforts in India, which can help reduce the company’s dependence on China in the long run.
The paywalled report mentions that the base model of the iPhone 17 already passed the early development stage. Apple wanted to evaluate and make sure whether India-based engineers could develop iPhone prototypes that match the level and quality of those produced at its California headquarters.
Over the years, Apple has been making all the efforts to diversify its supply chain and reduce its dependence on China. To lower the operating costs and speed up the manufacturing process,
Apple aims to kickstart iPhone development as early as possible in the same regions where final assembly occurs.
The report doesn’t include any features lined up for the iPhone 17 models. Interestingly, the Apple supply chain analyst Jeff Pu has already outlined some features that we might see in next year’s iPhone 17 model. According to him, the vanilla iPhone 17 will feature a 6.1-inch display, A19 chipset, 8GB RAM, an upgraded 24MP front camera, and a dual rear camera with 48MP Fusion and 12MP ultrawide sensor. If this turns out to be legit, the iPhone 17 won’t be a substantial upgrade over the current iPhone 16.
It’s worth knowing this early manufacturing shift only applies to the base iPhone 17 model. Apple is likely to perform early manufacturing and developing of its iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the much-rumored iPhone 17 Slim in China only.
