iPhone 15 handsets are getting produced in extra-large quantities, says a report from IT Home, thanks to some bold sales estimates.
Mass production for this year's new iPhones has previously been predicted to start in late June, with handsets rolling off the production line in July. IT Home backs this up, while also claiming that Apple's issued a stocking order to its manufacturing partners (suggesting its supply of parts is already running dry) and has recruited two additional assembly companies helping to build the parts and put them all together.
This will hopefully mean we don't see a repeat of last year when the iPhone 14 launched. Until the start of this year, it was very difficult to get the most desirable iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max unless you'd ordered one prior to launch.
Unfortunately, as well as producing more iPhones than usual, we may also see a higher price for the new models than before. A price hike of up to $200 for some models has been rumored, which would make upgrading a trickier decision for many.
Big sales figures are expected
It goes without saying that every iPhone model sells well. But Apple's apparently expecting a bumper year of sales once the iPhone 15 arrives, particularly for the basic iPhone 15 model and the iPhone 15 Pro.
According to figures from Barclays analysts, around 89 million iPhone 15 units could be sold in the first year, rather than the estimated 78 million that the iPhone 14 achieved. If Apple's analysts predict similarly increased numbers, it stands to reason that it would want as much assistance as possible in building the phones prior to their official announcement.
Part of this bump in predicted sales could be because a number of iPhone users have been holding off changing their phone, with a number of interesting rumored upgrades offering more potential draws to smartphone users.
Among the many rumors we've been hearing for the iPhone 15 series, the standout changes to expect appear to be USB-C ports replacing Apple's familiar Lightning connector, 48MP main cameras and Dynamic Island camera cutouts on all models, and a groundbreaking 3nm A17 chipset and new titanium body on the Pro models. Plus we could see Apple's first telephoto camera appear in the iPhone 15 Pro Max for enhanced zoom. None of this is certain until we see Apple say so on stage at the next Apple event though.
