Nikkei Asia Report: ‘MacBook and iPad Production Delayed as Supply Crunch Hits Apple’

Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li, reporting for Nikkei Asia from Taipei:

Production of some MacBooks and iPads has been postponed due to the global component shortage, Nikkei Asia has learned, in a sign that even Apple, with its massive procurement power, is not immune from the unprecedented supply crunch.

Chip shortages have caused delays in a key step in MacBook production — the mounting of components on printed circuit boards before final assembly — sources briefed on the matter told Nikkei Asia. Some iPad assembly, meanwhile, was postponed because of a shortage of displays and display components, sources said.

As a result of the delay, Apple has pushed back a portion of component orders for the two devices from the first half of this year to the second half, the people said. Industry sources and experts say the delays are a sign that the chip shortage is growing more serious and could impact smaller tech players even more heavily.

No word on which MacBook or iPad models, and Nikkei claims iPhone production hasn’t been affected yet. But, it seems possible that this might explain the fact that Apple hasn’t announced a spring special event yet — all-new iPad Pros are widely anticipated to be coming soon.

★ Thursday, 8 April 2021