Report: Apple scales down older iPhone chip orders, replacing them with A15

Iphone 13 A15 Facts (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

Apple has reportedly scaled down orders for chips that would be used in older iPhones.
Chip orders for the new iPhone 13 have increased, says DigiTimes.

Apple has reportedly scaled down the number of previous-generation iPhone chips being ordered from TSMC while scaling up orders for the A15 Bionic.

Apple's brand new iPhone 13 lineup uses the A15 Bionic chip, as does the new iPad mini tablet. According to a new paywalled DigiTImes report, Apple is now leaning into its new products and ordering their A15 Bionic chips in great quantities as it tries to keep up with demand. PRedictably, orders for older A14 Bionic chips are slowing.

Apple killed off iPhone 12 Pro Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max during its September iPhone 13 event, both of which used the A14 chips. Apple will also likely expect to sell fewer iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini devices now that they have been superseded by the newer models, reducing the need for chips yet further.

The news comes as Apple continues to battle product shortages, caused in part by a global parts shortage that is causing anything from cars to game consoles to be difficult to get hold of.

Apple announced the iPhone 13 lineup during a streamed event last month, with all four new models going on sale on September 24. Anyone ordering an iPhone 13 now could be waiting weeks to get their hands on one, while the new iPad mini is similarly supply constrained.

The DigiTimes report also notes that Apple's overall 2021 order strategy has not changed for 2021.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

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