A recent report by analyst Ming-chi Kuo shows that Apple is trying to cut manufacturing costs on the iPhone 12 to offset the costs of adding 5G to the iPhone 12 line.
According to GSMArena, adding sub-6GHz 5G support to the iPhone 12 costs up to $ 85, and adding mmWave can cost up to $ 135.This has forced Apple to find ways to pressure its vendors to reduce parts costs, including using a simpler battery design. In the iPhone 12 lineup.
The iPhone 12 specs for the lower battery are claimed to have a lower layer count and a smaller area, which should help reduce costs by up to 40-50% compared to iPhone 11. It is said that Apple gave up altogether. Hard battery design and soft battery use only for iPhone 12 series. However, this has no effect on the end-user.
Despite the increase in costs due to the addition of 5G to the iPhone 12 line, Apple still wants to keep the price of the product as close to the iPhone 11 series as possible to ensure sales in the context of the global pandemic.
According to a Ming-chi Kuo report, Apple has put pressure onboard suppliers for the AirPods 2, and the part has been 25-35% cheaper since the first half of 2020. Meanwhile, the AirPods 3 project. Ants released in the first half of next year will also reduce production costs. Like the AirPods Pro, the AirPods 3 will switch to an integrated system package (SiP) design instead of a surface mount (SMT) technology like on the AirPods 2.