Sources: Production of 4.7" iPhone 6 screen to begin in May, 5.5" starting months later
New iPhone 6 screens to enter production as early as May: sources — (Reuters) - Apple Inc suppliers will begin mass producing displays as early as May for the next iPhone, expected to be launched this autumn …
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the annual spring ritual repeating itself: back in April 2011, supplier talks pointed to September production for the next iPhone, and a March 2012 rumor floated a 4.6-inch Retina display that never shipped. What is new in the Reuters report is specificity — a named 4.7-inch panel entering mass production as early as May, per sources, with the 5.5-inch panel trailing by months.
That two-size, staggered-ramp structure is why the story traveled: eight outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Gizmodo and MacRumors picked it up within a day. Both claims remain unconfirmed sourced reporting, but the detail level suggests display suppliers are already being asked to commit capacity against an autumn launch.
First-order effects
- Apple's display suppliers would need to lock in yield-ready 4.7-inch production lines by May, compressing their qualification window ahead of an autumn device launch.
- A months-later start for the 5.5-inch panel means the larger model's volume ramp — and possibly its availability at launch — hinges on yields that are, per the sources, still unproven.
Second-order effects
- Rival handset makers selling large-screen phones would suddenly face Apple competing directly in the big-display segment they have owned while Apple stayed smaller, forcing differentiation on specs other than screen size.
- Component and assembly partners would have to allocate lines across two distinct panel sizes on offset schedules, raising the stakes in the seasonal capacity scramble that precedes every iPhone cycle.
Third-order effects
- If the 4.6-inch-class rumor of 2012 becomes a shipping 4.7- and 5.5-inch pair in 2014, the pattern suggests Apple's screen-size decisions now track where the market has already moved rather than leading it — with supply-chain leaks like this one functioning as the market's early pricing signal.
The trend: Pre-launch iPhone supply-chain reporting is hardening into an annual forecasting industry, and this leak marks Apple's apparent move into the large-screen segment its rivals defined.