Apple production issues reportedly causing delays this year

New iPhones are on their way, but they might take longer to get here than we thought

New research that emerged today suggested that Apple's next wave of new iDevices is facing some possibly significant delays.

The expected iPhone 5S, a rumored budget-style cheaper iPhone, and the iPad mini 2 are all facing production issues that are complicating Apple's release schedule, KGI Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo told AppleInsider.

The production issues center largely around an all-new fingerprint sensor that Apple is hoping to include in the next iPhone, as well as new iPad mini 2 and cheaper iPhone design challenges and even iOS 7 hiccups.

Kuo has something of a track record when it comes to Apple predictions, and the analyst's forecasts often turn out accurate.

That pesky fingerprint scanner

Recent rumors have held that Apple is going to introduce a fingerprint scanner in the iPhone 5S, and Kuo's research backed that claim up.

But the analyst reportedly said that Apple is running into technical issues related to materials used under the device's glass display.

The fingerprint scanner could allow for new types of security that will be more difficult to bypass than password-input methods, but Apple is reportedly having trouble perfecting it.

Beyond the hardware, Apple is said to be taking extra time to implement the fingerprint scanning functionality into iOS 7, the expected followup to iOS 6.

Stunted growth

Meanwhile, the cheaper iPhone that's been rumored for months is facing delays due to a slimmer plastic casing that may slow down production, said Kuo.

And the iPad mini 2 is not exempt, with the expected Retina display reportedly causing manufacturing issues for the unannounced iPad mini successor.

It seems like Apple is really stepping things up for its next wave of new products, but as a result, Kuo predicted that Q3 2013 will be a slow quarter for the company, with growth well below the market consensus.

With all the rumors flying around about these upcoming devices, though, things could well pick up going into 2014.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/apple-production-issues-reportedly-causing-delays-this-year-1144094

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