The chip shortage is affecting Apple’s ability to produce enough iPhones

Apple has put good and bad news around iPhone Sales therein Earnings call Thursday: On the one hand, CEO Tim Cook revealed that the company achieved record sales of $85.3 billion in the last quarter, driven by its sales. iPhone 17 and iPhone Air Lineups.

On the other hand, Cook said, Apple left money on the table because it couldn’t meet all the demand for iPhones due to limitations on the chips it needed to make those phones.

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Cook described the demand for new iPhones as “amazing.” But he confessed The world’s largest technology company is dealing with the same supply chain constraints as other technology companies globally, due in part to the massive increase in memory prices caused by shortages and the use of some of these components by Artificial intelligence companies.

Apple is also having trouble finding enough manufacturing capacity for its A and M systems on a chip, which are made by TSMC and Apple, respectively.

RAM prices for Computers and Phones He owns It rose significantly Over the past year, demand for artificial intelligence technology has transformed some of these components into… Data centers. There was an expectation that rising memory prices and shortages of these components could lead to higher prices For computers and For smartphones. There’s no indication yet that Apple will raise iPhone prices due to this shortage, but it’s a possibility.

What does this mean for iPhone customers?

So far, there are no reports of widespread iPhone shortages, at least not yet.

One way Apple plans to handle the massive demand that comes with the annual iPhone launch, according to reports, is to do so Postponing the launch of specific iPhone modelsand will be introduced at least every six months, starting next iPhone 18 generation, or maybe even earlier.

This idea has been reinforced with a new idea Report from Nikkei Asia Which indicates that Apple may launch a new version Foldable phone Later this year, as well as advanced iPhone 18 models, during its push Basic iPhone 18 until 2027 release.

An Apple representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.