Apple Loop: New iPhone X Problems, No More Macbook Pro, Apple’s Failed iPhone 8 Gamble

Taking a look back at another week of news from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop includes a closer look at Tim Cook’s iPhone 8 gamble, the lack of iPhone X stock for Q4, three big problems with the iPhone X, battery issues in iOS 11 beta 11, no more MacBooks for 2017, Apple’s wireless charging plans, watchOS 4.1 details, and the gift of the App of the Day slot.

Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the very many discussions that have happened around Apple over the last seven days 

The iPhone 8 Gamble Is Not Paying Off

Apple’s iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus handsets are a core part of the iPhone offering in Q4 2017. Perhaps foolishly launched moments before the iPhone X redefined what Apple considered a smartphone to be, the iPhone 8’s retail performance is not matching that of previous launches.

Apple’s big iPhone gamble for 2017 was the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus would maintain the momentum seen in previous iPhone launches as the iPhone X brought new technology to the smartphone space. Between them they would arrest the falling sales of the iPhone and put Tim Cook and his team back in the driving seat of defining the mobile space.

Unfortunately as data piles up, the first part of that gamble - the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus maintaining market share - has failed.

Not Enough iPhone X Stock For Christmas?

Apple will no doubt be hoping that the slow sales of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are because many iPhone fans are waiting for the iPhone X to arrive. In a sense Tim Cook has created the perfect Osborne Effect. The problem with this approach is maintaining the overall iPhone sales volume requires sufficient stock of the iPhone X. And that may not be the case, as Forbes’ Gordon Kelly reports:

In a new report picked up by MacRumors, Kuo reiterates that iPhone X stock will be incredibly limited at launch with just 2-3M units available globally on the launch weekend.

To put this in context the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus hold the opening weekend sales record for iPhones (13 million), so 2-3M simply won't cut it for either Apple’s fans or the company’s bottom line.

The Problems With The iPhone X

Of course that’s not the only problem facing the iPhone X this week. Bloomberg’s Alex Webb and Sam Kim looked in detail at the supply chain problems that have delayed the launch and reduced the potential stock levels. Along with OLED issues, they identify the FaceID sensors and the required yields as the major pain point:

Despite demanding the near impossible, Apple didn’t add extra time to get it right—giving suppliers the typical two-year lead time. The tight schedule underestimated the complexity of making and assembling exceedingly fragile components, said one of the people familiar with the production process. That left suppliers short on time to prepare their factories and explains why the iPhone X is being released a full six weeks later than the iPhone 8, said this person, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss an internal matter. “It’s an aggressive design,” the person said, “and it’s a very aggressive schedule.”

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