Apple's supply chain is struggling to build new 13-inch MacBook Pros because of difficulty in manufacturing Retina displays, a new rumor claims.
The details were published on Thursday by the hit-or-miss Taiwanese electronics industry publication DigiTimes. It claimed that shipments of three key forthcoming Apple products — the new MacBook Pro, along with a 7.85-inch iPad and new iMac — were delayed from September to October because of production issues.
In particular, the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display was said to have seen delays because of "weak yields" of its high-resolution screen. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo with KGI Securities, who has a strong track record with predicting Apple product releases, originally said in July that Apple would release a new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro along with a new iMac in September, but those products failed to debut last month.
Kuo said that Apple had originally hoped for the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display to be unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, but the company was unable to do so because of a low yield rate and greater assembly difficulty. Instead, Apple only unveiled a 15-inch version of its redesigned Retina MacBook Pro.
But according to Thursday's report from DigiTimes, Apple's production issues go beyond the new MacBook Pro and also extend to the company's so-called "iPad mini." The publication claimed that Apple's smaller iPad is "suffering low yields for components such as the display and chassis." Unlike the third-generation iPad, the iPad mini is not expected to have a high-resolution Retina display.
Thursday's report also said that while the iPad mini apparently has a chassis with material similar to the full-size 9.7-inch model, the 7.85-inch variety will allegedly have a "design and tactile feel" different from the full-size variety.
DigiTimes bases many of its reports off tips from Asian suppliers, but the publication has a shaky batting average with regards to accurate information on upcoming Apple products. However, the site was the first to report that Apple would adopt in-cell touch panels for its 2012 iPhone model — a prediction that came true with last month's launch of the iPhone 5.