It’s still being suggested that supply chain issues have forced Apple to push the launch of the iPhone Air back to late Q4, though realistically this is unlikely to be the case.
A variety of industry sources have for some time speculated than the 5.5-inch iPhone Air will launch somewhat later in the year than the 4.7-inch iPhone 6. Apple is of course yet to confirm so much as the existence of the devices, let alone when we can expect to see them. However, the general consensus reached is that the larger of the two has prompted a series of supply chain and assembly issues, which in turn forced the Air’s later release date.
But here’s a question – would Apple have ever chosen to launch both iPhones on the same day, were no such obstacles encountered?
The idea of the iPhone Air being held back due to production problems doesn’t make a great deal of sense for two glaring reasons. First of all, analyst have suggested that the thinnest, lightest, largest and most powerful iPhone even created is proving slightly more difficult to put together than the iPhone 6. This is the kind of thing that pretty much any of us could have predicted way ahead of time, so it’s not exactly likely that Apple won’t have expected the Air to hit one or two hiccups along the way.
As such, if they really wanted to get it to the market at the same time as the iPhone 6, they would have gotten busy with the project much earlier.
Secondly, both the iPhone 6 and the Air are tipped to be the biggest-sellers in the history of the iOS device range. Revolutionizing the Smartphone the world is already hooked on, each of the two is likely to have enormous global appeal on its launch day. However, to launch the two on the exact same day would result in inevitable cannibalization of sales in both directions. And assuming the iWatch – aka the iTime – lands around the same timeframe, the resulting rollout would be a rather chaotic and messy one to say the least.
So while it’s as likely today as it ever was that the larger iPhone Air will launch a little later, it’s hard to believe it was ever Apple’s intend to put both devices out at the same time.