Apple Delays MacBooks, iPads Amid Component Shortages: Report

Production on the Apple products is reportedly being postponed as the industry faces a shortfall in chips and displays.

Shortages of key components such as chips and displays are forcing Apple to delay the production of some upcoming MacBook laptops and iPad tablets, according to a report.

Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has postponed orders for some components needed to produce the devices, with the orders being pushed to the second half of the year instead of the first half, the report from Nikkei Asia said.

[Related: 5 Things To Know About Apple’s M1 Processor For Mac]

That delay suggests a worsening of the global component shortage, according to the report. While shortages of processors have been impacting the industry for several years, surging demand for laptops and other devices during the COVID-19 pandemic has made supplies even tighter.

Apple’s MacBook delay is the result of the industry’s chip shortages, while the postponing of iPad production is due to the shortfall in displays and components for displays, Nikkei Asia reported.

CRN has reached out to Apple for comment.

The plans for Apple’s iPhone line haven’t been impacted by the shortages thus far, Nikkei Asia reported—but supplies of certain iPhone components is still “quite tight,” sources reportedly told the publication.

The publication did not identify any of the component suppliers whose shortages are reportedly impacting production of the Apple products.

Apple is in the midst of transitioning to its own in-house chips for its Mac line and away from processors made by Intel, which has been grappling with ongoing shortages in recent years. The iPad tablet line already uses Apple-made chips.

In November, Apple debuted the first generation of its in-house, Arm-based processors with the launch of the M1 chip in several Mac models including versions of the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.

According to a previous report from Bloomberg in December, Apple had at one point been preparing to debut the next series of its custom-designed processors in Macs as soon as spring 2021—with performance that could “significantly outpace” the speeds of even the fastest Intel-based PCs.