iPhone 14 has 3 times more expensive components than the previous generation

Apple has eliminated a Chinese candidate to choose LG Innotek as a supplier for front-facing camera components for the iPhone 14, along with Japanese company Sharp. Information is paged ET News revealed on May 23.

The reason for the move to change the front camera supply chain comes from Apple’s classification of this component from low-end to high-end. The company announced to its partners on May 22, and LG Innotek began to prepare for mass production of the front camera of the iPhone 14 – the product line is expected to launch in September this year.

According to the original schedule, LG Innotek will supply the front camera for the iPhone 15. Changes may be made after the results of the evaluation of the processing quality of partner factories in China, ET News forecast.

Apple plans to order selfie cameras from Chinese companies and Sharp. The front camera is usually about 1/3 the price of the rear camera. It falls under the low cost category. Meanwhile, Korean partners are mainly involved in supplying cameras for iPhone.

However, everything changed from the iPhone 14 generation. The unit price of the front camera increased due to the requirement for additional functionality, including autofocus. The source confirmed that the price of the front camera of the iPhone 14 is 3 times higher than the old generation.

LG Innotek is a manufacturer of rear cameras for previous generations of iPhones. With new orders from Apple, the supply rate of these two types of components will be similar, and at the same time bring a huge source of revenue for them.

Source of ET News This coincides with an earlier prediction from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. He said all four models, including iPhone 14‌, ‌iPhone 14‌ Max, iPhone 14 Pro and ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ Max, will have an upgraded front-facing camera with autofocus (autofocus) and wide f/1.9 aperture. than the current generation (f/2,2).

A wider aperture will allow more light to pass through the lens and reach the sensor of the front camera on the ‌iPhone 14‌, which improves image quality.

Kuo says these upgrades deliver better depth of field effects for Portrait mode photos and videos, while autofocus can improve focusing during FaceTime and Zoom video calls.