Apple is conducting early manufacturing of the iPhone 17 — the purported successor to the iPhone 16 that was launched earlier this yr — at a manufacturing facility in India, in line with a report. It’s anticipated to be the primary time that the Cupertino firm is conducting its product improvement exterior China. Over the previous few years, Apple has been engaged on diversifying its provide chain by producing current smartphone fashions in areas like India and Vietnam, however it stays depending on China for many of its manufacturing.

Citing two individuals conscious of the corporate’s plans, The Info reports (via 9to5Mac) that Apple is conducting early manufacturing work, or the method of turning an early design developed at Apple Park right into a industrial product, at an unspecified manufacturing facility in India. As a part of this course of, referred to as new product introduction (or NPI), Apple exams gear and processes to include new {hardware} upgrades (or new designs) forward of mass manufacturing.

This improvement is according to TF Securities Worldwide analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s prediction in November 2023. On the time, Kuo had claimed that Apple would start the early improvement of the iPhone 17 — anticipated to reach within the second half of 2025 — in India as a substitute of China. 

Whereas Apple has been producing current iPhone fashions in India and different international locations, the choice to begin early manufacturing of the iPhone 17 in India is important due to the complexity concerned within the course of. The corporate often conducts its NPI for upcoming merchandise in China, between October and Could, in line with the publication.

Apple’s determination to diversify its provide chain exterior China began earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic, and the corporate began to assemble its handsets in India beginning with the iPhone SE in 2017. Again in 2022, the iPhone 14 sequence manufacturing in China briefly took successful, following a pandemic-related shutdown at a Foxconn plant in China. The corporate additionally reportedly started producing its Professional fashions within the nation this yr, beginning with the iPhone 16 Professional.