The CEO of contract manufacturer Wistron, which will be sharing assembly duties of the Apple iPhone 7s Plus this year with Foxconn, made comments today pertaining to some of the features on the 2017 variants of Apple's iconic smartphone. With 2017 representing the tenth anniversary year of the iPhone, Apple is set to launch three different models. Besides the aforementioned iPhone 7s Plus, there will be the 4.7-inch Apple iPhone 7s, and the premium Anniversary model dubbed the Apple iPhone 8.
A render claiming to show off the look of the iPhone 8
Wistron CEO Robert Hwang spoke with reporters following the company's annual stockholder's meeting, and disclosed that the assembly process for this year's iPhone models has not changed much despite the addition of wireless charging to the phones for the first time ever. Testing, though, is a different matter. The addition of wireless charging and the improvement in the iPhone's IP rating to 68 from 67 means that Wistron will have to run assembled units through different testing procedures to make sure everything is copacetic. Raising the degree of the iPhone's waterproof capabilities to match Samsung and LG's 2017 models means that the iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus and iPhone 8 will survive being submerged in nearly 5-feet of water for as long as 30-minutes. That is a 50% improvement from the 3.2-feet that the 2016 iPhone units can be safely submerged to.
Besides assembling the 2017 Apple iPhone 7s Plus in China, the company is producing the 4-inch Apple iPhone SE and Apple iPhone 6 in India. But the Indian plant that churns out Indian made iPhone models for the local market may end up being dead weight. Originally built to help Apple lower costs in India, the Indian government is thinking about changing the tax system at the beginning of next month. The new plan would benefit imports over locally produced goods and that would negatively impact the iPhone models rolling off the assembly line at Wistron's iPhone plant in India.
"Assembly process for the previous generations of [iPhones] have not changed much, though new features like waterproof and wireless charging now require some different testing, and waterproof function will alter the assembly process a bit."-Robert Hwang, CEO, Wistron
Wireless charging and the higher IP68 certification rating will apparently be available on all three 2017 Apple iPhone models. Keep in mind that we probably won't see the trio unveiled until some time in September.
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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