Apple's MacBook And iPad Production Plans Allegedly Derailed By Global Chip Shortage

Up until this point, we haven't heard much about how the chip shortage has affected Apple. The company has soldiered on, seemingly unaffected with its iPhone sales. However, a new report from Nikkei claims that that the global chip shortage is starting to catch up with Apple on two of its other critical product lines: iPads and MacBooks.

According to the publication, chips necessary during the final assembly of motherboards used in the MacBooks are in short supply, holding up production. Likewise, iPad production delays are being caused by a lack of both displays and display drivers.

At this point, it is unknown if these production roadblocks concern Apple's existing line of MacBooks and iPads, or if it refers to new, unannounced models. It's widely expected that Apple could announce new iPad Pro models in the coming weeks with mini-LED displays and optional 5G connectivity. Likewise, new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are also on the horizon using Apple Silicon instead of Intel Core processors.

The report indicates that the components shortages aren't currently affecting Apple's cash cow: the iPhone. "Production plans for Apple's iconic iPhones have so far not been affected by the supply shortage, although the supply of some components for the devices is 'quite tight,' according to two sources," said Nikkei.

If you're hopeful that these unprecedented shortages will be coming to an end soon, we've got some unfortunate news for you. "We really don't see an end to this shortage, and things could be even worse, looking ahead to the end of the June quarter, as some smaller tech players could run out of some critical inventories to build their products and need to scale back production," added Wallace Gou, President and CEO of Silicon Motion.

There are even reports that the chip shortage could linger on through the first half of 2022, which is deflating news, to say the least.