One of the main features of Apple’s upcoming iPhone family is support for wireless charging, according to many rumors, and a new report out of Asia seems to add even more fuel to the fire.
According to Digitimes, metal-alloy chassis maker Catcher Technology has smartphones, tablets, and notebooks to thank for its revenue growth. The company intends to rely on the same three product lines for future growth, Catcher chairman Hung Shui-shu said during a shareholders meeting on June 19th.
Hung said that smartphone vendors will adopt metal-alloy chassis that need more sophisticated manufacturing for mid-range and high-end models. The chairman did not comment on rumors that say Catcher won orders for unibody aluminum chassis that will be used in Apple’s 2017 iPhones. The same rumors say that Catcher will assemble glass back covers with the frames, as well.
But Hung did say that the assembly of glass back covers with unibody aluminum frame is “very challenging in terms of manufacturing technology and yield rates.” To meet demands from Apple and others, Catcher completed the construction of a new factory in southern Taiwan, and it’s expanding production capacities at two factories in eastern China.
Earlier reports said that Catcher will provide parts for two of the three iPhones Apple plans to launch this year, the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus. That report seemed to imply the iPhones will have aluminum unibodies, which would make them incompatible with wireless charging. Digitimes’ new report doesn’t mention what iPhone models will get the aluminum chassis, but it seems to imply the iPhone 7s handsets could also support wireless charging, since they’ll have a glass sandwich design similar to the iPhone 8.
It’s unclear at this time whether the iPhone 8 will have an aluminum chassis, as some reports say the metal frame will be made of stainless steel instead.