iPhone 7 worldwide launch day

CNET covers Apple’s iPhone 7 launch at various locations around the world. Even with the news that there would be no iPhone 7 Plus and no iPhone 7’s in Jet Black, there were still plenty of people in line, perhaps hoping against hope that those shortage announcements were not true.

As to the shortages, there seems to be two complementary explanations: One is due to the extra time required to achieve the jet black finish using a technique Jony Ive refers to as “rotational 3D polishing.”

The second issue is apparent supply chain constraints for the iPhone 7 Plus dual camera, which requires more precision and calibration during assembly.