This question could be ambiguous. It can mean the time it takes to assemble all the parts of an iPhone. Or, it can also mean the time the creators took to create the product, from designing, prototyping, to deploying.
Assembling the phone could take a few hours to a few days. Keep in mind that assembling the iPhone is not like doing it with other electronics.
If it is about new model creation, it could take months to years. The phone makers need to brainstorm ideas, create dozens of demonstration products, design, select the best ones, and do other phases of production.
Creating software also takes months to years. For the latest iPhone users, you are lucky enough to see the matured versions of the apps on your device. It took a decade to make the better versions of the software.
Now, after the model and software are ready, there will be facilities where the workers will assemble the models.
Let’s take an example from the FATP facility in Zhengzhou.
It has over 2.2 square miles of space. There are over 350000 workers who work for $2 per hour. In this facility, the activities revolve around the final assembly, testing, and packing.
According to insiders, it takes around 400 steps to assemble the iPhone. The activities revolve around soldering, polishing, drilling, screwing, and so on.
The particular facility can produce 500,000 iPhones a day, or roughly 350 per minute.
Theoretically, an employee who works in the facility can assemble an iPhone in around 16 hours or more. It takes 160 hours per phone, per employee, to assemble the full product of the iPhone.
To actualize the ideas of the new iPhone, it took 3 to 5 years of process. It started from the research phase, design phase, development phase, and production phase.
The applying party must work with the suppliers of the raw materials, component makers, assembly parties, and conduct a complicated supply chain to prepare for their next iPhone model.
There are many complex things involved in the production of the iPhone smartphone. Right from the concept of the idea to the final outcome of the product. The journey is a steep one.
The company decided to make a new model since the older models are not relevant anymore. But it is also important to know that they have also done a lot of research in the past. So, they don’t have to start it from scratch. They just need to tweak the older model based on the reviews of the past models.
The newer models should be able to overcome the older models’ shortcomings.
