iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro are going to be Apple's next high-end flagship models and the first ‘Pro' iPhones to be manufactured in India, according to a report by Bloomberg. The publication reports that Foxconn will be responsible for producing these devices in India, beginning just a few weeks after their global launch.
Bloomberg further reports that Foxconn has already started training thousands of employees at its factory in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This accelerated recruitment is aimed at ensuring the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are ready in time for the global launch, which is expected sometime in September.
Apple has already been manufacturing iPhones in India and exporting them globally. However, it has primarily been the standard models, such as the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 15, and iPhone 15 Plus, that have been produced locally.
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Amid rising global tensions between Washington DC and Beijing, Apple has been gradually reducing its reliance on Chinese manufacturing. Over the years, the Cupertino-based giant has expanded its operations and identified India as a key market for both consumers and production. However, until now, China has always been the primary location for manufacturing the iPhone ‘Pro' models.
If Apple successfully produces the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro in India, it would be a significant step towards diversifying its supply chain and would establish Indian manufacturing as a key contributor to its global production.
It will also be interesting to see if this impacts the pricing of the iPhone Pro models in India, which have historically been more expensive compared to prices in other countries like Japan, the US, and the UAE. This could be a definite possibility considering recently, as part of the Indian budget, certain import duty relaxations were extended to companies like Apple, leading to a
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