Apple has reportedly started its production phase for the iPhone 15 (and variants).

As with tradition, Apple will undoubtedly release its new models this coming autumn - likely in September - but is said to be starting production trials already. This is to shorten the gap between manufacturing in China (at Hon Hai's Foxconn in Shenzhen) and production facilities in India.

The difference between the two manufacturing locations - according to Economic Daily - is usually six to nine months, with Foxconn handling the main, initial production workload. However, Apple is claimed to be spreading production across other locations more evenly, so wants to bring that gap down to a matter of weeks.

The trial production phase will be followed by mass production in the next few months. It is said that manufacture of the iPhone 15 Pro Max will be trialled first.

Considering the iPhone 15 range is not expected until much later this year, there have been relatively few leaks about it so far. That being said, there has been some speculation over the physical buttons on the Pro versions of the device. They will reportedly be replaced by haptic buttons.

In addition, the new EU directive mandating companies to switch to USB-C will see it adopt the charging format going forward.