Apple's new COO makes his first visit to China after taking office, focusing on the intelligent manufacturing of iPhone 17

Apple COO Sabih Khan and Zhou Qunfei, Chairperson of Lens Technology (Image source: Apple)

During the most critical initial sales period of the iPhone 17 series, Apple CEO Tim Cook led his executive team to China again, attempting to establish new connections with consumers in this important market.

The change in this trip is that there is a new face in the executive team. In July this year, Jeff Williams stepped down as COO, and Sabih Khan, the former senior vice president of operations, succeeded him. In Apple's visit to China in October, Sabih Khan joined for the first time in his new capacity.

Different from Cook's itinerary targeting mass consumers, such as visiting the LABUBU theme exhibition, entering the Douyin live - streaming room for sales promotion, and interacting with important developers like Lilith, Sabih's visits are mainly focused on aspects more related to products and supply chains, such as design, production, manufacturing, and testing.

On October 13th, Sabih Khan first went to Apple's application research laboratory in Shanghai. The laboratory is equipped with a large number of devices for testing the reliability and durability of products. For example, it conducts bending experiments, scratch - resistance experiments, drop experiments, and waterproof experiments under different conditions. Besides testing, the laboratory also uses high - precision CT, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and other equipment for product analysis.

Random drop test equipment (Image source: Jiemian News)

After the release of the iPhone 16 series last year, Apple publicly disclosed some of the reliability and durability experiments. For the newly released iPhone 17 series, Apple has now exposed more verification links during the product R & D period.

The thinnest iPhone Air in Apple's product history underwent a bending experiment on a compression testing machine here. Generally speaking, the peak force of an adult can reach about 20 kilograms. Apple demonstrated on - site that when the stress reached 60 kilograms, the iPhone Air bent slightly, and its appearance could basically return to its original state after recovery.

Apple told Jiemian News reporters that during the product R & D process, the Shanghai application laboratory shares the experimental data collected during testing with the engineering team at the headquarters for simulation experiments and also helps suppliers in China improve their problem - solving abilities.

In addition to various reliability experiments, conducting product analysis based on experimental data to summarize causality is also crucial for Apple's product R & D and production process optimization.

The product analysis laboratory is equipped with high - precision CT equipment. It is reported that this industrial - grade CT equipment can scan objects as large as an iMac and as small as components the size of a fingernail.

Its core task is to investigate internal problems of products through non - destructive perspective technology. For example, after a prototype undergoes a drop test, on the basis that the device can operate normally, in order to investigate potential internal damages that may cause future failures (such as inability to turn on), the team will use a CT scanner to generate two - dimensional X - ray images or generate three - dimensional volume data through 360 - degree rotation and computer - integrated calculation.

These images are at the micron level, and some are only as thick as a hair. The scanning process usually takes several hours or even more than ten hours, but it allows the team to analyze core components such as the motherboard (MLB), battery, and camera inside the device one by one.

Apple gave an example to Jiemian News reporters. Previously, a prototype underwent multiple extreme drop tests during the early prototype development stage. The team found that the screen glass of the prototype was broken and a suspicious foreign object was found on the fracture surface. Through electron microscope images, it was clear that there were significant differences in contrast and morphology between the foreign object and the surrounding glass.

Subsequently, through targeted CT scanning of the specific area (CT technology is sensitive to material density differences), a high - density foreign object inside the glass was identified, and information on the geometric structure of the foreign object and its surrounding environment was obtained. Finally, it provided guidance for optimizing the production process to ensure that the screen glass of subsequent mass - produced iPhone models has higher durability.

Sabih Khan said in an interview with Jiemian News and other media that there are many details in the R & D and testing process of iPhone prototypes that are invisible to the naked eye. Institutions like the application laboratory are needed for professional testing to provide early feedback to the engineering team. From the interaction between the Shanghai application research laboratory, the local Chinese supply chain, and the US engineering team, it also represents how Apple's Chinese and US teams cooperate on intelligent manufacturing.

In addition to the application laboratory, Sabih Khan also visited AAC Technologies' vapor chamber module production factory in Changzhou, Jiangsu, and Lens Technology's iPhone 17 middle frame production line in Taizhou, Jiangsu.

Apple COO Sabih Khan and Pan Zhengmin, Chairperson of AAC Technologies (Image source: Apple)

AAC Technologies has been cooperating with Apple for 17 years. Starting from providing microphones for MacBooks, it now provides various components such as acoustics, motors, and metal structural parts, covering multiple product lines including iPhone, MacBook, and Apple Watch, and participates in the production of the advanced vapor chamber module for the iPhone 17 Pro series - this is also the first time that the iPhone has used a VC vapor chamber.

Pan Zhengmin, Chairperson of AAC Technologies, told Jiemian News reporters that although AAC Technologies started from acoustics, it actually attaches great importance to the vertical integration ability of R & D, manufacturing, and automation. In terms of precision machining, the heat dissipation module is a good example.

Currently, this vapor chamber module production factory has four floors, and the entire process from production, testing to shipment is dedicated to the VC vapor chamber module. Jiemian News reporters learned from AAC Technologies that this factory has now achieved 100% automation in the production process. From raw material input to finished product output, the transfer of intermediate products or materials is also completely carried out by robotic equipment.

In the manufacturing process, taking the key production line "water injection and degassing line" as an example, the production line needs to insert an ultra - fine needle into the water injection pipe to inject ultrapure water into the vapor chamber cavity. In the degassing process, the vapor chamber cavity is degassed and vacuum - treated through processes such as vacuum pumps and heating to ensure heat conduction efficiency. The entire process is automatically completed by machines, and industrial cameras are used during the process to ensure accurate positioning of the process to achieve consistency and stability.

AAC Technologies' iPhone vapor chamber production line (Image source: Apple)

In addition, the thermal performance measurement system and the packaging production line of the vapor chamber are also fully automated. Among them, the automatic online inspection and retesting utilize the hardware performance of Mac Mini and large - scale machine learning models, which significantly reduces the testing time, and the adaptive testing time is shortened by more than half.

In terms of automation, Lens Technology's iPhone 17 middle frame production line has also introduced autonomous mobile robots (AMR) into the CNC precision machining area. Through autonomous intelligent perception and adaptive capabilities, it can achieve active loading and unloading and intelligently schedule tasks according to equipment status and processing progress.

Moreover, an assembly line that Sabih Khan visited at Lens Technology is highly integrated and has achieved a zero - breakpoint assembly process. It includes more than 40 fully automated assembly processes, such as laser welding, dispensing, and locking of precision structural parts. The concept of a "one - line flow" assembly line solves the problems of multiple process breakpoints, semi - finished product accumulation, and low efficiency in traditional assembly processes.

Zhou Qunfei, Chairperson of Lens Technology, mentioned in an interview with Jiemian News and other media that in the cooperation with Apple, the factory itself needs to strengthen R & D to cooperate with the rapid iteration and performance improvement of Apple products. In addition, strengthening the automation level of the production line can shorten the production cycle. "We were just saying on - site that we need to be faster, even faster, because many consumers may be waiting to buy new products."

Lens Technology's iPhone middle frame production line (Image source: Apple)

In terms of automated production and intelligent manufacturing, Apple has long valued the performance of Chinese suppliers, and Sabih Khan is no exception. He told Jiemian News reporters that in his 30 - year tenure at Apple, what impressed him most about Chinese suppliers is their ability to solve problems by all means, which also includes the innovation and implementation capabilities shown in the intelligent manufacturing process.

He gave an example. Just as the VC vapor chamber is an important component of the iPhone 17 Pro, its peak performance can better support gaming scenarios. As seen on the production line, the VC vapor chamber needs to achieve extremely high sealing in the water injection and degassing process, which requires very precise operations with a low tolerance. The automated production line jointly developed by AAC Technologies and Apple has achieved this.

In fact, Sabih is no stranger to the work of these Chinese suppliers. Before becoming COO, he had worked at Apple for 30 years and joined the leadership team in 2019 as the senior vice president of operations. In the past six years, he has been responsible for managing Apple's global supply chain system, ensuring product quality, and overseeing functions such as planning, procurement, production, logistics, and product delivery, as well as the supplier responsibility project.

This article is from Jiemian News, Reporter: Wu Yangyu. Republished by 36Kr with permission.