Mass production activities for the next iPhone, said to consist of the iPhone 7S series and the radically redesigned iPhone 8, have reportedly commenced but release date of the most premium model is unlikely to happen soon. The actual assembly of the iPhone 8 will not start until September 2017, indicating that the device's availability will be delayed.

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From Taiwan, DigiTimes reported "Apple's upstream supply chain has begun mass producing components for the vendor's three next-generation iPhones." However, the same report claimed the arrival of iPhone 8 is likely pushed back in the last quarter of the year as volume production of the handset will only begin middle of September.

The tech giant is supposedly looking to ship out some 55 million units of the 5.8-inch iPhone 8 by the end of 2017 but suppliers can only ramp up on the delivery in the last quarter. As far as the handset is concerned, "production volumes in the third quarter will only be around three million units, judging from the current manufacturing status of the upstream supply chain," DigiTimes reported.

This is in line with the recent forecasts issued by well-known Apple watcher Ming-chi Kuo - that while the three 2017 iPhone models will get introduced in September only the iPhone 7S series will be made available in the immediate weeks to follow. The iPhone 8 will be plagued by production issues and supply shortages that availability could be delayed until October or November 2017, the analyst said.

In the same report, DigiTimes confirmed the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 7S series will be made of reinforced glass chassis and aluminum metal frame. As for the iPhone 8, the device framing is believed to use stainless steel with the same reinforced glass chassis, the report added.

And in a related article, MacRumors pointed to freshly leaked iPhone 8 renders that essentially adhered to rumors of an OLED front display for the device with the Touch ID fingerprint sensor embedded under the glass screen. The same renders likewise suggested the iPhone 8 will jump out of the box rocking dual camera and wireless charging.

As rumored, the next iPhone on release date is expected to be powered by 10-nanometer A11 processor with 3GB of RAM support and iOS 11 running the show. The same specifications apply across the board, meaning the iPhone 7S and iPhone 8 will share nearly the same hardware components.