Speculation Targets Mac Pro as First "Made in USA" Mac Product

MacRumors · Dec 9, 2012, 08:42 PM

During his interview with Brian Williams, Tim Cook revealed that Apple is planning on bringing some of its*Mac production back to the United States. Cook did not reveal which of the Mac lines would be part of the $100 million investment, but speculation has named the*Mac Pro as the likely suspect.

Fortune has rounded up all of the current thoughts on why the Mac Pro is the only viable candidate:

Quote:

-A $100 million factory, Dan Luria, a labor economist at Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center told Bloomberg, employs about 200 people and produces about 1 million units per year

-Last year, Apple sold 18 million Macs, including 13.5 million MacBooks and 4.6 million desktops (iMacs, minis and Mac Pros). Only the Mac Pro and mini sell fewer than 1 million per year, and the Mac Pro is considerably heavier and more expensive to ship

-Apple, through a spokesperson and through Tim Cook himself, has already indicated that it will be producing a new Mac Pro in 2013

-Any extra labor costs associated with manufacturing in the U.S. can be more easily absorbed by a $2,500-$3,800 Mac Pro than by a MacBook or an iMac that sell for $1,000 to $1,300.

-Mac Pros are easier to build and customize than any other Apple product

Earlier this year, after a minor update to the Mac Pro was announced at WWDC, Tim Cook confirmed to a fan that new Mac Pros were coming in 2013, which was later reiterated by an Apple spokesman. The 2013 Mac Pro could be the first to carry the "Made in the USA" label, if current speculation is correct.

Article Link: Speculation Targets Mac Pro as First "Made in USA" Mac Product

that1guyy · Dec 9, 2012, 08:44 PM

This is amazing.

Mars478 · Dec 9, 2012, 08:47 PM

Weren't iMacs already being built in the USA?

cmChimera · Dec 9, 2012, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mars478

Weren't iMacs already being built in the USA?

That's what I thought.

brendu · Dec 9, 2012, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmChimera

That's what I thought.

I think some of them were assembled in the USA but not the entire iMac line. I believe this will be the first Mac line that is completely assembled in the USA.

cmChimera · Dec 9, 2012, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brendu

I think some of them were assembled in the USA but not the entire iMac line. I believe this will be the first Mac line that is completely assembled in the USA.

Ah ok, that makes sense.

imageWIS · Dec 10, 2012, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brendu

I think some of them were assembled in the USA but not the entire iMac line. I believe this will be the first Mac line that is completely assembled in the USA.

The original Mac was manufactured in the USA.

----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by brdeveloper

You'll need "Pro" internet bandwidth too.

How many Mac Pro owners really do Pro stuff with it? (being a professional porn watcher doesn't count)

I use Photoshop, Illustrator, and sometimes InDesign on my Macmini with discrete graphics. And that's enough for me. But, if I worked in any kind of video editing, or serious multi-screen graphics work, I would need far more power than the Macmini provides.

oneMadRssn · Dec 9, 2012, 08:50 PM

Think it'll have no optical drive, proprietary SSD, a mobile CPU, and soldered in RAM?

Rudy69 · Dec 9, 2012, 08:51 PM

It makes sense, it's the easiest one to build and also the one they sell the least every year. Perfect product to test a new process

portishead · Dec 9, 2012, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oneMadRssn

Think it'll have no optical drive, proprietary SSD, a mobile CPU, and soldered in RAM?

I'm sure you won't have a ps/2 connector and you won't be able to overclock it either

Lone Deranger · Dec 10, 2012, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oneMadRssn

Think it'll have no optical drive, proprietary SSD, a mobile CPU, and soldered in RAM?

And the access panel on the side, will be affixed with glue.

HarryKNN21 · Dec 10, 2012, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oneMadRssn

Think it'll have no optical drive, proprietary SSD, a mobile CPU, and soldered in RAM?

And Apple can put all these into a slightly-larger-than-Mac-Mini alu. case

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Quote:

Originally Posted by ppdix

Mac Pro is the only REAL Professional Mac. The rest are toys...

So Apple has obviously ignored the REAL professionals

deanbo · Dec 9, 2012, 08:48 PM

Does this mean that they are going to update it?

faroZ06 · Dec 9, 2012, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deanbo

Does this mean that they are going to update it?

This means that they aren't going to update it until the plants are finished.

Asclepio · Dec 9, 2012, 08:48 PM

from $11,499.00

petsounds · Dec 9, 2012, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asclepio

from $11,499.00

I know you're joking, but you must not remember the old Mac days. The Mac IIfx retailed for about $10,000, and that was in early 90's dollars.

tmroper · Dec 10, 2012, 10:31 AM

A new factory all its own, if true, would be great news for the Mac Pro and Apple's future commitment to it. And with talk by the financial press recently of investors getting scared about margins on the smaller products, maybe the Pro will be a star once again.

reden · Dec 10, 2012, 10:37 AM

Ahh, the elusive Mac Pro. Other reasons which if they haven't been mentioned yet could be the size and weight of the product. This is probably the heaviest product Apple has to ship from China. Could be a reason why they also discontinued the 30 inch display.

JesterJJZ · Dec 9, 2012, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asclepio

from $11,499.00

Who cares, just make it. People that use these to make a living don't even look at the pricetag.

HelveticaRoman · Jan 18, 2013, 03:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asclepio

from $11,499.00

Which would translate into GBP14,000 !

puckhead193 · Dec 9, 2012, 08:49 PM

Now the million dollar question, when?

ArtOfWarfare · Dec 9, 2012, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by puckhead193

Now the million dollar question, when?

I think the real million dollar question is how much...?

ChrisA · Dec 10, 2012, 11:21 AM

Can a plant with only 200 people make a million Macs per year? Assume each person works 2,000 hours per year. Then the plant uses 400,000 hours of labor to make 1,000,000 Macs. THat is only about 1/2 hour to build a computer.

Look at the costs. In China that 1/2 hour might cost $2 but in the US it might cost $20. So the net effect is a $18 difference.

I doubt 200 peole can be so productive. It likely tkes several hours per mac Pro. and the 1,000,000 number is not correct.

Umbongo · Dec 11, 2012, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisA

Can a plant with only 200 people make a million Macs per year? Assume each person works 2,000 hours per year. Then the plant uses 400,000 hours of labor to make 1,000,000 Macs. THat is only about 1/2 hour to build a computer.

Look at the costs. In China that 1/2 hour might cost $2 but in the US it might cost $20. So the net effect is a $18 difference.

I doubt 200 peole can be so productive. It likely tkes several hours per mac Pro. and the 1,000,000 number is not correct.

Yeah I don't buy Dan Luria's numbers, but 200 people could certainly produce enough Mac Pros for the North and South American markets, even the whole market outside of Europe. Demand in North America is possibly a 5 figure number these days. I base that on the average price per unit for Apple's desktop sales, Jon Peddie research and analysis, on the workstation market, as well as my own observations consulting in the space.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by faroZ06

I don't think very many non-pros buy Mac Pros. Also, do spreadsheets count? I have a Mac Pro, and I don't use it for pro stuff, but it's a 2008 model that I bought in 2012.

Nor do I. The iMac has replaced a lot of the demand for Mac Pros since it went quad-core. Before October 2009 the Mac Pro was treated a lot better by Apple than after that time. From first to ship with new Intel processors to a long delay and then, well, the 2012 debacle.

toke lahti · 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by faroZ06

They're definitely going to have the optical drive bays and the 3.5" hard drive bays. I think the Mac Pro is the one thing where Apple NEVER sacrifices usability for style, and anyway, the iMac has a 3.5" hard drive (or at least it did in the 2011 model, can't get info about the new design).

First time for everything.
Has any desktop computer maker been concerned how thick it is before?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lancer

So does this mean American's can't build the more complex Apple products?

Nope, complex this are just more expensive to assembly by hand and robots still can't do those as cheap as chinese little hands.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppdix

DVD's will be gone in 2 years... CD's are already obsolete...

You surely don't know that most of music on this planet is still distributed in CD and most of movies in DVD?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mak47

A health issue? Seriously? We get it, you don't like glossy displays. Now please seek help.

You don't know countless researches around the globe that shows that matte screens are better for eyes and that's why some countries have banned glossy monitors from workers using them for full working day?
Care to tell us what you know, if anything?

Dec 9, 2012, 08:44 PM	#2
that1guyy macrumors 6502 Join Date: Nov 2011	This is amazing. __________________ I have a signature!
	5

Dec 9, 2012, 08:47 PM	#3
Mars478 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: NYC, NY	Weren't iMacs already being built in the USA? __________________ MacBook Air 13.3 1.83ghz 2010; iPhone 5 64GB Black ATT; iMac 2.4; iPad Mini 64GB Wifi black/slate; Prototype iPhone 4 "DF3184"
	8

Dec 9, 2012, 08:50 PM	#8
oneMadRssn macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Boston, MA	Think it'll have no optical drive, proprietary SSD, a mobile CPU, and soldered in RAM?
	23

Dec 9, 2012, 08:51 PM	#9
Rudy69 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Mar 2009	It makes sense, it's the easiest one to build and also the one they sell the least every year. Perfect product to test a new process __________________ My Games: Tangled; QuadPong; West Code Studios
	7

Dec 9, 2012, 08:48 PM	#13
deanbo macrumors regular Join Date: May 2003	Yay! Does this mean that they are going to update it?
	1

Dec 9, 2012, 08:48 PM	#15
Asclepio macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jul 2011	from $11,499.00
	38

Dec 10, 2012, 10:31 AM	#17
tmroper macrumors member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Palo Alto	A new factory all its own, if true, would be great news for the Mac Pro and Apple's future commitment to it. And with talk by the financial press recently of investors getting scared about margins on the smaller products, maybe the Pro will be a star once again.
	0

Dec 10, 2012, 10:37 AM	#18
reden macrumors 6502 Join Date: Aug 2006	Ahh, the elusive Mac Pro. Other reasons which if they haven't been mentioned yet could be the size and weight of the product. This is probably the heaviest product Apple has to ship from China. Could be a reason why they also discontinued the 30 inch display.
	1

Dec 9, 2012, 08:49 PM	#21
puckhead193 macrumors 604 Join Date: May 2004 Location: NY	Now the million dollar question, when? __________________ 20" iMac C2D - 2.33GHz, 3 GB ram, ATI X1600 256 MB VRAM 17" MBP i7, 8 GB ram, 500 GB HD @ 7200 - 64 gig iPod Touch 64 GB black Verizon iPhone 5 - Verizon 64 gb iPad 3
	2

Dec 10, 2012, 11:21 AM	#23
ChrisA macrumors G3 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Redondo Beach, California	Can a plant with only 200 people make a million Macs per year? Assume each person works 2,000 hours per year. Then the plant uses 400,000 hours of labor to make 1,000,000 Macs. THat is only about 1/2 hour to build a computer. Look at the costs. In China that 1/2 hour might cost $2 but in the US it might cost $20. So the net effect is a $18 difference. I doubt 200 peole can be so productive. It likely tkes several hours per mac Pro. and the 1,000,000 number is not correct.
	0

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