Some New iMacs Are Assembled in the USA

[janderson0719]

Ok...

[mikefla]

Wow! This is progress! But 100% of the parts are still made in China. Oh well...

-Mike

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Originally Posted by Chuck-Norris

so would the quality be any beter?

Well it should be. But if it's assembled like they assemble cars like Honda's and Hyundai then no just let me make and assemble it in China.


-Mike

[Dagless]

Originally Posted by Prost264

Lead story on the world news.

How would it benefit the rest of the world? (Or is World News the name of a news channel/paper?)

[Verbatim Cookie]

Originally Posted by rnizlek

I wonder where their factory is.

IT'S IN MY PANTS!
—Beavis

[mrsir2009]

Originally Posted by wordoflife

I doubt it's because of that. Without giving any thought into it, I think they just switched the "China" in "Assembled in China" to USA.

Yes - Perhaps they just wanted to keep all of the other words in the same place, only having to change the China to USA.

[Negritude]

Actually, the label originally said, "Assembled in USA by Chinese Immigrants", but they decided it was better to cut it short.

[dumb terminal]

Originally Posted by rnizlek

I wonder where their factory is.

I know Macs were at one point assembled in Fremont, CA, but I'm not sure if they still operate that facility.

The good ol' days..when Macs were made in this country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk306ZkNOuc

[iMikeT]

Originally Posted by DaveN

I just checked my 2009 20" iMac and it too has the Assembled in USA stamp on it. The only thing BTO in it is the hard drive option but really, with the limited options, is any iMac really BTO?

Limited is rather subjective. I suppose it would depend on which model you want. The higher-end models will of course offer more BTO options. I think Apple considers BTO any kind of change a customer makes to their machine at the time of order, including any combination of CPU, GPU, RAM, or Disk Drive (which are really the only major components that matter to most users and what Apple offers by default).

I ordered my iMac with the CPU and GPU maxed out, components that I can't get to easily. I would have ordered a SSD with my iMac but I couldn't justify the price per gigabyte ratio at the time I ordered it. When it came to RAM, I performed the upgrade myself.

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Originally Posted by Verbatim Cookie

IT'S IN MY PANTS!
—Beavis

Only baby batter is made there.

[devman]

Originally Posted by palmerc2

They're assembled by the Senior Execs in their spare time, right at HQ.

Yep. It's Forstall's new job during his transition time...

[tdtran1025]

False hope! It's just faster fulfillment strategy and some tax credit. All the labor intensive work is done in China. Do 't think twice when it comes to profit and loss with Apple; they will maximize the margin.

[Hexley]

This explains why BTO upgrades are so damn expensive.

Instead of FOXCONN employees you have Americans doing the assembly.

[Exotic-Car Man]

Originally Posted by Chuck-Norris

so would the quality be any beter?

If it's the same quality of spelling, I sure hope not!

In all seriousness, we'll have to see if more non-BTO iMacs roll out with this tag on them. It'd be fantastic to see more of this!

[Solomani]

Originally Posted by Prost264

Not that Apple needs any publicity, but could you imagine if they announced that they were shifting just some of their production to the United States.

Lead story on the world news.

The "pro-American Made in the USA" publicity would only be good for Apple IF a significant percentage of their products were actually assembled in the USA. However, it seems that since this is only limited to BTO iMacs, that is a very small percentage of their goods, and thus the Biased Media will absolutely crucify Apple on this by making headline Tech News stating: "Apple only assembles less than 2% of their total products in their home country. The other 98% is built in Communist China! Shame on Apple, how unpatriotic! Apple is heading to failure just like DELL and HP and all the outsourcing Devils!"

In summary: Apple should not even mention this or should not even respond to these rumors (of products assembled in the USA) at all. It can only backfire on them at this point.


P.S. -- did I mention that I just ordered a BTO iMac 2012?

[mohsy90]

They probably just printed it to make the news and give the image that they still or are starting to make products in the usa.

[Solomani]

Originally Posted by dumb terminal

I know Macs were at one point assembled in Fremont, CA, but I'm not sure if they still operate that facility.

The good ol' days..when Macs were made in this country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk306ZkNOuc

My PowerBook G3 from the late 1990s (ancient relic, but it still works) states that is was assembled in California, with some components labeled "Manufactured in China".

[Moriarty]

Would be interesting to see exactly how much of this USA assembly is being done.

My guess is they are having to do some USA assembly due to the new friction-stir welding process. Once they have production running smoothly in China we may stop seeing this.

The factories will no doubt adhere to the same quality control standards, so there will be no appreciable difference there.

[foidulus]

They are doing it because it's cheaper, that's all. Even though the iMac has slimmed down quite a bit, the 27" is still about 10kg(about 5 15" retina Mbps) and is quite large, shipping them by air from China would be prohibitively expensive. Which is why they build btos in the US, the stock configs arrive by boat from China since the lead time isn't nearly as important.

Of course another effect of this is that Apple can claim they are a greener company since they are reducing emissions outputted during shipping, but...

[roland.g]

My 2011 27" iMac was made in the USA and was a built to order.

[Nightarchaon]

To use that legally all the need to do is have someone tighten a screw when it arrives from china,

There was a similar "claim" for cars in the UK, it turned out however that it was literally just putting the tyres, fuel filler caps and wiper blades on (all shipped with the cars from china) was enough to legal claim "assembled in the UK"

I suspect that apple get the iMacs shipped from china with the screen not glued down, have a final inspection in the USA to check they work, then are glued down, thus "Assembled in the USA"

[Ecofriend]

Perhaps this is only temporary. If apple usually only produces customized iMacs in the us, it is likely that they simply called the customized factory to assemble standard models to alleviate launch time back orders. If this is the case, we will see iMacs being shipped to people saying assembled in china soon enough. Well just have to wait and see.

[G4DP]

Originally Posted by rnizlek

Wow, I wonder how widespread this is. This is great news, great to see Apple bringing back some manufacturing domestically. I wonder where their factory is.

They don't manufacture anything. Assembly and manufacture are two completely different things.

Widespread? It'll be the highest Spec BTO's and that's it. Nothing more. The factory will some small room on an out of town industrial estate.

[Ashin]

Assembled in USA; parts made in China

Just because some American put together the lego does't constitute "Made in America"

Clever wording by Apple, that's about it

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Originally Posted by Chuck-Norris

so would the quality be any beter?

Why would it be?

Same parts, just shipped to the USA to be assembled by someone "custom"

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Originally Posted by wordoflife

Swedish imac, if anyone noticed...

Nice catch.

Made in China
Assembled in USA
Shipped to Sweden

Seems like an awful waste of resources to ship all that stuff around the globe

[ineedamac]

Originally Posted by dbassett

Would love to see more of this. Better yet, how about some components of the iPhone being made here... One can dream.

I thought the glass was made in Kentucky by Corning at one time?

[pgiguere1]

Originally Posted by Nightarchaon

To use that legally all the need to do is have someone tighten a screw when it arrives from china,

That's not true. Read this:
http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus03-complying-made-usa-standard#Assembled%20in%20U.S.A.

A product that includes foreign components may be called “Assembled in USA” without qualification when its principal assembly takes place in the U.S. and the assembly is substantial. For the “assembly” claim to be valid, the product’s last “substantial transformation” also should have occurred in the U.S. That’s why a “screwdriver” assembly in the U.S. of foreign components into a final product at the end of the manufacturing process doesn’t usually qualify for the “Assembled in USA” claim.

Example: A lawn mower, composed of all domestic parts except for the cable sheathing, flywheel, wheel rims and air filter (15 to 20 percent foreign content) is assembled in the U.S. An “Assembled in USA” claim is appropriate.

Example: All the major components of a computer, including the motherboard and hard drive, are imported. The computer’s components then are put together in a simple “screwdriver” operation in the U.S., are not substantially transformed under the Customs Standard, and must be marked with a foreign country of origin. An “Assembled in U.S.” claim without further qualification is deceptive.

[akbarali.ch]

i think it more got to do with controlling leaks, they can do RND here in US and also manufacture small units so leaks are minimum.