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mikefla

macrumors 6502
Feb 27, 2011
448
52
Wow! This is progress! But 100% of the parts are still made in China. Oh well...

-Mike

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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
 

Negritude

macrumors 6502
Jul 14, 2011
297
199
Actually, the label originally said, "Assembled in USA by Chinese Immigrants", but they decided it was better to cut it short. :D
 

iMikeT

macrumors 68020
Jul 8, 2006
2,304
1
California
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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IT'S IN MY PANTS!
—Beavis


Only baby batter is made there. ;):D:p
 

tdtran1025

macrumors 6502
Dec 26, 2011
275
0
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

Suspended
Jun 10, 2009
1,641
504
This explains why BTO upgrades are so damn expensive.

Instead of FOXCONN employees you have Americans doing the assembly.
 

Solomani

macrumors 601
Sep 25, 2012
4,785
10,477
Slapfish, North Carolina
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

macrumors 65816
Feb 4, 2011
1,332
2
New York
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

macrumors 601
Sep 25, 2012
4,785
10,477
Slapfish, North Carolina
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

macrumors 6502
Feb 3, 2008
436
208
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

macrumors 6502a
Jan 15, 2007
904
1
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...
 

Nightarchaon

macrumors 65816
Sep 1, 2010
1,393
30
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

macrumors member
Jul 31, 2012
43
0
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

macrumors 65816
Mar 28, 2007
1,451
3
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

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2010
959
201
Assembled in USA; parts made in China :rolleyes:

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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so would the quality be any beter?

Why would it be?

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

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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 :rolleyes:
 

pgiguere1

macrumors 68020
May 28, 2009
2,167
1,200
Montreal, Canada
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.
 
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