2013 Mac Pro Launch Was 'Postponed' Due Partly to Shortage of 'Made in USA' Screws

[MadDawg2020]

Is there a large demand for a Mac Pro? I'm genuinely curious.

At one point MacPro’s were the go to machines for Video Editors and Designers - they were expandable and they would update them every year to keep up with latest specs. Unfortunately they have not been updated in years and are not upgradable except for ram
- the current line of of MacBook Pro’s paired with the Blackmagic eGPU easily out performs all but a fully maxed out MacPro.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

"When Mr. Melo bought Caldwell in 2002, it was capable of the high-volume production Apple needed. But demand for that had dried up as manufacturing moved to China."

That sums it up. Start with capacity. Move production that supports capacity. Capacity withers. Complain about lack of capacity, or worse, claim it is impossible to (re)build capacity.

Excuse me: Apple was in NO WAY wholly responsible for Caldwell's predicament. They represent but one small fraction of that company's orders.

 

[pinkmind]

Lol, so what are you then?

Make America Great Again!

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

First, build the damn computers using standard off-the-shelf items for things like screws. Second, I thought Mr Tim was so wonderful because he was a supply chain wizard. So, basically, we can't design and we can't manage our suppliers. But, damn, can we MARKET!

By the time the procurement people had gotten the final specs on the screw, a dozen other decisions had already been made, PC boards had been ordered, custom plastic and aluminum parts were molded and milled, et cetera, et CETERA. So, at that point, it was simply impractical to say "Ok, well let's just use this standard screw that is 2 mm longer. Oh, damn, now we can't mount the board adjacent to that one. Well, maybe we can have them all cut-off... And so it goes.

But the ONLY difference here, like SOOOOOOOOO many Apple-bashing stories, is "Because Apple". If you don't think this EXACT same thing goes on hundreds of times each year with a hundred different products by a hundred different manufacturers, you simply have no idea what it is like to product a hardware product. Period.

 

[macduke]

That classism is always going to exist in a capitalistic society. Everyone isn't going to have equal money & wealth. Some people are going to be poor because we value people differently.

And in our modern economy, we are saying "people with an education are worth more than people without" resulting in economic differences between the two.

I know immigrants think this is fine because they are always working to build their next generation by providing them a proper education, instead of themselves.

I'm fine with that to a certain extent because I mostly believe in capitalism (though imperfect, nothing is perfect, a few tweaks could help) but what I don't like is that breaking along lines of color because it keeps the truly brilliant people of color from being able to positively advance society. I want all innovative and intelligent people working on the problems that face humanity, not just the white ones, because all brains matter. When you have a diversity of poor and a diversity of rich then that means things are equal. I don't want all people of color to be rich, and I don't want all all white people to be poor. But when nearly everyone cleaning toilets and nailing roofs are brown and everyone working on artificial intelligence and building spaceships is white, or even black or yellow, it creates a caste system where the browns are the deplorable. It's a psychological thing that begins to box them in. This is just an example but a real possibility. As a white man I've met plenty of dumb white people who get good paying jobs and I just can't understand why or how. I've also gone on mission trips with my old church to build community centers and host basketball camps with actual NBA players in poor native american reservations and met some teens that are truly brilliant but held back by stereotypes and drug problems in their communities. Anyway, just my point of view. Lots of people are forgotten about by our society because they don't look successful on the outside. That was my point.

 

[Glockworkorange]

What makes you think your theories override actual confirmed cases throughout the country of employers being unable to find laborers?

Why do YOU think rural workers aren't going to where the jobs are?

Okay. Later this evening I will pull the articles re: out of work, low skilled workers in the midwest turning to opioids or just giving up on the job market because they aren't suited for much more than unskilled work.

I will make sure I post it RIGHT HERE.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

More than likely, they were of a type of screw head that most users would not have tools to fit in order to prevent self-service. We had an original Apple Cinema 23" display fail recently. Taking it apart was trivial, and replacing the inverter board a simple task to restore it to operating condition. Try something like that with one of Apple's more recent devices.

Never seen Apple use a fastener with a truly proprietary head. That is, one that you couldn't find a driver for in less than 10 minutes.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/tools/g2809/11-strange-screws/
[doublepost=1548714253][/doublepost]

This is a perfect example of why Apple's arrogance (demanding custom screws) drives the cost of their products sky high. You can't tell me that across the entire planet Apple could not have found a single "standard" screw that would have worked.

1. Nearly every product on the planet, and especially one as tightly-specced as the 2013 Mac Pro, has custom fasteners. Get over it.

2. Apple didn't initially look "across the entire planet"; they wanted to source the screw locally (from a U.S. manufacturer). They WERE able to source the screw from China; they just didn't want to do that initially.

 

[Hank Carter]

Perhaps trying to mass produce a product using custom screws wasn't very smart.

But, but, but look at how thin they are....

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

What tosh! There must be hundreds of shops that routinely turn out aerospace-grade screws. They probably couldn’t be arse’ed to put up with overspecification from Apple and no doubt crazy-low price demands.

Name three.
[doublepost=1548714696][/doublepost]

Please. There's hundreds of companies in America that can make screws. Apple needs to try harder.

Wrong.

There are perhaps hundreds of companies that DISTRIBUTE screws. But in 2019, (or even back in 2013), there weren't that many that could meet the requirements.

 

[rjp1]

Actually America is having harder times filling higher end jobs IE: engineering type positions.

Hence the waves of work visas from many countries. Specifically India.

That is companies taking advantage of H1B visas. They intentionally create requirements to not find a US citizen to hire since they can import a slave.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

Guess where college applicants come from.

High school?

 

[monster620ie]

I
[doublepost=1548721183][/doublepost]It is BS. Pretend like you tried to scout in the USA when all the time they want to send the job to China.
It is like the offshoring going in corporate world. They pretend like they couldnt find local employees, but the whole time, they are intent on sending the job to India. Horrible Indian so called managers, feed the directors that they can get them cheap labour offshore and they get themselves kickback in bonus etc.
It is the same thing with Apple and many companies in USA. What a shame! I am not even an American living in America and can see it.

 

[dogslobber]

Haven't Apple ever heard of eBay?

 

[ipedro]

After 6 years, a major redesign is delayed due to screws?
What a pathetic lame excuse.

It clearly shows that Apple does NOT care about the Pro community whatsoever.

Imagine if they come in and next September they announce that the next iPhone 11 is delayed due to screws...

You either can’t read or you’re so anxious to lay out your predetermined opinion that “Apple does NOT care about the Pro community whatsoever” that you skipped reading the article entirely.

Go read the article. I’m not going to spoil it for you.

 

[vladi]

If you believe that there are no manufacturing capabilities turning in any kind of screw you desire in US I really don't know what to tell you. Should they've said they needed 200,000,000 custom screws I would probably believe them that manufacturing could be tight. Most likely it's Apple not wanting to pay US screw manufacturing prices.

 

[sirozha]

China can make many more screws than we can especially after the "One Family One Child" law was repealed a few years ago.

I think what he means is, and I agree, they way capitalism work, if you want to keep your nation healthy and rich as it was in the past, you can't expect to do it without continuous innovation. The wold economy landscape has changed, it's changing and it will keep changing. U.S.A. have become a global power (among other less noble reasons) because they build cars when other countries still earned their living with agriculture, and computers when other countries still earned their living building cars (that is just an example, obviously).

Study a bit the history of economy and capitalism, look outside of your country to see which other western countries had and keep having a good economy today, and what measures they have taken to maintain their status and you will see it's true.

That there are all those millennials that would work in manufacturing while your nation offer so many better alternatives, better in term of salaries, quality of life etc., it's part of the problem. And that's something China understands very well, Europe universities are full of Chinese scientist and researchers in any discipline, with their salaries founded by the Chinese government and institutions, because they know they can't rely on manufacturing forever. If your country strategy is to go back to manufacturing, prepare to become a Chinese colony in the future.

Where do you live?

There's an entire country between the West Coast and the East Coast.
[doublepost=1548732938][/doublepost]

No, there aren't.

This is confirmed by employers around the country finding it impossible to fill their labor jobs.

********. There are entire towns and city districts with no jobs. There are NO employers there. They left 30 years ago. These people are also Americans, but you are clearly unaware of their existence. They would LOVE to work in manufacturing that pays livable wages instead of being on welfare their entire lives and living in housing projects.

 

[Gasu E.]

Also, I'm genuinely curious: 28,000 screws in 22 trips? What kind of screws are these? That averages around 1,300 screws per trip. Even if they're BIG screws that run the entire length of the case, you could easily fit 1,300 of them in a small box. Why 22 trips? Didn't that actually add to the expense?

They made 22 trips because Apple needed them as soon as they were made, and the vendor could not churn them out quickly enough. So it went "make a batch, drive them over" repeated 22 times.

 

[acorntoy]

That company delivered 28,000 screws over 22 trips, with its owner Stephen Melo often "making the one-hour drive himself in his Lexus sedan."

Can we at least appreciate this business owners dedication to their business? Thats some effort to keep a customer, and the stress level he was experiencing during those times must have been insane.

 

[bgalakazam]

Inpose tarrifs on Foreign products likenin Europe and things will be made localy. Almost anything in Italy is made in Italy and is cheaper than Chinese crap. Why? Tarrifs. They work.

 

[davester]

Apple needs better supplier scouts, that's all.

Or supplier cubs

 

[[AUT] Thomas]

I just read the article you quoted. It was interesting read. But I’m not sure what the point you were making was. The article explained the nuances and pros/cons of different material choices... and it doesn’t sound like there is a clear/obvious choice to make.

Well, nothing in particular except there's a history of Apple having issues with screws.
Apple really needs to put their focus on quality -and in case of doubt "overkill works" is a good approach. Better to have high end titanium screws for 1 Cents each than breaking ones at 0,05 Cents. Of course, a 20 times difference in price is something that looks huge percentage wise, but it's completely irrelevant on an absolute scale, especially when it affects the reputation and customer experience.

Regarding US production: There's no point in trying to produce these low cost items there. In fact, a screw from China for 0,05 Cents will probably be even better than a 0,075 cents screw from the US, simply because China can produce dirt cheap, and once one is willing to pay a premium on top of that, they'll actually get good quality and still be cheaper than producing in the western world at the lowest cost.

 

[mozumder]

China can make many more screws than we can especially after the "One Family One Child" law was repealed a few years ago.

Where do you live?

There's an entire country between the West Coast and the East Coast.
[doublepost=1548732938][/doublepost]
********. There are entire towns and city districts with no jobs. There are NO employers there. They left 30 years ago. These people are also Americans, but you are clearly unaware of their existence. They would LOVE to work in manufacturing that pays livable wages instead of being on welfare their entire lives and living in housing projects.

Then they should move to the places where there are jobs, but they're choosing not to.

Or are you suggesting that an employer move their strawberry fields to West Virginia? Or perhaps they should build houses in Ohio instead of where there is demand? Maybe the bridge should be built in downtown Columbus instead of over a river where it's needed?

Like I said, employers aren't finding people to fill their manual labor jobs.

 

[ssgbryan]

Then they should move to the places where there are jobs, but they're choosing not to.

Or are you suggesting that an employer move their strawberry fields to West Virginia? Or perhaps they should build houses in Ohio instead of where there is demand? Maybe the bridge should be built in downtown Columbus instead of over a river where it's needed?

Like I said, employers aren't finding people to fill their manual labor jobs.

Employers aren't finding people to fill their manual labor jobs at the price employers are willing to pay.

There - fixed it for ya.

You are going to have a very hard time getting folks to work in the fields for a dollar over minimum wage. Which is what is being advertised in the local paper (yeah rural 'Murika still uses those) where I am at to work in the nurseries.


You might want to look at what it actually costs to move, for starters. Lets review:
I just moved from Texas to Tennessee - that cost me well over $2,000.

Housing - 1st month's rent + Security deposit
Utilities (water, sewage, electric, internet)

That is over $1,000 right there.

60% of Americans can't cover an unprogrammed bill of $400.

Are you really so stupid as to think that folks are going to uproot and move for a job that may not be there 6 months from now? A good chunk of 'Murika is in the Right to Work for Less areas.

I have moved back to Jeebusland to help take care of my elderly mother - another reason people are staying put - eldercare is no damned joke. As you will no doubt get to find out in a couple of decades.

 

[tw1ll]

Name three.
[doublepost=1548714696][/doublepost]
Wrong.

There are perhaps hundreds of companies that DISTRIBUTE screws. But in 2019, (or even back in 2013), there weren't that many that could meet the requirements.

....and on what basis can you state this so authoritatively? Are you associated with the Tools of America perhaps?

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Tim Cook may be many things you don't like; but "stoopid at logistics" ain't one of them.

I believe the article said that the issue was the supply-rate that Apple was requiring.

On the contrary, I like most of what a Cook is doing, though I wish he were doing more of it, and on the Mac. But Apple is not a one-man operation. Cook is no longer sending out RFQs, he’s running the company. However many people work in procurement, managing the supply chain is only one if Tims duties, if at all anymore. Whatever intern was tasked with sourcing their custom machine screws was either exactly as bad at his job as the article reports, or the story is an anachronism.

...I’m not sure how many of you have no idea how things get made at this point, but there’s a lot of ideological hot air blowing around this thread about the capabilities and dedication of Asian and murrican workers that isn’t relevant. This isn’t the 1700s, screws aren’t made by hand, and don’t depend on the righteousness of an old world craftsman to conform to spec. The machines that produce fasteners are big and costly, because they produce complex parts that are turned, rolled, slotted or punched and broached, to fine tolerances, with extremely high repeatability, and produce them at a high enough rate of speed and reliability without costly human intervention in order to run around the clock, in a lights-out facility. The materials order arrives, is offloaded from the truck, into a hopper, and the machine cleans and feeds the rounds, and rains fasteners out the other end for finishing. Orders in the tens of thousands isn’t unusual, its the norm. You won’t get anyone to spend the time to set those machines up to make you 4 screws. Anyone who will is either a desperate startup or circling the drain. Screw machines are made for this. This article is absurd, because the story is absurd, and if it’s true, then this is a story about how the Mac Pro was delayed simply a failure of one low-level person to perform a weeks worth of work, which is actually extremely common, and perfectly normal.