Tim Cook has been arguing that cost is not the main reason to assemble in China.
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Apple Begins Production of New Mac Pro in Texas, But Distribution Possibly Limited to Americas
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Tim Cook has been arguing that cost is not the main reason to assemble in China.
According to him, it's really mainly infrastructural reasons: availability of factories, workforce, nearby companies collaborating with each other, etc.
What it would take (according to him) is really a long-term investment: training a new generation of hundreds of thousands of factory workers, building those factories, having a network of supplier working with each other, etc. Much of North America / Europe doesn't really have that any more.
(I'm sure he doesn't mind the workers being so cheap, though.)
"The new Mac Pro will be the fastest Mac ever…" Imagine the media worker hours that could be saved by not typing out these obvious statements every time the latest top-end Apple device is announced.
It appears at least 8 Mac Pros will be made available at time of launch.
I didn't pay any additional cost for my two 5K iMacs assembled in the US, so it stands to reason I would not have to for an iMac Pro that was, either.
Indeed. The biggest driver, especially for the iOS devices, is the existing production scale in China which does not exist in the US and could not be quickly replicated (China spent decades getting to where they are today and other Asian countries have spent a fair bit as much time catching up).
And honestly, if Apple were to build US-based facilities to make scores of millions of iPhones and millions of iPads a quarter they would like be extremely automated because:
1) Lack of US workers with the necessary skills (though you can train more, but that leads to #2);
2) Seasonal variability in worker need. Apple probably doubles production just before a model launch compared to the slowest periods. China has the flexible workforce size to adapt to this whereas the US does not (and our labor laws likely don't allow that flexibility) so Apple would want to automate as much as they could as it is easier to "lay off" a robot for months at a time when things are slow(er) than a human worker and it is also easier to bring that capacity back on line when you need it.
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It's all cost. The US can assemble electronics just fine for both military, restricted (i.e. commercial airplanes), and government systems. HP and Lenovo both have US-based plants for government contracts. We also manufacture high-value goods like Cisco carrier-grade routers and electronic test equipment in the US just fine. Manufacturers have done this due to export and security restrictions.
We also manufacture cars here due to tariffs, and that includes the electronic components that go into cars (see Visteon and Delphi).
Ultimately PCB assembly is highly automated anyway (there's absolutely no way to do it by hand) and you can ship in complex parts like chassis from China in a ready-to-bolt in configuration.
You can, but it introduces significant latency. Shipping direct from China worldwide to customers is just simpler.
I can order an iPad from Apple's DEP and have it manufactured, tested, and preconfigured to my in-house MDM server right from China, then shipped straight to my customer, without ever needing to touch it at all. That'll take a lot longer if portions get made in the Western world.
It's the complete opposite, US or North America assembly has lower latency. The parts are stockpiled here, then assembled and shipped out the door.
When Dell assembled computers and servers in the US, we could have them custom configured and shipped overnight, with cheap shipping prices as well. (They usually were flown via Southwest). Now, you have to wait at minimum 2 days for it to work its way over from China, typically more like 3.
The last Dell laptop I got (several years ago) had some acrobatics too. As I understood it, the laptop unit itself was BTO in China and shipped in a separate box. It made a stop in Austin, where they dropped the laptop box into a bigger box with, among other things, the uninstalled battery. This seemed to be so that they avoided flying the large battery.
Same thing now with Lenovo building in Mexico, it's overnight to 1 business day.
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Production evaluation units used inside of Apple. Teams can request them for internal development.
While it likely wasn’t designed with that in mind, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work, and it could even be preferable over the usual stand. They’re clearly using some sort of VESA mount, and having the machine upside-down would actually allow warm air to flow freely out of the vents in the back and rise upward uninhibited.
That's what I've said. Start order in December, available in quantities by February.
jep, iMacs with i9 to heat-up the room ...
[automerge]1574287790[/automerge]
Do you expect a small logo for $6000?
jep, iMacs with i9 to heat-up the room ...
[automerge]1574287790[/automerge]
Do you expect a small logo for $6000?
6000,computer made in china is insulting. If I am paying 6k for a pc it better be assembled in the US. If we moved everything overseas how can you have a functioning economy.
The photo appears to show the Packaging area, and perhaps a QA area as well. But the rest of the production line won't be impressive either. Case comes in, people screw the various things into place, stick the right boards in, etc. Assembly is the lowest level of complexity and skill for a product like the Mac Pro.
You want sexy and advanced, go see how chips like the Intel processors are fabricated. Complexity of a state-of-the-art fab is tens of thousands of times greater than a simple screw it together factory like this.
The aesthetic of upside down iMacs in an Apple building would have made Steve livid! You can bet there'd be no upside down Apple logos in there if he was still among us.
Those are the details that would nag him...The funny thing is that Intel doesn't even test or package chips here. The whole wafers are sent to Malaysia for that. Intel tries to get out of the country as fast as possible.
Caution: color commentary.
Just when I completely ruled out this computer and complained loudly on this forum, due to its insane cost, relative unnecessariness, and glitchy OS, they publish this photo of average looking American workers, hair carefully hidden in caps, beautiful machines carefully wrapped in plastic shrouds, just a small area with a short production line. There is no emotion in business, just money. But when I saw this photo, for whatever reason, I thought, long live Apple and the USA! And remembered:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
Just when I completely ruled out this computer and complained loudly on this forum, due to its insane cost, relative unnecessariness, and glitchy OS, they publish this photo of average looking American workers, hair carefully hidden in caps, beautiful machines carefully wrapped in plastic shrouds, just a small area with a short production line. There is no emotion in business, just money. But when I saw this photo, for whatever reason, I thought, long live Apple and the USA! And remembered:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
1. "Americas" (from article title) does not mean US only.
2. Isn't having multiple manufacturing locations the smart thing to do, so one factory does not become a single point of failure?
3. Regional production should theoretically reduce shipping costs. Would these savings be reflected in the prices of the products?
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I was not not commenting on Apples motifs, but other commenters arrogance over the abilities of countries. Apples motifs is simple politics to get an advantage. That you can buy advantages by inviting the US presidents to something as trivial as the opening of a minor manufacturing plant is sad.
I am fine with US produced Macs. I would be fine with iPhone manufactured in US even if the phone would be 100 USD more expensive. As a global company, Apple should contribute (significantly) to all countries they operate in, including US manufacturing plants (and Ireland/EU, China, India, Brazil...).
I’m not sure the tariff exclusions were conditioned upon a photo-op with Tim Cook but you never know
I’m not sure the tariff exclusions were conditioned upon a photo-op with Tim Cook but you never know
I wouldn't be that surprised.
Sneaky bastards...
That's how they get round this. "Manufactured in America" but only for Americans.
I bet you won't hear a word on that. Apple doesn't even induce us outsiders in their own statistics either as it's U.S only.
THey think the % of us are so small, its not important enough to accept that Apple users exist outside.
That's how they get round this. "Manufactured in America" but only for Americans.
I bet you won't hear a word on that. Apple doesn't even induce us outsiders in their own statistics either as it's U.S only.
THey think the % of us are so small, its not important enough to accept that Apple users exist outside.