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Apple's Mac Pro to Be Assembled by Flextronics in Fort Worth, Texas?

"Assembled" could mean anything.

Could have 10 parts to put together.

Take the printed circuit boards, screw then into the framework, plug in the memory modules, fix it to the base, plug in the rear plate, slide the top cover down, a few more screws.......

Yay "Assembled in America"
 
MrNomNoms said:
You're assuming there are market forces at play rather than the Chinese government devaluing their currency to make their labour artificially cheaper; if all the currencies of the world were floating and subject to the same forces of supply and demand along without onerous regulations (yet sufficient to protect workers rights and the environment) then I'd say "let the competition begin" but the reality is that we aren't living in that ideal world but rather a system that is heavily skewed to those rigging the market.
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Labour costs are significantly lower in China, even without an artificially low Yuan. The market is a lot less regulated, which ultimately also impacts costs. Regardless, rates are where they are and the issue is highly politically sensitive, so the economic reality is just that (manipulation or not). I can't see how companies shifting production back to the US right now is going to prove anything other than make them uncompetitive.
 
syd430 said:
Market forces are best left to do their thing unless intervention is absolutely necessary.
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That's like saying we all die eventually. There is a lag time in-between called life.

Who cares if markets break even, someday, when in the meantime landlords abuse people like emperors.
 
BuffyzDead said:
What is a Good, Educated Guess, on what the entry level model will cost?
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My guess would be $2999 which is $500 more than the current entry level model as they are switching to more expensive flash based storage. Probably also get a $3999 better model as well. That would keep it above the MBP-R as their most expensive ultimate computer.

I can't wait. Got the ruler out last night and measured it. This thing is tiny compared to the current model. Amazing engineering and design. I don't care what the detractors say. They never like anything. I think it's beautiful and as it's my money that's all that counts to me.
 
rhett7660 said:
Keeping fingers crossed, I am worried about the sticker price of these bad boys! :eek:
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I would be worried to if I had plans to purchase the first revision. But, they're going to be using GPU's from 2012 (up to date with latest BIOS and drivers, of course), and by the time they ship, I'm sure they'll be able to wring a nice discount out of AMD if they haven't already. If someone were to try to build a spec equivalent of this today with off the shelf parts (not possible since they processors haven't been released yet), the bill of goods would easily be in the range of USD 8 to 10K.
 
oneMadRssn said:
You're sort of right, but it's still jobs for real (American) people. Sure, we don't need a person to turn a screw driver for an entire shift, a robot can do that. However, a big factory like this still needs lots of real people to function, such as industrial engineers, line workers, and a whole gaggle to keep those robots running and maintained. In the end, its less jobs than assembling everything by human hand. But it's more real people with real jobs than having no factory here at all.
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Not to mention cleaners, security staff, the various building contracts, drivers. Goes much further than just the production of the machines themselves.
 
MrNomNoms said:
You're assuming there are market forces at play rather than the Chinese government devaluing their currency to make their labour artificially cheaper; if all the currencies of the world were floating and subject to the same forces of supply and demand along without onerous regulations (yet sufficient to protect workers rights and the environment) then I'd say "let the competition begin' but the reality is that we aren't living in that ideal world but rather a system that is heavily skewed to those rigging the market.
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There are market forces at play besides Chinese currency. Looking more closely at labor

In China they have this thing called mattress culture. Workers work until they're burnt out then they knock out on a mattress under their desk. Nobody in the US is willing to live like this. The US graduates something like 180,000 engineers a year vs China graduating a million. A million new engineers willing to work for way less in a country that's okay with half a million people dying from work exhaustion each year. This is what US companies are fighting. The discrepency is what Jobs was referring to when he lobbied the government to create more low level tech education. On top of this, at the graduate level, the US is becoming an education exporter - people from China and India go to grad school here, get an engineering MS, then return back to their own countries.

I commend Apple for building a factory in Texas but they're really just fighting the inevitable. Manufacturing has long been offshored, and people are ignoring the fact white collar jobs have been following. All the call center jobs are now in India for example. Almost every job that you can reduce to a codified process and you don't have to physically be in the US to do it is in danger of disappearing.
 
nep61 said:
Any JOB in this country, no matter how small, is a step in the right direction for the USA. Unemployment is way too high, and if this helps alleviate even a tiny bit of it-- I'm all for it.
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The irony is the reason it's in USA is because of automation, i.e. the production process uses less people that it might have done a few years ago. So in this case that means job losses in China, and you don't care. But that trend will continue globally. Crisis of value. You can't make profit if robots are doing everything. Yet you can't make profit if your production process uses less automation than your competitors. Poor capitalists... no one's in control of capital.
 
BuffyzDead said:
What is a Good, Educated Guess, on what the entry level model will cost?
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My guess (and hope) is $2,499, which is $500 above the top end base iMac ($1,999). That would allow for $500 difference between the two products.

However....

I would not be shocked by $2,999. There's always a premium willing to be paid by early adapters.
 
bretm said:
Lets hope not. But I wouldn't doubt it. But Apple has been lowering prices across the board in general. It can't be cheaper than an iMac. So let's see, top iMac 3k. But it has a 1k screen built in. Okay, so it's really a 2k machine. Add better processors and another GPU and 2k thunderbolt and all...

you're probably right. 3k minimum. If they're in below that somehow, which is what many are hoping, then it'll be a winner. People are looking for the same price point as the previous MacPro. Which would be around $2500 starting point. But with those dual GPUs I don't see how.
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Do you guys realize that the AMD/ATI Fire Pro W9000 that meets the specs on Apple's web site cost $3000 just for that GPU itself. There are supposed to be 2 of these professional level GPUs in the new Mac Pro!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195116

So a price of around $3000 for the new Mac Pro may be a pipe dream! :eek:

There is a rumor that AMD/ATI gave Apple an offer it could not refuse, so lets hope that deal makes the price cheaper!
 
MacFan23 said:
Not to mention cleaners, security staff, the various building contracts, drivers. Goes much further than just the production of the machines themselves.
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So little to do with creating manufacturing jobs. Mainly service jobs.
 
mdelvecchio said:
the computer components industry does not reside in the US -- it resides in asia. thats where the foundries and factories are that make chips.

assembling it here is the best that can be done. what more could you possibly expect??
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What I mean is does it really mean or count for something? A single model being only assembled in TX. Does it signify a guaranteed shift? It seems like it's just being done just for image. I don't know why, but it just seems that way.
 
DisMyMac said:
That's like saying we all die eventually. There is a lag time in-between called life.

Who cares if markets break even, someday, when in the meantime landlords abuse people like emperors.
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And most people adapt, re-skill and find employment elsewhere well before they die. Don't give me that oppression crap. Life isn't supposed to be a free ride when there is finite resources.
 
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