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Apple Bringing Some Mac Production Back to U.S. in 2013

Thursday December 6, 2012 5:04 am PST by Eric Slivka
NBC reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook will announce during an interview airing on Rock Center tonight that the company is bringing some Mac production back to the United States.
In an exclusive interview with Brian Williams airing tonight at 10pm/9c on NBC’s “Rock Center,” Apple CEO Tim Cook announced one of the existing Mac lines will be manufactured exclusively in the United States next year. Mac fans will have to wait to see which Mac line it will be because Apple, widely known for its secrecy, left it vague. Cook's announcement may or may not confirm recent rumors in the blogosphere sparked by iMacs inscribed in the back with “Assembled in USA.”

“We’ve been working for years on doing more and more in the United States,” Cook told Williams.

Cook has more to say about the effort in a lengthy interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, noting that Apple is spending about $100 million on the effort.
It’s not known well that the engine for the iPhone and iPad is made in the U.S., and many of these are also exported—the engine, the processor. The glass is made in Kentucky. And next year we are going to bring some production to the U.S. on the Mac. We’ve been working on this for a long time, and we were getting closer to it. It will happen in 2013. We’re really proud of it. We could have quickly maybe done just assembly, but it’s broader because we wanted to do something more substantial. So we’ll literally invest over $100 million. This doesn’t mean that Apple will do it ourselves, but we’ll be working with people, and we’ll be investing our money.

Cook also addresses several of the challenges Apple faces in bringing production back to the United States, pointing out once again that the educational system is not producing the expertise needed for major manufacturing in consumer electronics, but he hopes that Apple's effort can help spur progress in that area.

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hamean
83 months ago
It would have to be a smaller scale product, if it were exclusively manufactured in the US, so I'm guessing Mac Pro.
Rating: 30 Votes
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legacyb4
83 months ago
With all the shenanigans China pulls, I'm glad at least some companies are finally waking up and getting smart with their businesses!
Rating: 10 Votes
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sconnor99
83 months ago
If it's an entire line then it has to be the MacPro?
Rating: 7 Votes
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Negritude
83 months ago
OMG...it will be the Mac Pro.
Rating: 7 Votes
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cmChimera
83 months ago
Really good stuff.
Rating: 6 Votes
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LYFK
83 months ago
I applaud the effort. To be honest, I feel that $100m is a drop in the bucket, but here's to hoping that number increases over time and creates even more jobs.
Rating: 6 Votes
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John.B
83 months ago

So what happens when Apple isn't making huge profits anymore? Eventually something else is going to come along and knock Apple off their post. don't get me wrong, I love Apple and Apple products. Almost everything in my house is Apple, or uses some Apple product in some way... but eventually consumer interests will shift, and Apple really has a limited product line... so eventually they aren't going to be bathing in cash... so what happens to all of these "feel good" projects when that happens??? Do the data centers shutter their fuel cell facilities and switch back to the grid? They go back to building EVERYTHING over seas where labor is more cost effective? Do they stop caring how "green" their products are? and move away from expensive glass and aluminum to cheaper plastics?

I'm just saying, its nice that they are doing all of this now, while they have tons of cash laying around... but people are very fickle... everyone that loves you now for doing all of these "responsible" things... will hate you when you have to make cost effective decisions later in order to survive


Maybe they should close shop now, you know, to get ahead of the curve? /sarcasm
Rating: 6 Votes
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mozumder
83 months ago
yep. new Mac Pros. Doesn't matter if they're super cheap, so they can be manufactured in the US.
Rating: 6 Votes
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technopimp
83 months ago

the educational system is not producing the expertise needed for major manufacturing in consumer electronics


Since when were manufacturing jobs a focus of the "educational system"? If he's talking management-type jobs, then I don't think I'd agree with the statement. But if he's talking just hourly assembly-type stuff, I don't think you go to school for a BS in "Factory Assembly". That's what training is for. Do people go to school to work at McDonald's?
Rating: 5 Votes
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SPUY767
83 months ago

Steve Jobs made a statement at one point regarding this. Essentially, the problem is that the US education system has gotten really good at producing over-qualified people. For these jobs, they want people with knowledge of the kind of engineering needed to develop and build these products and manage the assembly line processes. These are skills that can be taught at the high school or 2yr trade school level but aren't. If they were, you'd be looking at 35k-50k/yr salary employees.

Instead, if you want a degree in anything similar, you'll be seeking a 4yr+ degree and leaving school with the qualifications (and expectation) to earn 90-120k/yr or more.

This is one of the reasons our college students have so much trouble finding work. Everybody's qualified, but there are only so many of those jobs to go around. Our system corrals everyone into a four year, very expensive program that makes them overqualified, or leaves them behind with nothing more than a high school diploma and totally under qualified.


It's not an education problem, it's an intelligence problem. Some people just aren't smart enough for college, but they would do great in a trade school program. Problem is, these people get that "everyone needs a college education" line foisted on them, then they either fail out because they weren't smart enough to begin with, or the eventually graduate with a degree in nothing marketable, either way saddled with mountains of debt. I'd wager that a full half of people in college right now would be better served in a trade school of some sort.
Rating: 5 Votes

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