Apple Releases 2022 Supply Chain Progress Report, Launches $50 Million Skills Development Fund

Apple today released its 16th annual People and Environment in Our Supply Chain report. Previously known as the Supplier Responsibility report, the document details how Apple and its suppliers are supporting people across the company's supply chain, transitioning to clean energy, and investing in innovative technologies.

apple supplier report imac assembly
Apple also announced a new $50 million Supplier Employee Development Fund that the company said will expand access to learning opportunities and skills development for people across its supply chain. Apple said the fund also includes new and expanded partnerships with rights advocates, universities, and non-profit organizations, including the International Organization for Migration and the International Labor Organization.

Apple said the new educational programming will be initially available to supplier employees in the United States, China, India, and Vietnam. By 2023, Apple said it expects more than 100,000 supplier employees to participate in new learning opportunities, ranging from leadership training and technical certifications to classes on coding, robotics, and advanced manufacturing fundamentals, including green manufacturing.

"We put people first in everything that we do, and we're proud to announce a new commitment to accelerate our progress and provide even more opportunities for people across our supply chain," said Sarah Chandler, Apple's senior director of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation. "Together with rights advocates and education leaders, we are continuing to drive new innovation to support people and the planet."

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
ive and altman

Jony Ive's OpenAI Device Barred From Using 'io' Name

Friday December 5, 2025 6:22 am PST by
A U.S. appeals court has upheld a temporary restraining order that prevents OpenAI and Jony Ive's new hardware venture from using the name "io" for products similar to those planned by AI audio startup iyO, Bloomberg Law reports. iyO sued OpenAI earlier this year after the latter announced its partnership with Ive's new firm, arguing that OpenAI's planned "io" branding was too close to its...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Photos App Icon Liquid Glass

John Gruber Shares Scathing Commentary About Apple's Departing Software Design Chief

Thursday December 4, 2025 9:30 am PST by
In a statement shared with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple confirmed that its software design chief Alan Dye will be leaving. Apple said Dye will be succeeded by Stephen Lemay, who has been a software designer at the company since 1999. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Dye will lead a new creative studio within the company's AR/VR division Reality Labs. On his blog Daring Fireball,...
Apple John Ternus 2019

Will John Ternus Really Be Apple's Next CEO?

Friday December 5, 2025 9:01 am PST by
There is uncertainty about Apple's head of hardware engineering John Ternus succeeding Tim Cook as CEO, The Information reports. Some former Apple executives apparently hope that a new "dark-horse" candidate will emerge. Ternus is considered to be the most likely candidate to succeed Cook as CEO. The report notes that he is more likely to become CEO than software head chief Craig Federighi, ...
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...
ios 18 to ios 26 upgrade

Apple Pushes iPhone Users Still on iOS 18 to Upgrade to iOS 26

Tuesday December 2, 2025 11:09 am PST by
Apple is encouraging iPhone users who are still running iOS 18 to upgrade to iOS 26 by making the iOS 26 software upgrade option more prominent. Since iOS 26 launched in September, it has been displayed as an optional upgrade at the bottom of the Software Update interface in the Settings app. iOS 18 has been the default operating system option, and users running iOS 18 have seen iOS 18...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 Release Candidates to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Wednesday December 3, 2025 10:33 am PST by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 updates to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming two weeks after Apple seeded the third betas. The release candidates represent the final versions of iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found during this final week of testing....
Touchscreen MacBook Feature

Here Are the Four MacBooks Apple Is Expected to Launch Next Year

Monday December 1, 2025 5:00 am PST by
2026 could be a bumper year for Apple's Mac lineup, with the company expected to announce as many as four separate MacBook launches. Rumors suggest Apple will court both ends of the consumer spectrum, with more affordable options for students and feature-rich premium lines for users that seek the highest specifications from a laptop. Below is a breakdown of what we're expecting over the next ...

Top Rated Comments

cb3 Avatar
48 months ago
Did she build my iMac? ? I feel better already.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
swingerofbirch Avatar
48 months ago
It's BS.

If they put people first they would employ them rather than use loopholes to have them provide labor with none of the rights of an employee.

Their revenue per number of employees ratio is completely lopsided.

I get tired of repeating my same story as I have in other threads, but I was put to work for Apple through a disability agency in my state. I was trained by Apple—training I had to pay for. Apple paid nothing into Social Security payroll tax because they have you incorporate yourself as a corporation of one and then subcontract out to your corporation and you are an employee of yourself, despite the fact that you use their systems and work alongside all their other AppleCare employees and contractors. You are the "face" of Apple and yet have no official association with them. At the time I did this there were about 12 large corporations in the US contracted for AppleCare and Apple Sales in the US. All were pitted against each other with impossible metrics. And then those corporations had subcontractors as well. Apple did have its own internal AppleCare employees, as well, who got benefits and had employee rights. But you weren't allowed to transfer from contract status to employee status. In fact you weren't even allowed to talk to Apple. You have no labor rights. It's like you're a carpenter building a deck for someone. Except you use the homeowner's tools, the homeowner tells you how to build the deck, gives you constant feedback, and you work for the homeowner's customers, and there are thousands of you working for the homeowner. In short, it's nothing like building a deck for someone, but they use the labor laws (or lack of them) like it is. I could go on, but I've repeated this ad nauseam so many times.

It's basically Uber but worse because with Uber there is one group of people who at least know what's going on with each other. This is like if Uber secretly had 12 different companies that competed against each other providing the exact same Uber service but with different names so they didn't know they were competing with each other within the same company and each of the 12 companies had even more subcontractors and they were all pitted against each other on price, but despite being 12 different companies it was all Uber service.

I shouldn't write as I'm falling asleep, but I get tired of Apple's BS.

Instead of "investing" $50 million, pay the GD Social Security payroll tax you're avoiding on the non-employees who are doing the *exact* work of employees.

Edit:
The last time one of these reports came out, I let Apple know what I thought. And I got no response.

Their supplier feedback web-site is now a 404:
https://www.apple.com/feedback/supplierresponsibility.html
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Razorpit Avatar
48 months ago

That model is not an assembly worker. Where is the dark skinned worker who looks like they have been working 60 hours and is about to pass out? Apple’s sugar coating in action.
The media has you brain washed. There are some extremely attractive people working on assembly lines.


Obviously it’s not an assembly workers as she isn’t assembling a computer. This is a QA tester. As for the dark skinned thing, did Foxconn move their plant out of China suddenly?
It’s funny you mention that. All “western” factories have forced diversity. Try to find a “minority” in an “eastern“ facility.


It’s all assembled in China, and no one employed there is dark skinned.
Not everything Apple comes from China.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
man3ster Avatar
48 months ago
That model is not an assembly worker. Where is the dark skinned worker who looks like they have been working 60 hours and is about to pass out? Apple’s sugar coating in action.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0924487 Avatar
48 months ago

That model is not an assembly worker. Where is the dark skinned worker who looks like they have been working 60 hours and is about to pass out? Apple’s sugar coating in action.
It’s all assembled in China, and no one employed there is dark skinned.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ComRadMac Avatar
48 months ago
Just your average factory worker, in full makeup and designer sweater. Totally normal.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)