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Posted by haunter 9 hours ago

Mac mini will be made at a new facility in Houston(www.apple.com)
427 points | 418 commentspage 2
atleastoptimal 7 hours ago|
US manufacturing will not take off without fully autonomous robots because Americans don't want to work 18 hour days for pay that is competitive with Asia, and labor laws make it difficult anyway.
resters 2 hours ago||
China's secret to rapid industrial growth in tech has been to invest in the low end, not the high end. Trump has it all backwards. An Apple factory in Texas may be good politics for Trump, but it has zero or negative impact on the competitiveness of the US and creates/amplifies existential risks companies face due to US political forces.
stevev 2 hours ago||
Nothing against American ingenuity, but when situations like this occur, quality often declines for a time. The process may be replicated from its original source, but the key difference lies in the workers’ experience—something the Chinese have already mastered.
tedd4u 8 hours ago||
It doesn't say the Mini will be exclusively produced at this US facility. I wonder in say 2 years what % will be "produced" in the US? 1%? 0.1%?
alwillis 8 hours ago||
> It doesn't say the Mini will be exclusively produced at this US facility.

What's likely to happen is Mac minis for North America will be made in Houston. Otherwise, the ones for the rest of the world will be made at the same facilities they are now.

Just like iPhones for the US are made in India; iPhones for the rest of the world are made in China.

toast0 7 hours ago||
I imagine iPhones for India are also made in India. India has a lot of programs to promote production within the country, and IIRC, Apple moved production there to take advantage of that. Given they have production in India, it makes sense to use that production for shipments to the US given better tariff rates for things produced in India vs China.
mcmcmc 8 hours ago||
They’ll make a gold one there every year as tribute to Trump
jjice 9 hours ago||
Really looking forward to seeing how this ends up, especially over the next few years. I knew about their recent Arizona TSMC chips in iPhones, but this is nice to see.
tcper 5 hours ago||
Apple produced MacPro in US a few years ago, what about that facility and workers? Will this facility has the same destiny like MacPro?
maxdo 7 hours ago||
To all critics . This is something good going on in the country. It’s national interest protection .

Together with robotics push , it has a chance , and even they do small things . Today they make body , tomorrow cpu , etc it’s a good thing going on regardless of politics

selkin 3 hours ago||
Why is it a good thing? Manufacturing jobs are horrible, ask anyone who had one.

The US built a high margins service economy.

This is two steps backwards, no step forwards sort of a deal.

bigyabai 2 hours ago||
> It’s national interest protection .

The US has no national interest in the Mac Mini, or the Mac Pro for that matter. Homeland security isn't reliant on Apple datacenters. The Mac comprises less than 10% of Apple's yearly revenue, almost lower-profit than the iPad. Manufacturing Macs in the US doesn't even secure your pension.

The iPhone comprises a minor national interest corollary to Apple's stock price, but that's never being onshored. Apple would go bankrupt paying Americans to assemble the iPhone, and if you don't believe me then Google the leaked BOMs.

wdb 8 hours ago||
Next, are European made Apple devices?
t1234s 3 hours ago||
Didn't they build the trash can mac pros in Texas?
thinkingtoilet 9 hours ago|
Others need to follow. It's strange that we don't view the manufacturing of advanced electronics as a matter of national security.
mattnewton 8 hours ago|
The government is slowly waking up to how important chips are and how far behind domestic sources have fallen from foreign (mostly Chinese and Taiwanese) sources. That's what the 2022 CHIPS act was about.

These things just take a lot of time, there are tremendous headwinds to fight, and the US government + US media increasingly seems unable to see through projects past the next election cycle.

ChrisMarshallNY 8 hours ago||
What folks don't talk about, is that the reason for all the offshoring, is good old-fashioned American Greed™.

Lots of billionaires in the US, got that way, by exporting all their production to China. Because they did it, lots of lower-tier people had to do the same, or go out of business.

Since we worship billionaires, that little bit never seems to get mentioned, as it makes them look bad.

The only cure is to cost some of those billionaires money.

Ain't gonna happen.

MarsIronPI 7 hours ago||
> The only cure is to cost some of those billionaires money.

But that was the entire point of the Trump tariffs? Or am I missing something here?

Tyrubias 5 hours ago||
The money is not coming out of the billionaires’ pockets. Tariffs are ultimately a tax on American consumers and small businesses. Large businesses owned by billionaires just increased prices. Now, if the government is forced to repay tariffs, then they will be refunded to the companies. Consumers and small businesses who were forced to close will get no benefit. In the end, whether the tariffs are kept or the tariffs are struck down, the consumer gets screwed and the billionaires get richer.
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