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Apple gives Mac Pro its ‘Made in the USA’ badge by moving assembly to Texas

Chuong Nguyen
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After years of relying on manufacturing facilities in Asia, Apple announced that its new and pricey redesigned Mac Pro will be made in the USA. While final assembly of the product will be done in Austin, Texas, the company stated in a press release that the high-end desktop — which has been compared to a cheese grater due to its aesthetics — will also utilize components made by more than a dozen American manufacturers and suppliers located in states that include Arizona, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Vermont.

Apple was only able to manufacture its Mac Pro in the U.S. after receiving a federal product exclusion for some necessary components. Previously, in 2013, Apple announced plans to move the Mac Pro to the United States, but since that date, it’s been rumored that Apple may have instead been exploring plans to keep its manufacturing facilities in China, probably to keep costs down. Most recently, The Wall Street Journal reported that the desktop PC would be manufactured in a Quanta Computer manufacturing plant outside of Shanghai. However, it appears that Apple has changed its mind once again, and the company is moving forward with its plans to build the Mac Pro, which starts at $6,000, in Austin.

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The move to bring the Mac Pro’s manufacturing back to the United States follows Apple’s highly publicized struggles with the U.S. government’s tariffs against foreign-made goods enacted by the administration of President Donald Trump as it engages in a trade war with China. Trump had earlier alluded in a series of tweets on Twitter that Apple would not get any tariff exemptions, and that the company should bring manufacturing back to the States.

“Apple will not be given tariff waiver, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China,” the President wrote on the social media platform. “Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!” If tariffs are enforced, the price on consumer electronics, many of which are manufactured in China, could increase.

Apple highlighted the number of jobs and its investment in the American economy in its announcement. “We believe deeply in the power of American innovation,” CEO Tim Cook said in a prepared statement. “That’s why every Apple product is designed and engineered in the U.S., and made up of parts from 36 states, supporting 450,000 jobs with U.S. suppliers, and we’re going to continue growing here.” The company noted that it spent $60 billion last year alone working with 9,000 domestic suppliers in those 36 states.

Apple isn’t the only company to assemble its premium desktops in the United States, as the move mirrors what boutique PC gaming firms like Falcon Northwest, Digital Storm, and Origin PC have been doing for years.

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Chuong Nguyen
Chuong Nguyen
Computing Writer
Silicon Valley-based technology reporter and Giants baseball fan who splits his time between Northern California and Southern…
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