This week’s Apple Breakfast column includes all the Apple news that you missed in a quick roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.
When the chips are down
When running for office in early 2016, Donald Trump vowed to “get Apple to build their damn computers and things in this country instead of other countries.” This vague, half-formed plan was widely ridiculed because it seemed so impractical: You can’t just tear up a complex overseas supply chain and start from scratch in a territory with almost none of the required skills and infrastructure. Apple was polite, however, and gave the idea a warm reception.
Perhaps looking for patriotic cover against accusations of leftwing bias—the biggest company in the world can’t afford to alienate half of its home market—Apple is quite keen on the idea of building Some Hardware in the U.S. Despite Trump’s comments, the company was already making one of its “damn computers” on U.S. soil: the Mac Pro, proudly manufactured at a factory in Austin, Texas. But it’s important to stress that the Mac Pro is a niche product made in small numbers, and therefore orders of magnitude easier to build at home than the iPhone, for example.
Similarly limited in scope is this week’s announcement that supplier TSMC (which is based in Taiwan) will make Apple chips at a plant in Arizona. Again, we’re not talking about the manufacture of actual Apple products, but merely one component. But it’s something. TSMC makes chips for iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, Apple TVs and, well, pretty much everything Apple sells, so the company could start declaring that some of these devices are “(Partly) Made in America.”
But not yet. The first problem with this positive story is the time frame. The plant doesn’t open until 2024, which obviously rules out the initial runs of the iPhone 15, the Apple Watch Series 9, and the next generation of Macs and iPads. TSMC rushed to announce the news, but Apple’s effects are still far off.
Even when the plant is running, it won’t be making all of the chips that Apple uses; it simply won’t have the capacity. It won’t be set up to manufacture the 3nm process that Apple will switch to in 2023. Working at either 5nm or 4nm, the plant will have to focus, at least initially, on legacy chips that aren’t nearly as important as a new A-series CPU. If you end up buying an iPhone 13 or 14 in 2024, you might find that its processor was built in Arizona, but that’s unlikely to apply to an iPhone 15 or 16. And it’s more likely the plant will be making lesser chips for a small number of Apple Watches and Apple TVs.
Ultimately the problem with Apple’s “Made in America” plans is that the company isn’t really motivated to bring its manufacturing home, and won’t benefit in any practical sense from doing so. It makes sense to do most of the manufacturing in China and Vietnam. Labor laws are less favorable in these countries and existing factories are designed to produce tech products at scale. Apple hasn’t set up a complex international supply chain for the fun of it; rather, each link in the chain is the optimal choice for legal, economic, talent, or tax reasons. Moving any part of it to the U.S. will mean higher costs and lower profits–and likely higher prices for consumers. Apple wants good PR about creating jobs in the U.S. and making chips there. The Arizona plant has already made headlines and should continue to deliver the jobs. But if people reading those stories think the iPhone 15 will be powered by a chip made in the U.S., they’re sadly mistaken.
The Arizona plant may mark the beginning of a significant shift. It’s possible that financial incentives promised by successive administrations (including the CHIPS Act signed into law in August) will mean it makes sense for Apple to pull significant swathes of its supply chain back into the U.S. But it will happen when and if Apple benefits from it, and not any sooner.
Trending: Top stories for the week
The Mac fell short Jason Snell thinks that expectations were exceeded but that they still blew us away by 2022.
Apple might You really are doomed if Tim Cook can’t fix its biggest iPhone problem.
We can see 5 reasons why you’ll want to Update to iOS 16.2 Get started right away.
To beat Google in the Speaker warApple must deploy its secret mini weapon.
Apple has updated its pricing tiers. iOS apps can now be as low as 29 cents. You can get as high as $10,000.
Apple Use of illegal tactics According to the National Labor Relations Board it was designed to discourage retail workers unionizing.
Apple Music’s latest feature is perfect for your Holiday Karaoke Parties.
One simple trick made Safari Michael Simon’s go-to Mac browser Again.
Rumor mill
Apple is reportedly working on a folding screen–but it won’t be an iPhone.
The highly anticipated Apple Car Project just got a lot less ambitious–and even more delayed, according to reports.
And while we’re being pessimistic, Apple’s Mixed-reality headset It could be that we are arriving later than we expected.
Podcast of the Week
In the Macworld Podcast’s most recent episode, we discuss some of the Highlights and lowlights Apple in 2022
You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own site.
Software updates, bugs & problems
Apple has introduced End-to end encryption Almost all iCloud services, including backups, are available to you.
After Apple quietly kills its controversial iMac after a year in limbo CSAM photo scanning feature.
Google Chrome Your Mac runs faster and uses less battery.
iOS 16.2, which has been delivered to developers this week, may have launched to public by the moment you read this, Apple Music Sing The Freeform app.
But why does Apple’s The latest music feature Are there such high system requirements?
And the release macOS Ventura 13.1 It seems to be imminent.
And with that, we’re done for this week. If you’d like to get regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters. You can also follow us Follow us on Twitter For breaking news stories. We hope to see you next Saturday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay Appley.
