US assembly of Apple's new Mac Pro to be handled by Flextronics - report
When it goes into production in America later this year, Apple's new cylindrical Mac Pro desktop will reportedly be built in U.S. facilities run by Singapore-based manufacturer Flextronics.
Purported details on production of Apple's new Mac Pro were reported this week by the Economic Daily News, and highlighted by Macotakara. It was said that the information was shared by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, who has a strong track record in predicting Apple's future product plans.
The official Flextronics website reveals that the company already has facilities in a number of locations across the U.S., including Texas, California, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and both North and South Carolina. The report did not indicate which U.S.-based Flextronics facility will handle assembly of the new Mac Pro.
"Our United States teams offer a wide spectrum of capabilities, including electrical and mechanical design and the manufacturing of flexible and rigid printed circuit boards and printed circuit board assemblies, specialty coated thin film flexible materials, backplanes, box-build, cable assemblies, camera modules and assembly," the site reads. "Our facilities also have clean room capabilities, functional and reliability testing, new product introduction support, design for manufacturing, supply chain management and logistics."
The transition to Flextronics, if true, would mean that Foxconn will no longer be responsible for manufacturing the Mac Pro. But because Apple's high-end desktop is geared toward a small market, the shift is not expected to have a major effect on Foxconn, which operates largely out of China.
Screenshot of thermal core structure animation.
Though Apple will build its new Mac Pro in the U.S., the company is not expected to bring assembly of any of its MacBook lines to America. EDN noted that most of the supply chain remains overseas, which would make it logistically difficult to build large numbers of Macs stateside.
Apple's new MacBook Air units are reportedly being assembled by Quanta Computer, which specializes in laptop construction. Though Quanta does have some facilities in the U.S., it's not expected to begin building MacBooks domestically.
This week, in a rare move, Apple offered a sneak peek at its redesigned Mac Pro desktop, which will sport a small cylindrical design while being powerful enough to drive three 4K-resolution displays. The professional-grade machine is scheduled to arrive later this year with Intel Xeon processors, PCI Express flash storage, and Thunderbolt 2 ports.
As for Kuo, the purported source of the Flextronics rumor, the analyst accurately shared details on Apple's new MacBook Air ahead of this week's announcement at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference. Specifically, he revealed that the new notebooks would adopt a dual-mic setup for better voice capture, in addition to Intel's latest Haswell processors.
Purported details on production of Apple's new Mac Pro were reported this week by the Economic Daily News, and highlighted by Macotakara. It was said that the information was shared by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, who has a strong track record in predicting Apple's future product plans.
The official Flextronics website reveals that the company already has facilities in a number of locations across the U.S., including Texas, California, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and both North and South Carolina. The report did not indicate which U.S.-based Flextronics facility will handle assembly of the new Mac Pro.
"Our United States teams offer a wide spectrum of capabilities, including electrical and mechanical design and the manufacturing of flexible and rigid printed circuit boards and printed circuit board assemblies, specialty coated thin film flexible materials, backplanes, box-build, cable assemblies, camera modules and assembly," the site reads. "Our facilities also have clean room capabilities, functional and reliability testing, new product introduction support, design for manufacturing, supply chain management and logistics."
The transition to Flextronics, if true, would mean that Foxconn will no longer be responsible for manufacturing the Mac Pro. But because Apple's high-end desktop is geared toward a small market, the shift is not expected to have a major effect on Foxconn, which operates largely out of China.
Screenshot of thermal core structure animation.
Though Apple will build its new Mac Pro in the U.S., the company is not expected to bring assembly of any of its MacBook lines to America. EDN noted that most of the supply chain remains overseas, which would make it logistically difficult to build large numbers of Macs stateside.
Apple's new MacBook Air units are reportedly being assembled by Quanta Computer, which specializes in laptop construction. Though Quanta does have some facilities in the U.S., it's not expected to begin building MacBooks domestically.
This week, in a rare move, Apple offered a sneak peek at its redesigned Mac Pro desktop, which will sport a small cylindrical design while being powerful enough to drive three 4K-resolution displays. The professional-grade machine is scheduled to arrive later this year with Intel Xeon processors, PCI Express flash storage, and Thunderbolt 2 ports.
As for Kuo, the purported source of the Flextronics rumor, the analyst accurately shared details on Apple's new MacBook Air ahead of this week's announcement at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference. Specifically, he revealed that the new notebooks would adopt a dual-mic setup for better voice capture, in addition to Intel's latest Haswell processors.
Comments
It just says "Designed in California. Assembled in USA." Would like to see "Designed & Made in USA"
Assembled does not sound good. It still says... parts are manufactured in China. They were shipped to USA and were assembled.
Also, why Apple does not say "Designed in USA" rather it says "Designed in California"? Any clue from history or events that made Apple/Steve to mention like that?
It appears that Samsung has already come up with their own version...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chandra69
Also, why Apple does not say "Designed in USA" rather it says "Designed in California"? Any clue from history or events that made Apple/Steve to mention like that?
Judging by the new naming scheme for OS X it's because they're really proud of their California roots
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnyb0731
Judging by the new naming scheme for OS X it's because they're really proud of their California roots
That Mavericks is okay. But since decades, Apple has been mentioning "Designed in California."
Designed in USA sounds really good.
I smiled at that and couldn't help mentally adding ... "Designed in California ... by an Englishman" (Well I'm sure Jony was at least in on it ... )
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chandra69
Also, why Apple does not say "Designed in USA" rather it says "Designed in California"? Any clue from history or events that made Apple/Steve to mention like that?
Because it has been their signature since the beginning of the company. Every Apple product ever shipped, whether on the product itself or on the packaging (or both), has always had the catchphrase "Designed by Apple in California" somewhere. And considering this is a huge part of their new marketing campaign, I doubt they're going to change it anytime soon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chandra69
Also, why Apple does not say "Designed in USA" rather it says "Designed in California"? Any clue from history or events that made Apple/Steve to mention like that?
I think they are trying to appease to the people that live in California because a lot of people in California think that companies are moving out of California. The whole Made in USA, etc. is marketing to make people feel good, especially we don't see it as much as we'd like. Heck even Toyotas, Mercedes Benzs and other mfg make certain cars in the US.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chandra69
It just says "Designed in California. Assembled in USA." Would like to see "Designed & Made in USA"
Assembled does not sound good. It still says... parts are manufactured in China. They were shipped to USA and were assembled.
It might be interesting if someone went to the trouble to see what kind of computer you could actually put together with only USA manufactured parts and how much it would cost. Not sure that's a machine anyone would want to buy...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chandra69
It just says "Designed in California. Assembled in USA." Would like to see "Designed & Made in USA"
Assembled does not sound good. It still says... parts are manufactured in China. They were shipped to USA and were assembled."
"Assembled in USA" DOES sound good. It's progress.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chandra69
It just says "Designed in California. Assembled in USA." Would like to see "Designed & Made in USA"
Assembled does not sound good. It still says... parts are manufactured in China. They were shipped to USA and were assembled.
Well, it's the "assembled" moniker that is at the bottom of this all. Automated factories in the U.S. might be able to compete with the Asian factories some day. Manufacturing the boards, the various components, etc. may be automated but assembling the parts into the finished product apparently still requires fairly intensive manual labor.
We need to just hang in there and let the world economy evolve. As the Chinese economy evolves, worker's rights will get better, pay will get better, and American labor MAY become competitive again.
Of course, I'm no economist or labor expert and I'm pulling my opinion straight out of my ass, but it seems like common sense to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregInPrague
It might be interesting if someone went to the trouble to see what kind of computer you could actually put together with only USA manufactured parts and how much it would cost. Not sure that's a machine anyone would want to buy...
Yeah it would cost too much, Since there will be high union wages, pension and benefits, plus all the taxes paid in various forms in the US just for the privilege of manufacturing in the US. Someone commented about assemble verse manufacturer, with most of the labor and environmental laws in this country today you will never see true 100% manufacturing back in the US it just too costly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTR
It appears that Samsung has already come up with their own version...
Seriously. No one will copy this, except for the exterior. They didn't have the balls to copy a Cube or a Mini properly, though they tried, for their Google ChromeBox - just like the ChromeBook which looks like a MacBook. Sigh...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chandra69
Also, why Apple does not say "Designed in USA" rather it says "Designed in California"? Any clue from history or events that made Apple/Steve to mention like that?
I hesitate to waste my time explaining it if it isn't obvious to you, but "Designed in California" is implicitly "Designed in USA", as California is IN the USA (duoh). Apple has used that phrase since Day One of at least the Macintosh (1984). It's a point of pride, a point of class, a point of coolness which only California could connote. You're probably not from California or you'd have a clue. But if you are, then shame on you for not having one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTR
It appears that Samsung has already come up with their own version...
If you look inside it is full of Galaxy's...
"My God, it's full of stars!"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chandra69
Also, why Apple does not say "Designed in USA" rather it says "Designed in California"?
Because California is actually part of Mexico?
-kpluck
Apple will bring most of it's products back to the U.S. because they can't keep their products secret if they are manufactured outside of the country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTR
It appears that Samsung has already come up with their own version...
So did D-Link
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