Apple begins construction of new campus in Austin, Texas

Posted:
in General Discussion edited November 2019
Ahead of today's visit from President Trump, Apple has announced that it has broken ground on a new campus for Austin, and that production is now underway for its forthcoming Mac Pro.

Apple's campus in Austin, Texas
Apple's campus in Austin, Texas


Apple has announced that it has begun construction on its new Austin, Texas campus, on a site close to where it says the 2019 Mac Pro has already entered production. The new campus is a $1 billion, 3-million-square-foot site that is to house an initial 5,000 employees, later growing to 15,000. Apple expects to open the plant in 2022.

"Building the Mac Pro, Apple's most powerful device ever, in Austin is both a point of pride and a testament to the enduring power of American ingenuity," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO.

"With the construction of our new campus in Austin now underway," he continued, "Apple is deepening our close bond with the city and the talented and diverse workforce that calls it home."

"Responsible for 2.4 million American jobs and counting, Apple is eager to write our next chapter here and to keep contributing to America's innovation story," he concluded.

Cook also tweeted about beginning production of the Mac Pro in Austin.

The construction of our new Austin campus is underway and the assembly line for Mac Pro is up and running! Building Apple's most powerful Mac ever in Austin is a testament to the enduring power of American ingenuity, and we're proud it's made here. https://t.co/je6IIVnPg8

-- Tim Cook (@tim_cook)


Apple already employs around 7,000 people in Austin, and says that this is an expansion of over 50% in the last five years.

The company is also working with the city on education, with its Community Education Initiative bringing Swift lessons to schools and the Austin Community College.

Apple's plans for the new campus see it working with local firm Bartlett Tree Experts to both preserve and increase the number and range of trees on its site. The campus will feature thousands of trees, plus a publicly-accessible 50-acre nature and wildlife area. It will all be powered by 100% renewable energy.

The work in Texas is part of Apple's plan to increase US investment, and the company says it is on track to contribute $350 billion to the economy between 2018 and 2023. The Advanced Manufacturing Fund has already contributed to the state of Texas with a $390 award to Finisar, a laser research firm in Sherman that makes components for the Face ID system.

Apple's projected US employment by 2022 (Credit: Apple)
Apple's projected US employment by 2022 (Credit: Apple)


Tim Cook is expected to be in Texas for President Trump's tour of the Apple facilities there later today.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 35
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    Why Austin?
    Why Texas?
  • Reply 2 of 35
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Why Austin?
    Why Texas?
    Austin is Silicon Valley 2.0. All the big tech are there. My nephew lives there and has worked for Dell and other big tech located there.
    edited November 2019 ravnorodombigtdsphilboogiebshank
  • Reply 3 of 35
    Why Austin?
    Why Texas?
    Texas is good for business and Austin is like a liberal California city just in Texas.
    jbdragonphilboogie
  • Reply 4 of 35
    Why Austin?
    Why Texas?
    Because California and in particular San Fran have no pleasant future outcome. Dead state walking. People and businesses are fleeing.

    I recently started a new company in the US. My heart has always been in California, but from a business POV it didn't get a look in. Florida or Texas. Florida won.
    edited November 2019 bigtdsjbdragonphilboogieentropys
  • Reply 5 of 35
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    If Tim Cook and the Apple executive team don't know by now they are at great risk by staying in China then they are blind. Apple diversified its product line to include services and wearables. They should also diversify their manufacturing. India is a start, Austin is for show only. I wonder sometimes if the EU will follow India’s lead and demand products sold in the EU be manufactured in the EU. I wouldn’t put it past the bastards.
    monstrositybshank
  • Reply 6 of 35
    Why Austin?
    Why Texas?
    I live in Austin. As stated it’s Silicon Valley 2.0. We have almost every major tech company here. The city opened up a lot of incentives for them to expand here. 

    I am a tech employee that designs and specifies the features for a platform built for educational training (based on a.i. machine learning.) 

    There is so much opportunity here. 
    jbdragon
  • Reply 7 of 35
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,038member
    Why Austin?
    Why Texas?
    Because California and in particular San Fran have no pleasant future outcome. Dead state walking. People and businesses are fleeing.

    I recently started a new company in the US. My heart has always been in California, but from a business POV it didn't get a look in. Florida or Texas. Florida won.
    Um, no. California is the 5th largest economy in the world. It's not going to simply die. What is happening, is Apple, like all companies, are moving to location where there are resources that are yet untapped, which for this type of facility means that Austin is a good fit.

    Your distorted feelings about California are not new and yet Apple completed an HQ right now the road from its previous HQ. So why would Apple do that if the writing was on the wall that companies were fleeing CA because, as you put it, is a "dead state walking"? Do you think Apple is that daft at operations? I don't, but if you do you probably should sell any stock ASAP.
    StrangeDaysminicoffeefastasleepbshank
  • Reply 8 of 35
    ‘$390 million”...
  • Reply 9 of 35
    neilmneilm Posts: 1,001member
    Why Austin?
    Why Texas?
    Because California and in particular San Fran have no pleasant future outcome. Dead state walking. People and businesses are fleeing.
    "Nobody goes there any more. It's too crowded."

    – Yogi Berra
    Solipscooter63WgkruegerrandominternetpersonStrangeDaysphilboogiefastasleepFileMakerFeller
  • Reply 10 of 35
    Soli said:
    Why Austin?
    Why Texas?
    Because California and in particular San Fran have no pleasant future outcome. Dead state walking. People and businesses are fleeing.

    I recently started a new company in the US. My heart has always been in California, but from a business POV it didn't get a look in. Florida or Texas. Florida won.
    Um, no. California is the 5th largest economy in the world. It's not going to simply die. What is happening, is Apple, like all companies, are moving to location where there are resources that are yet untapped, which for this type of facility means that Austin is a good fit.

    Your distorted feelings about California are not new and yet Apple completed an HQ right now the road from its previous HQ. So why would Apple do that if the writing was on the wall that companies were fleeing CA because, as you put it, is a "dead state walking"? Do you think Apple is that daft at operations? I don't, but if you do you probably should sell any stock ASAP.
    California actually has the largest outflow of residents of any state in the US, Illinois is a close second I think. CA isn’t dying but it also isn’t growing. I’ve worked with clients in California for 15+ years and there is a very large shift taking place today. I’m seeing so many more companies in NY, Boston, Austin than ever before and less in CA. San Fransisco is a shadow of itself today and not really all that pleasant to visit at the moment. Traffic, pricing, sanitation, taxes, take your pick. There are many factors driving the change and each company has its own reasons of course but so many young companies have realized they don’t need or want to be in CA to build an effective business. And the economic climate in TX is very enticing, without some of the CA upsides sure, but also without many of the CA downsides as well. I’ve always loved CA but it’s not the same today as even 5 years ago.
    edited November 2019 jbdragonphilboogieentropysmocseg
  • Reply 11 of 35
    mobirdmobird Posts: 759member
    I spent a lot of time in Austin during the '70's working in the music industry. My love for the city was such that my Wife and I gave our Son his middle name, "Austin".
    philboogie
  • Reply 12 of 35
    "Building the Mac Pro, Apple's most powerful device ever, in Austin....."
    "The New Apple Mac Pro Will Be Made In China"
    So which one is it?
    edited November 2019
  • Reply 13 of 35
    mobird said:
    I spent a lot of time in Austin during the '70's working in the music industry. My love for the city was such that my Wife and I gave our Son his middle name, "Austin".
    My kids middle name is “Bacon”. 
    entropys
  • Reply 14 of 35
    mobirdmobird Posts: 759member
    Wgkrueger said:
    mobird said:
    I spent a lot of time in Austin during the '70's working in the music industry. My love for the city was such that my Wife and I gave our Son his middle name, "Austin".
    My kids middle name is “Bacon”. 
    That could be a close second choice in my book! B)
  • Reply 15 of 35
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,312member
    Soli said:
    Why Austin?
    Why Texas?
    Because California and in particular San Fran have no pleasant future outcome. Dead state walking. People and businesses are fleeing.

    I recently started a new company in the US. My heart has always been in California, but from a business POV it didn't get a look in. Florida or Texas. Florida won.
    Um, no. California is the 5th largest economy in the world. It's not going to simply die. What is happening, is Apple, like all companies, are moving to location where there are resources that are yet untapped, which for this type of facility means that Austin is a good fit.

    Your distorted feelings about California are not new and yet Apple completed an HQ right now the road from its previous HQ. So why would Apple do that if the writing was on the wall that companies were fleeing CA because, as you put it, is a "dead state walking"? Do you think Apple is that daft at operations? I don't, but if you do you probably should sell any stock ASAP.
    California is NOT the 5th largest Economy in the world. It used to be many years ago, it's now the 7th largest. California is a craphole. I live here and see it. I'd flee also if the rest of my family also didn't live here.
  • Reply 16 of 35
    I wonder how much those subtle curves in the building added to the cost of the project?  I expect 10s of millions of dollars.  Right angles and straight lines are so much easier to construct.  Oh well, I suppose it looks slightly less boring with that wave.  And it gave the architects and engineers from extra work to do.
  • Reply 17 of 35
    mocseg said:
    "Building the Mac Pro, Apple's most powerful device ever, in Austin....."
    "The New Apple Mac Pro Will Be Made In China"
    So which one is it?
    Where is the second quote from?  The first one is the case.
  • Reply 18 of 35
    Why Austin?
    Why Texas?
    Because California and in particular San Fran have no pleasant future outcome. Dead state walking. People and businesses are fleeing.
    Sorry but that's nonsense. The reason why some residents are leaving CA is due to the high mortgage (property values). You know what makes property values high? Extremely high demand. Places that are dead have low property value due to low demand, like most of rural America, Detroit, etc.
    fastasleep
  • Reply 19 of 35
    jbdragon said:
    Soli said:
    Why Austin?
    Why Texas?
    Because California and in particular San Fran have no pleasant future outcome. Dead state walking. People and businesses are fleeing.

    I recently started a new company in the US. My heart has always been in California, but from a business POV it didn't get a look in. Florida or Texas. Florida won.
    Um, no. California is the 5th largest economy in the world. It's not going to simply die. What is happening, is Apple, like all companies, are moving to location where there are resources that are yet untapped, which for this type of facility means that Austin is a good fit.

    Your distorted feelings about California are not new and yet Apple completed an HQ right now the road from its previous HQ. So why would Apple do that if the writing was on the wall that companies were fleeing CA because, as you put it, is a "dead state walking"? Do you think Apple is that daft at operations? I don't, but if you do you probably should sell any stock ASAP.
    California is NOT the 5th largest Economy in the world. It used to be many years ago, it's now the 7th largest. California is a craphole. I live here and see it. I'd flee also if the rest of my family also didn't live here.
    Source?  From what I can tell, the ranking is US, China, Japan, Germany, [California], UK, India.

    Article from earlier this year (and there are plenty of others):  https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-04-24/california-economy-soars-above-u-k-france-and-italy
    edited November 2019 Soli
  • Reply 20 of 35
    Soli said:
    Why Austin?
    Why Texas?
    Because California and in particular San Fran have no pleasant future outcome. Dead state walking. People and businesses are fleeing.

    I recently started a new company in the US. My heart has always been in California, but from a business POV it didn't get a look in. Florida or Texas. Florida won.
    Um, no. California is the 5th largest economy in the world. It's not going to simply die. What is happening, is Apple, like all companies, are moving to location where there are resources that are yet untapped, which for this type of facility means that Austin is a good fit.

    Your distorted feelings about California are not new and yet Apple completed an HQ right now the road from its previous HQ. So why would Apple do that if the writing was on the wall that companies were fleeing CA because, as you put it, is a "dead state walking"? Do you think Apple is that daft at operations? I don't, but if you do you probably should sell any stock ASAP.
    California actually has the largest outflow of residents of any state in the US, Illinois is a close second I think. CA isn’t dying but it also isn’t growing. I’ve worked with clients in California for 15+ years and there is a very large shift taking place today. I’m seeing so many more companies in NY, Boston, Austin than ever before and less in CA. San Fransisco is a shadow of itself today and not really all that pleasant to visit at the moment. Traffic, pricing, sanitation, taxes, take your pick. There are many factors driving the change and each company has its own reasons of course but so many young companies have realized they don’t need or want to be in CA to build an effective business. And the economic climate in TX is very enticing, without some of the CA upsides sure, but also without many of the CA downsides as well. I’ve always loved CA but it’s not the same today as even 5 years ago.
    Not growing isn't the same as dying, which was claimed. Humorously you also stated "traffic" as a problem there....traffic is a problem when there is high population density. 

    Losing some people probably isn't a bad thing for such a populous, desirable, expensive place. 
    edited November 2019 Solifastasleep
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