fbpx
Skip to content

Apple Set to Bring Some Mac Production to the US

December 14, 2012

Last week, Apple CEO Tom Cook announced to Bloomberg Businessweek that Apple plans to bring some production of Mac computers to the United States from China.

Cook did not give details about which line of Macs it will be or where the plant will be located. Nor did he say exactly what prompted the move, but he did tell NBC’s Brian Williams: “We’ve been working for years on doing more and more in the United States.”

g-cvr-121206-tim-cook-856a_zpsbc9ba9d8

Foxconn Technology Group, one of Apple’s largest suppliers, has recently been at the center of a media firestorm for poor factory working conditions in its Chinese plants, forcing Apple to defend its manufacturing practices there.

Monitoring their suppliers has been a challenge for Apple for several years. 2012 Goldman Prize recipient Ma Jun led a coalition of NGOs on a “Poison Apple” campaign in 2010 to protest the company’s lack of supply chain oversight. Ma Jun and his team at the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) continue to work closely with Apple.

While Apple’s exact reasons for the move are still unknown, the Forbes article, Why Apple Is Bringing Manufacturing Back to the United States says, “it’s a good bet that, for a company obsessed with design and quality control, proximity and the ability to manage every aspect of the manufacturing process will yield economic benefits.”

foxconn-iphone_large_verge_medium_landscape_zps36502343

Related Posts

Environmental Leadership in Tunisia: A Q&A with Semia Gharbi


June 30, 2025

A lifelong environmental educator and scientist, Semia Gharbi is the 2025 Goldman Environmental Prize winner for Africa. In our discussion, Semia digs into her work as an environmental advocate in Tunisia, starting with her Goldman Prize-winning campaign to reverse the illegal import of waste into her country. Semia also discusses her collaborative work to build…

Read more

World Oceans Day with Kristal Ambrose


June 8, 2022 – By Jacqueline Kehoe

For Kristal Ambrose, World Oceans Day is every day. A 2020 Goldman Prize winner, Kristal—nicknamed “Kristal Ocean”—rallied her community in the Bahamas to protect the seas, passing one of the most stringent plastic bans to date: the categorical ban of single-use plastics, which account for one-third of all plastic in our oceans. On the frontlines…

Read more

How Grassroots Environmental Activism Has Changed the Course of History


September 1, 2021

Environmental activism is more mainstream today than ever before. In the last several years, activists like Greta Thunberg have become media stars and household names; national news outlets have ramped up their coverage of climate campaigns; and politicians have become increasingly outspoken about how environmental issues affect policy decisions. The surge in awareness of environmental…

Read more