On its quarterly earnings call, Tim Cook addressed the recent news about Apple asking for tax waivers on Mac Pro production. Apple’s CEO said that “Apple has been making the Mac Pro in the US” and “we want to continue to do that”.
Cook’s comments did not clarify if Apple’s wishes should be treated as certainties. Cook said:
“We’ve been making the Mac Pro in the US. We want to continue to do that. So we’re working and investing currently in capacity to do so, because we want to continue to be here”.
Previous reporting indicated that the Mac Pro would be made in China, assembled by Quanta, with Apple’s current Mac Pro contractor in Austin, Texas, winding down the current factory.
The wording of Cook’s quote has a lot of wiggle room. It suggests that the company is not yet ready to commit to making all new Mac Pros out of the United States, and is currently investing to get the product lines up and running. This suggests that the first batches of Mac Pro shipments could be assembled in China with a longer-term outlook to maintaining the “Assembled in the USA” label.
The new Mac Pro will be available later in the year, starting from $6000.
Regarding recent reporting around Apple’s potential plans to move its supply chain out of China, Cook was more direct. On the call, he told investors “there’s been a lot of speculation around the topic of different moves and stuff, I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in those if I were you”.
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