Welcome to our Weekend Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed this week in a handy summary. We call it “apple breakfast” because we think it goes great with a morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s great if you want to read it during lunch or dinner as well.

When the chips are down

Running for office in early 2016, Donald Trump promised to “make Apple make their damn computers and stuff in this country, not in other countries.” This vague, half-formed plan was widely ridiculed because it seemed so impractical: You can’t just break a complicated overseas supply chain and start from scratch in a territory with almost no skills and infrastructure. But, publicly at least, Apple politely embraced the idea.

Perhaps looking for a patriotic cover against accusations of leftist bias – the world’s largest company can’t afford to alienate half of its home market – Apple is quite passionate about the idea of ​​creating a little hardware in the US Trump’s comments notwithstanding, the company was already manufacturing one of its “damned computers” in the US: the Mac Pro, which was proudly built in its Austin, Texas plant. But it’s important to emphasize that the Mac Pro is a niche product, produced in small batches, and therefore it is several orders of magnitude easier to assemble at home than, for example, the iPhone.

Similarly limited is this week’s announcement that supplier TSMC (based in Taiwan) will manufacture Apple’s chips at a plant in Arizona. Again, we are not talking about the production of actual Apple products, but just one component. But it’s something. TSMC makes chips for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and just about everything Apple sells, so the company may start claiming some of these devices are “(partially) made in America.”

But not yet. Because the first caveat in this positive-sounding story is the time frame. The factory won’t open until 2024, which apparently rules out early releases of the iPhone 15, Apple Watch Series 9, and next-gen Macs and iPads. TSMC and Apple were quick to release the news, but the implications of the move are far from over.

Even when the plant is running, it won’t make all the chips that Apple uses; it just won’t have the capacity. It also won’t be tuned to a 3nm manufacturing process, which the company is expected to move to in 2023. Working on either 5nm or 4nm process technology, the factory will have to focus, at least initially, on legacy chips that are not as important. like the new A-series processor. If you end up buying an iPhone 13 or 14 in 2024, you might find that its processor was assembled in Arizona, but that’s unlikely to apply to an iPhone 15 or 16. And it’s more likely that the factory will make smaller chips for a small amount. Apple Watch and Apple TV.

Ultimately, the problem with Apple’s “Made in America” ​​plans is that the company is not really interested in bringing production home and will not get any practical benefit from it. Locating most production in China, Vietnam, and India makes sense because labor is cheaper in these countries, labor laws tend to be less favorable to workers, and existing factories are set up to produce technology products on a large scale. Apple has created a complex international supply chain not for fun; rather, each link in the chain is the optimal choice for legal, economic, personnel or tax reasons. Moving some of it to the US would mean higher costs and lower profits, and likely higher prices for consumers. What Apple really wants is good publicity about job creation and chip manufacturing in the US. The plant in Arizona has already made headlines and should provide jobs. But if people reading these stories think that the iPhone 15 will be equipped with a chip made in the USA, they are deeply mistaken.

Of course, the Arizona plant could be the start of a massive shift. It’s entirely possible that the financial stimulus promised by successive administrations (including the chip law signed into law in August) means it makes sense for Apple to bring back a significant portion of its supply chain to the US. But it will happen if and when it benefits Apple. and not a minute earlier.

IDG

Trending: the main news of the week

Mac Failed expectations, but still amazed us in 2022,” said Jason Snell.

Apple may actually be doomed unless Tim Cook can fix his biggest iPhone problem.

We see 5 reasons why you want to update to iOS 16.2 immediately.

To beat Google’s speaker warApple needs to deploy its secret mini-weapon.

Apple has updated its pricing tiers, which means iOS apps can now cost as little as 29 cents or as much as 10,000 dollars.

Apple used illegal tactics According to the National Labor Relations Board, to discourage retail workers from unionizing.

The latest Apple Music feature is perfect for your festive karaoke parties.

One simple trick did Michael Simon’s safari browser for mac again.

rumor mill

Apple is reportedly working on a folding screen, but this there will be no iphone.

long awaited Apple car project it just became a lot less ambitious — and, according to reports, even more delayed.

And while we’re pessimistic, Apple mixed reality headset may arrive later than we thought.

Podcast of the week

In the latest installment of the Macworld podcast, we’ll take a look at some of the main and weak points for Apple in 2022.

You can watch every episode of the Macworld podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own website.

Software updates, bugs and issues

Apple brought end-to-end encryption to almost all iCloud services, including backups.

After a year in limbo, Apple quietly killed its controversial CSAM photo scan function.

Google Chrome now consumes less battery and runs smoother on your Mac.

iOS 16.2, which was delivered to developers this week and may have been released to the public by the time you read this, brings Apple Music Sing and the Freeform app.

But why Apple latest music feature such high system requirements?

And release macOS Ventura 13.1 seems inevitable.

That’s where we ended up this week. If you would like to receive regular news updates, subscribe to our newsletters. You can also follow us on twitter for breaking news. See you next Saturday, enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay Eppley.