Tech

Apple will build new Mac Pros in Texas amid tariffs

Apple’s insanely expensive new desktop computer will be made in the United States — not China, the company announced Monday.

The $6,000 Mac Pro will be built at Apple’s Austin, Texas, plant following US trade regulators approving 10 requests for tariff exemptions filed by Apple for computer parts.

“The new Mac Pro will include components designed, developed and manufactured by more than a dozen American companies for distribution to US customers,” Apple said in a statement.

The Mac Pro had been assembled at the Austin plant since 2013, but Apple announced earlier this year that its new computer would be made in China — prompting furor from President Trump, who has been critical of the company’s reliance on Chinese factories.

“Apple will not be given Tariff wavers (sic), or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China,” Trump tweeted. “Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!”

Apple at that time said “like all of our products, the new Mac Pro is designed and engineered in California and includes components from several countries including the United States.”

The new Mac Pro is slated for release this fall with an entry-level price of $5,999. It’s designed to be paired with Apple’s new $4,999 Pro Display XDR monitor, which in turn is mounted on a $999 Pro Stand.

That means Apple’s new supercomputer will cost at least $12,000 before boosting any of its specs.

Apple shares were up 0.6 percent Monday morning, at $219.10.

With Reuters