Apple announced a new commitment Tuesday to buy $500 million worth of American-made rare earth magnets from Texas-based MP Materials. The raw material will go into iPhones, MacBooks and more.
In addition, the two companies are working together to build a cutting-edge rare earth recycling line in California.
Apple chooses American-made rare earth magnets
Rare earth magnets, made from alloys of rare earth elements like neodymium or samarium, are incredibly powerful and compact. In MacBooks, rare earth magnets help hold the lid shut. In iPhones, Apple uses them in the MagSafe magnetic attachment system for wireless chargers. Rare earth magnets also hold an Apple Pencil to an iPad.
MP Materials is the only fully integrated rare earth producer in the United States. In cooperation with Apple, it will build out its state-of-the-art factory in Fort Worth, Texas. It will add a series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines specifically designed for Apple products.
The new equipment and technical capacity will allow MP Materials to significantly boost its overall production.
“American innovation drives everything we do at Apple, and we’re proud to deepen our investment in the U.S. economy,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a press release Tuesday. “Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States. We couldn’t be more excited about the future of American manufacturing, and we will continue to invest in the ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit of the American people.”
Photo: MP Materials
Recycling rare earth magnets
Part of the deal concerns cooperation on a new recycling facility in Mountain Pass, California. This will enable MP Materials to take in recycled rare earth feedstock — including material from used electronics and post-industrial scrap — and reprocess it for use in Apple products. Recycled rare earth feedstock processed in California will become magnets produced in Texas.
For nearly five years, Apple and MP Materials have been piloting advanced recycling technology that enables recycled rare earth magnets to be processed into material that meets Apple’s exacting standards for performance and design.
Apple pioneered the use of recycled rare earth elements in consumer electronics, first introducing them in the Taptic Engine of the iPhone 11 in 2019. Today, nearly all magnets across Apple devices are made with 100% recycled rare earth elements.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
