April 13, 2005: The tech world gets excited when a sketchy rumor suggests Apple is building a tablet computer.
The Chinese-language report claims Quanta will build a 15-inch touchscreen tablet PC with detachable keyboard. Apple will supposedly ship the device in the first quarter of 2006. Things don’t turn out quite like that, but the rumor offers the first hint about Apple’s secret iPad project.
Order a MacBook Pro with an M1 Max processor and you’ll wait until June for a delivery. Wait times have grown to 7+ weeks because the company that assembles the notebook for Apple is caught in a COVID lockdown.
The same lockdown caught one of the major iPhone assemblers, and also two iPad assemblers. But it’s not affecting handset or tablet deliveries. Not to the same extent, anyway.
Apple’s partnership with Foxconn, its largest manufacturing partner, is “eroding” as a result of the supposedly shady tactics that Foxconn is using in an effort to boost profits, according to a new report.
It is claimed that Foxconn has exaggerated hiring counts, used Apple equipment to produce orders for other companies, and cut corners on component and product testing.
Now might be the best time to buy that MacBook you’ve been considering. Factory shutdowns in China because of the coronavirus outbreak will reportedly lead to shortages of components needed to make laptops.
Apple Watch might go through a big change behind the scenes. Until now, this wearable has been assembled mostly by Quanta, but that’s reportedly going to change next year. No less than three companies are going to take on the job.
The only Apple device that is produced in the U.S. is about to have its manufacturing operations moved overseas.
Apple reportedly plans to make its expensive new Mac Pro in China according to a new report that claims an assembly partner has already been lined up. The previous “trash can” Mac Pro was made at an Apple facility in Austin, Texas where the company also has a software engineering hub.
Apple wants its suppliers to explore manufacturing outside of China — and it seems that many in its supply chain are listening.
According to a pair of new reports, Compal and Quanta, who make the iPad and MacBook for Apple, are looking overseas for future production.
Apple has reportedly asked its main suppliers to evaluate the cost of shifting 15% to 30% of their production from China to Southeast Asia.
This is a response to the burgeoning China and U.S. trade war, which has already impacted Apple’s share price. If new tariffs go into effect, it could drive up the cost of Apple devices considerably.
Apple has said that it will investigate allegations that one of its manufacturers used high school students to build Apple Watches in China.
The news came to light late last week, when the Hong Kong-based labor rights group Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) said it had received a report. Today, Apple issued a statement saying previous audits revealed no cases of underage labor, but that it will carry out its own investigations.
Apple has no plans for a major upgrade to its MacBook line this year, a report claims. The last time Apple gave a major upgrade to the MacBook was in 2016, when Apple introduced the Touch Bar.
Provided this is accurate, it may disappoint customers who view the introduction of the iMac Pro as proof that Apple is placing renewed emphasis on its Mac product line.
