Nikkei Asia claims that because of the intricacy of the MacBook Pro’s manufacturing, the transition has taken longer than it did with the iPad and AirPods: For the first time, every flagship Apple product would have a second manufacturing base outside of China if MacBook manufacturing begins in Vietnam. The report omits, crucially, any information on anticipated output levels. Given the time required to build up commercial production, Apple produces between 20-24 million MacBooks annually in China, thus it’s doubtful that Vietnamese manufacturing in 2023 would significantly impact this figure. Apple has been working to add production sites outside of China for all of its major product lines, but doing so for the final one, the MacBook, has taken longer due to the complex supply chain needed for making laptop computers.” With the iPhone, Apple is dealing with the same problem. It has dramatically increased iPhone manufacturing in India, starting with the assembly of the iPhone 14 there only a few weeks after production started in China. However, according to recent estimates, 80% of the world’s output of iPhones is still produced at a single factory in Zhengzhou, China. Apple’s dependency on China has long been a source of concern, but the epidemic brought to light the dangers associated with the business putting the majority of its production pressure on a single factory. It was claimed that the COVID-19-related disruption at the largest iPhone manufacturing factory in the world cost the corporation $1 billion each week. While Apple has been slowly diversifying its supplier chain, the process has been challenging.
