Apple to produce Mac Minis in Houston for the first time — US chip sourcing tops 20 billion units

Apple announced today that it will begin producing the Mac Mini in Houston, Texas, later this year, marking the first time that the compact desktop has ever been manufactured in the United States.

Production will take place at a new factory on Apple’s existing Houston campus, which already assembles the company’s AI servers and will double the site’s overall footprint. The decision is part of Apple’s $600 billion U.S. manufacturing commitment, announced last year, which came following President Trump’s threats to levy a 25% tariff on Apple products made overseas.

"Apple is deeply committed to the future of American manufacturing, and we're proud to significantly expand our footprint in Houston with the production of Mac mini starting later this year,” CEO Tim Cook said in an Apple Newsroom announcement, which also states that AI server production at the Houston campus had already started ahead of schedule in 2025, with logic boards assembled onsite feeding Apple’s data centers across the country. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, COO Sabih Khan said that Apple “feels more confident” about long-term Mac Mini demand, describing it as more popular than the Mac Pro.

Some production in China and Vietnam will continue alongside the U.S. line, with the Houston facility focused on serving domestic demand as the assembly operation scales up. Apple currently manufactures thousands of Mac Minis per week globally, with roughly one million units sold annually worldwide, representing a fraction of the company’s iPhone volumes, meaning the Houston line represents a modest slice of the company’s overall manufacturing footprint even at full capacity. The Mac Mini currently starts at $599 and is powered by Apple’s M4 and M4 Pro chips.

Apple is also building a 20,000-square-foot Advanced Manufacturing Center at the Houston campus, due to open later this year, offering hands-on training in Apple's production techniques to students, supplier employees, and other U.S. businesses.

In terms of chip supply, the numbers Apple released alongside the Houston announcement show us how aggressively the company has been assembling a domestic semiconductor supply chain. The company said it exceeded its own targets and sourced more than 20 billion U.S.-made chips from 24 factories across 12 states last year, with partners including TSMC, Broadcom, and Texas Instruments. Separately, Amkor broke ground on a $7 billion semiconductor advanced packaging and test facility in Peoria, Arizona, where Apple is expected to be the first and largest customer when it opens.

It’s worth noting that Apple does have a track record for domestic manufacturing. In 2019, Cook toured a Texas facility with Trump that was presented as a new manufacturing site, though the facility had been producing Apple computers since 2013. However, four years later, in 2023, MacRumors reported that the then-new Mac Pro featured a ‘Product of Thailand. Final assembly in the USA’ label which was not seen on previous models, with Apple providing no explanation for the change

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