- Apple plans to build some Mac Mini computers in the US
- Tim Cook made the announcement while showing a behind-the-scenes manufacturing video.
- AI may be one of the driving forces here
The suddenly popular Mac mini will soon be manufactured in the United States. Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the move Tuesday in a post on X.
“As part of our $600 billion commitment, the Mac mini will be produced in the US for the first time later this year.” Cook wrote.
As part of our $600 billion commitment, Mac mini will be produced in the US for the first time later this year! We’re accelerating our progress even further: producing more AI servers and opening a new Apple Advanced Manufacturing Center for hands-on training. pic.twitter.com/NO5DeZvPwPFebruary 24, 2026
The investment of 600,000 million dollars to which he refers is the billions Cook promised US President Donald Trump last year that he would channel American manufacturing efforts as part of a new “American Manufacturing Program” (AMP). He made the promise and at the same time presented Trump with a gold plaque with the words “Made in America.”
However, this Mac mini news may be much more valuable to American consumers interested in purchasing one of Apple’s increasingly popular small desktop computers.
A mini piece of cake
The Mac mini has accounted for only about 1% of Apple’s Mac sales in recent years, but the mini’s star is rising. According to recent reports, the 2024 M4 Mac minis have been sold out (along with Mac Studios). Because? Blame the AI. The small box computer is considered perfect for handling localized AI tasks, which is why they are apparently flying off the shelves.
Now, it’s unclear whether all those sales are helping the Mac mini catch up to, say, its best-selling MacBook Air or MacBook Pro counterparts. That seems unlikely, but U.S. production, set to begin at a new Houston, Texas, facility later this year, should ramp up mini-production levels.
An entire production facility dedicated to just a small portion of Apple’s Mac market doesn’t make much sense. However, AI’s appetite for hardware goes far beyond the mini. Apple will also build AI servers that should help support the company’s growing private cloud computing and other AI aspirations.
How mini are these operations?
Tim Cook’s post offers few details about exactly when the facility will open and be operational, or how many Mac minis it will produce each quarter. The factory likely only makes a fraction of all the Mac minis that Apple produces for sale. Maybe it builds all those sold in the United States, while other global manufacturing facilities serve the rest of the world.
However, we now know a little more about how Apple makes products through its supply chain and with its manufacturing partners, thanks to a new video report from The Wall Street Journal.
The report focuses largely on Apple’s efforts to have its Apple Silicon manufactured in the United States. Apple does not produce chips; depends on a number of partners to produce the high-power silicon. However, it is clear from the video that Apple’s fingerprints are all over the process.
When asked about The Wall Street Journal“Who is the most demanding client you have?” The Global Wafers executive quickly responded: “Apple.”
Apple’s deep involvement and size give it the power to pressure partners like these chip supply chain partners to move more operations to the United States.
Is the iPhone next?
Apple’s promise to start manufacturing some Mac minis in the US this year does not signal a massive shift to manufacturing all Apple products in the US. And when Apple executives were asked about The Wall Street Journal about making the iPhone in the US, they gave a roundabout answer about future innovation, but didn’t offer any insight into future iPhone construction operations.
Ultimately, the new Mac mini manufacturing headquarters represents a small but perhaps important return to American manufacturing for Apple, which built the original Macintosh in Fremont. California.
There’s no indication that Apple is planning a broad return to US manufacturing, but the push for US-based chipmaking operations is perhaps a stronger possibility given the growing need for chips (and memory) in the US.
For now, most silicon and RAM are manufactured outside the United States. Once again, the global AI race is creating unprecedented demand and shortages and the need, in the United States, for supply chains closer to home.
In some ways, this Houston-based operation is also a proof of concept. If all goes well, and Apple can also bring some Apple Silicon manufacturing to the US, we may finally see a broader range of Apple products arrive without the support of imports and the potential burden of tariffs.
Will that mean cheaper Mac minis and, eventually, other products? Only time will tell.
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