Apple has released details for its $600 billion American Manufacturing Program, which outlines new and strengthened partnerships with U.S. component makers. Part of this commitment, as spotted by 9to5 Mac, will see $2.5 billion being used to expand the company's partnership with Corning, the company behind the Ceramic Shield glass used on recent iPhones and the Gorilla Glass screens seen on many of the best Android phones.
According to a separate Apple announcement, 100% of the cover glass for both the iPhone and the Apple Watch will be produced in Corning’s Harrodsburg, Kentucky, manufacturing facility. However, the press release doesn’t mention when this change will take place beyond Apple’s release, which states that “soon, every iPhone and Apple Watch sold around the world will be built with Kentucky-made cover glass.”
Samsung’s involvement will benefit Apple chips
As spotted by Android Authority, Apple is also working with Samsung to launch an “innovative new technology for making chips, which has never been used before anywhere in the world.” This will take place at Samsung’s fabrication plant in Austin, Texas, and will supply chips that will apparently optimize both the power and performance of Apple products.
Outside of this statement, there is no real information on what this change will mean or what impact Samsung will have when it comes to the next generation of A-series chipsets. This wouldn’t be the first time that Samsung has manufactured the chips, with the company having a hand in the A4 chip seen in the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 6s’ A9 chip.
However, Apple soon moved chip production to the Taiwanese company TSMC as its main chip producer, and this looks to be continuing for the iPhone 17 series. According to rumors, the A19 and the A19 Pro chip could feature TSMC’s 2nm process. This could bring a noticeable jump in performance for the phone, especially when combined with the rumored 12GB of RAM.
What else is Apple investing in?
Apple has also entered an agreement with GlobalFoundries to bring more semiconductor manufacturing to the United States, with the focus being the GlobalFoundries semiconductor facility in Malta, New York.
This follows Trump threatening a 100% tariff on semiconductor imports to the U.S. (via the New York Times), although it should be noted that TSMC has been excluded from this. It isn’t just production, as Apple will be the first, and largest, customer for Amkor’s new advanced chip packaging and test facility in Arizona.
Considering the recent tensions between Apple and the Trump administration regarding possible price increases on suppliers, the push to develop jobs and parts in the U.S. could stand as a peace treaty of sorts between the two parties. At this point, we can’t say for certain what this will mean for future Apple products, although hopefully it will help to mitigate the predicted price rises that were expected due to the tariffs.
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