Apple To Manufacture Mac Minis In The U.S. With Houston Expansion

Apple is building a manufacturing training center at its Houston campus, where it also plans to produce Mac minis later this year.

The ultracompact desktop computers will be produced at a new factory on Apple’s Houston manufacturing site, the tech giant announced Tuesday. This will be the first time the Mac mini will be manufactured in the United States. 

Apple’s 20K SF Advanced Manufacturing Center, which is under construction and slated to open later this year, will invest in the advanced manufacturing workforce. Apple experts will teach participants the processes used to make Apple products, and the dedicated facility will provide hands-on training to students, supplier employees and American businesses.

“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,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. 

Apple says its Houston operations will create thousands of jobs, and the new investments will double the campus’ footprint.

“We began shipping advanced AI servers from Houston ahead of schedule, and we’re excited to accelerate that work even further,” Cook said.

Apple began shipping artificial intelligence servers built at its Houston factory in October, part of the company’s $600B U.S. investment plan announced last year, as President Donald Trump pressured companies to bring manufacturing operations stateside. 

Apple has spent more than $3B on Trump’s second-term tariffs, the BBC reported. The president specifically threatened tariffs against Apple if it did not start manufacturing iPhones in the U.S., but analysts say significant changes to the company’s supply chain would take time.

The Mac mini is a niche product, accounting for less than 5% of Mac sales, according to the BBC.  

Apple was one of several manufacturing giants, along with Nvidia, Tesla and Eli Lilly, to announce investments in Houston last year as onshoring took center stage.