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by DiddlyWinks 314 days ago
Really? I was not under the impression that we had anything truly competitive. Could we make an iPhone, for example, using only U.S.-made chips?
3 comments

I fondly remember my weird Razr-i with an Intel Atom CPU..

I can almost imagine we would have more trouble getting domestic phone screens, but I'm not doing any research to validate that gut feeling.

I think the biggest problem would be whether we could automate assembly enough to avoid having high labor costs on each unit

At $499 today no. At $490k in 1-2yr maybe. At $4.9m/unit by 2032 at up to 1k unit/yr, sure you guys can.
We couldn't make an iPhone because apple would refuse to cooperate, not because of a technical limitation. We could make a similarly capable phone though.
iPhone performance and battery life would likely slide back 5-10 years if Apple was forced to use Intel chips instead of TSMC today.

Not just that, the raft of features that may have to be disabled until that performance and performance per watt gets back to where it is today.

Complete nonsense. Intel 18A, were yields good enough, is competitive with TSMC N2.
> … because apple would refuse to cooperate…

Apple’s putative refusal to cooperate is surely not the only barrier here. I doubt U.S. consumers would pay a premium for a U.S. iPhone whether Apple thought it wise or not. But when the U.S. president’s branded Made in America phone comes out later this year I guess we’ll see. I’m sure the release is just around the corner.

All we’ll see is how gullible certain Americans are, since that phone won’t be made in America.
If the tariffs are high enough there won't be a premium. It also solves the deficit spending problem which needs to happen since no one seems to be able to handle the idea of any spending cuts.
Seriously, what is your basis for the assertion that we could do it here and Apple just doesn't wanna?
Oh? How many Android phones are made in America?

How about the new Trump phone?

It's about time we tariff Apple as if it's a Chinese company anyway.