Factory Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Protests against iPhone factory conditions planned at Apple Stores

by Mike Schramm (Feb 8th, 2012)

Stories about troubling factory conditions at Foxconn are all too familiar, unfortunately, but hearing that protestors are planning to do something about it is new. GigaOM reports that this Thursday, representatives from Change.org and Sumofus.org are planning to bring petitions to Apple Stores in ...

Apple's A5 processor now manufactured in Texas

by Chris Rawson (Dec 16th, 2011)

"Designed by Apple in California" -- you'll find that on virtually every Apple product. While it's well-known that the brains of Apple's outfit are indeed housed in California, it's almost as well-known that Apple's products are almost wholly manufactured overseas. Indeed, Apple has been a target ...

Brazil's iPad production deal is 'in doubt'

by Chris Rawson (Sep 29th, 2011)

Tech product manufacturer Foxconn has been in talks with Brazil to open a factory in that country for some time now, but apparently talks have begun to break down. Reuters now says the proposed US$12 billion deal is "in doubt" because Brazil lacks skilled labor and isn't meeting Foxconn's ...

China urges Foxconn to ensure worker safety

by Dana Franklin (May 25th, 2011)

It's been another rough week for Foxconn, Apple's biggest manufacturing partner. After an explosion at a Foxconn factory killed three workers last Friday, the Chinese government urged the manufacturer and other Taiwanese companies to better ensure the safety of their employees. "We hope ...

Apple issues statement on Foxconn explosion

by Michael Grothaus (May 20th, 2011)

Apple has issued a statement to All Things Digital regarding the tragic explosion that occurred at a Foxconn plant in Chengdu, China earlier today. The explosion killed 2 workers and injured at least 16 others. In the statement Apple said: "We are deeply saddened by the tragedy at ...

A look inside the Foxconn factory

by Kelly Hodgkins (Dec 27th, 2010)

French journalist and photographer Jordan Pouille revisited a Foxconn factory in Longhua, China and reported on factory conditions in the wake of a highly publicized pay raise for its Chinese workers. This pay raise came in response to criticism over a rash of suicides occurring at this Longhua ...

Foxconn hiring and relocating 400,000 workers

by Mike Schramm (Aug 19th, 2010)

The recent issues at Foxconn haven't actually slowed the company down, apparently -- it has announced that it will be hiring 400,000 more workers at new plants in China, thanks to a 50 percent increase in revenue lately. The total number of people working at Foxconn will be estimated at 1.3 ...

Dick Durbin presses Apple on human rights in China

by Mike Schramm (Feb 2nd, 2010)

Technology relations with China and their human rights situation is turning into a hot-button issue lately, especially given Google's recent troubles with that country. Now, my old senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, has decided to raise the level of scrutiny, calling for a list of 30 companies, ...

iSuppli estimates the iPhone 3GS costs $179 to make

by Mike Schramm (Jun 25th, 2009)

Did you know that after it is broken down into all of its composite metals and materials and parts, your human body is really only worth about $4.50? Yup, you're cheap in the broadest sense -- all of that oxygen, magnesium, iron, and sodium isn't actually worth all that much in the rare metals ...

Inside the Phone Factory

by Erica Sadun (Jul 28th, 2008)

Here's a sweet little treat. Over at ReMoveTheLabels.com, a poster's mom apparently bought an iPhone and found a surprise waiting for her on the onboard camera roll: three pictures. Two were blurry but the third is a real surprise: a picture straight from the iPhone production line. Look at all ...

Flickr Find: Inside an Apple manufacturing plant

by Scott McNulty (Jan 15th, 2007)

It looks like Flickr user dinsdale79 was lucky enough to get an inside tour of Apple's manufacturing plant in Ireland. He took a bunch of pictures, though nothing of a sensitive nature (so I am pretty sure no one will be fired over these pictures, so no need to comment about that). This is a chance ...

Solution for broken car interfaces with new iPod software

by David Chartier (Sep 15th, 2006)

We don't know how wide-spread this problem is, but I figured if this frustrating complicatioin happened to one user, he probably isn't the only one: SecurityMonkey at the ITtoolbox Blogs posted a tragic story with a happy ending involving Apple's latest iPod software update and factory car ...

iPod factory admits to violating Chinese labor laws

by David Chartier (Jun 27th, 2006)

Sounds like things might not be so squeaky clean in the "iPod City" after all, as Engadget has dug up some dirt on the Foxconn factory's admission of breaching Chinese labor laws. Specifically, Foxconn has admitted their employees work about 80 extra hours each month - which is a tad above and ...

Flickr Find: Mac factory circa 1984

by Dave Caolo (Mar 21st, 2006)

Check out this great shot posted by Flickr user wackymac. Apparently it depicts a Mac assembly line from 1984. He writes: "This is a photo of the original Macintosh factory in Fremont, California. It was the first of its kind for the computer industry, featuring advanced automated technology ...

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