Trump and Cook tour Apple facility in Texas as Mac Pro production begins

Apple's  new  Mac Pro has entered production and will ship to users in December, Apple said Wednesday while touting its newly expanded Austin campus. The announcement coincided with a tour of Apple's Texas Mac Pro production facility, during which CEO Tim Cook and President Donald Trump discussed the company's manufacturing and other contributions to the US economy.

The new 3-million-square-foot Texas campus, which Apple says will initially house 5,000 employees, started construction Wednesday with the expectation that it will open in 2022.

"Building the Mac Pro, Apple's most powerful device ever, in Austin is both a point of pride and a testament to the enduring power of American ingenuity," Cook said in a statement.

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"With the construction of our new campus in Austin now underway, Apple is deepening our close bond with the city and the talented and diverse workforce that calls it home," Cook said. "Responsible for 2.4 million American jobs and counting, Apple is eager to write our next chapter here and to keep contributing to America's innovation story."  

Trump touted his tariff push against China, which raised the price on several components for the Mac Pro, including its stainless steel and aluminum frame, internal cables and circuit boards. Trump previously has said Apple should make the parts in the US instead.

Trump has long pushed for Apple to make its products in the US, while Cook has been trying to steer Apple to avoid potential tariffs as part of the US-China trade war. 

For Trump, the tour was an opportunity to tout his record on the economy.

"Everyone said that's going to be bad for the economy, but as you just heard from Tim Cook, we have the strongest economy -- by far -- in the world, and we're taking in billions and billions of dollars," he said to reporters gathered at the facility. Economists and business leaders have argued that US companies and consumers pay most of the tariffs Trump has levied, not China.

Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin and Trump's daughter and adviser Ivanka also joined the tour.

The new Mac Pro

First announced at WWDC in June, the new Mac Pro is Apple's latest top-of-the-line computer. It starts at $5,999 for the base configuration, which includes an eight-core Intel Xeon processor, 32GB of RAM, an AMD Radeon Pro 580X graphics card and a 256GB SSD.

Apple says that it and its manufacturing partners have invested over $200 million in the Mac Pro facility in Austin, which has been making the Mac Pro since 2013, and that it uses "hundreds of components from companies in 19 states." 

In 2018, the iPhone maker pledged to contribute "$350 billion to the US economy by 2023" and to spend "$30 billion in capital expenditures" during that same period. It said in Wednesday's announcement that it remains "on track" to reach that commitment. 

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Originally published Nov. 20 at 6:56 a.m. PT.
Updates, 3:53 p.m. PT: Adds details about Trump's visit; Nov. 21: Adds additional details on the Mac Pro facility.