Apple Set to Move Some Mac Mini Production to Houston Later This Year

Apple made a huge announcements today by revealing that some Mac Mini computers will roll off the line in Houston, Texas, marking the first time this compact desktop gets built on American soil. This move is a significant extension of an existing site in Houston where they have been building high-end AI servers since 2025.

A brand new plant dedicated to producing Mac Minis will effectively double the size of the campus there. Along with it, a separate 20,000-square-foot Advanced Manufacturing Center will open later in 2026. The idea is that everyone, not just Apple employees, but students, workers from suppliers, and so on, will receive hands-on training in the latest and greatest production methods, thanks to a special curriculum developed by Apple in collaboration with some experts from Michigan State University.

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This latest development fits into Apple’s overall ambition to invest $600 billion in the US economy, which they announced last year. We’ve already seen some success on this front; for example, last year Apple sourced over 20 billion chips manufactured right here in the good old United States of America from 24 separate facilities spread over 12 states. In 2026, they will rely even more on TSMC’s expanding factory in Arizona for their high-end chips. And it’s not just the chips; GlobalWafers is building a $4 billion plant in Sherman, Texas to make silicon wafers, Amkor is opening a $7 billion facility in Peoria, Arizona to pack chips, and Corning has fully committed their Kentucky operation to producing cover glass for Apple.

Assuming all proceeds as planned, this should result in thousands of good employment in Houston, both from plant expansion and from the training facility. The Mac Mini is already the most cheap desktop available, priced at $599. The Mac Mini accounts for less than 5% of total Mac sales, according to some estimates, thus this is a small but significant step toward producing more Apple goods in the United States.

It appears that all of Apple’s partners are on board, including Foxconn, which has worked with Apple on products dating back to the early iMac days and is running the North Houston site. So production isn’t halting in Asia; this is more of an addition to their product range than a complete move. All of this comes at a particularly fascinating time for discussions about supply chains, tariffs, and so on. Apple claims that the practical benefits of all of this are obvious: people are learning new skills, local economies are benefiting, and the company is able to continue producing even better goods by manufacturing close to home.

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