Apple announces $1bn Austin campus before Trump's visit

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IANS | 20 Nov, 2019
As CEO Tim Cook prepared himself for a first-ever tour of the Austin, Texas Mac Pro facility with US President Donald Trump, Apple on Wednesday announced it has started construction of a new $1 billion, 133-acre campus and production of the all-new Mac Pro that it aims to ship to customers starting in December.

The new campus, near the already-running Mac Pro production facility, will initially house 5,000 employees, with the capacity to grow to 15,000, and is expected to open in 2022.

"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 in a statement.

Mac Pro units are now in production in Austin and will soon ship to customers across the Americas.

Apple said it is on track to contribute $350 billion to the US economy between 2018 and 2023, and during that time, will hire an additional 20,000 employees in cities across the country.

The current 244,000-square-foot Mac Pro facility employs more than 500 people in a range of roles, including electrical engineers and electronics assemblers, who build each unique unit to customers' specifications.

The all-new Mac Pro is Apple's most powerful machine ever, and 15,000 times faster than the original Mac.

Apple and its manufacturing partners invested over $200 million in the Mac Pro facility in Austin, building out the complex assembly line where the Mac Pro is produced.

Each Mac Pro travels a distance of 1,000 feet along the production line, with some components requiring precision placement within the width of a human hair, the company informed.

"Like every product we make, the Mac Pro is designed and engineered in the US, and we're proud to support 2.4 million jobs across the nation," said Cook.

The Apple CEO who is "Tim Apple" for Trump, was set to take the President, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow, Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner, and Ivanka Trump, Advisor to the President, for a campus tour later, media reported.

As part of its commitment to respecting the historical and geographical significance of the area, Apple is partnering with Austin-based Bartlett Tree Experts to preserve and increase the diversity of native trees on the 133-acre property.

"Thousands of trees spanning over 20 varieties native to Texas are planned for the campus - significantly more than were on the site before construction started," said Apple.

Like all Apple facilities, the new Austin campus will run on 100 percent renewable energy, including from solar power generated on site.