Apple is not just thinking differently, they are thinking magnetically. And made-in-America. Today, Apple announced a $500 million commitment with MP Materials, the only fully integrated rare earth producer in the U.S. The plan? Build powerful, American-made magnets at a new factory in Fort Worth, Texas, and recycle the old ones in California. Think of it as giving your old iPhone parts a second chance as magnets in your next iPhone.
This deal is not just a one-time flex. It is part of Apple’s larger pledge to invest over $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years.
So, what is actually happening?
- Apple is teaming up with MP Materials to build neodymium magnets (the tiny but mighty kind that help power your phone’s vibration, speakers, and more).
- Those magnets will be made in Texas, then shipped all over the globe.
- Meanwhile, out in California, the duo is building a rare earth recycling facility where used electronics and scrap materials will be reborn into shiny new Apple-grade magnets.
- The collaboration will also work on new magnet materials and better ways to make them perform harder, last longer, and waste less.
Related: General Motors Says Cheaper EVs Are Coming, Thanks to a New Battery Strategy
This is not Apple’s first magnet rodeo. The company started using 100% recycled rare earth materials in the Taptic Engine of the iPhone 11 back in 2019. Today, pretty much every Apple device is packed with them. Now they are taking it further, with new jobs in advanced manufacturing and R&D, workforce training programs, and a domestic supply chain that does not rely on, well, other countries with not-so-simple trade relationships.
