Apple commits $500 million over several years to buy US-made rare earth magnets
MP Materials is the only fully integrated rare earth producer in the country. The two companies have also pledged to work together to improve upon a processing facility in Texas, building a series of manufacturing lines specifically designed for Apple products. Once finished, the factory will "support dozens of new jobs in advanced manufacturing and R&D."
'American innovation drives everything we do at Apple, and we're proud to deepen our investment in the U.S. economy,' said Apple CEO Tim Cook. 'Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States."
Apple and MP will also team up to create a recycling facility in California and have promised to develop "novel magnet materials and innovative processing technologies" to enhance magnet performance. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so.
This is all part of Apple's pre-existing pledge to invest $500 billion in the US over the next four years, which is a slight increase over the $430 billion pledged in 2021 . Adjusted for inflation, these amounts are essentially the same .
Apple basically pioneered the use of recycled rare earth elements in consumer electronics. It began using these materials back in 2019 , in the Taptic Engine of the iPhone 11. The Pentagon recently became the largest shareholder of MP Materials, as rare earth materials are also key components in a range of military weapons systems. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
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