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The cover of Apple in China

Apple in China

Patrick McGee, 2025

See how Apple trained China's manufacturers to build the iPhone, and how that bet left Apple deeply dependent on China while it helped create its own Chinese rivals.

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8 parts, about 30 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • McGee argues Apple did more than outsource: by training suppliers and placing machinery in their plants, it helped build China's tech industry
  • Changes how you read a supply chain, showing why moving production elsewhere is far harder than headlines suggest
  • Built on internal documents, court records and former Apple engineers, and goes beyond the familiar story of cheap labour

Who it is for

  • Business readers tracking US and China decoupling
  • Operations managers who depend on overseas suppliers
  • Apple followers curious about its hidden side

What the summary covers

  1. Prologue: "Incomparable" Arrogance3 min
  2. Part One: Saving Apple2 min
  3. Part Two: Apple's Long March to China4 min
  4. Part Three: Siren Song: Consolidation4 min
  5. Part Four: Insatiable Demand: The iPhone in China3 min
  6. Part Five: Political Awakening6 min
  7. Part Six: Red Apple6 min
  8. Conclusion: Unwritten Legacy2 min

Recommended by

  • Peter FrankopanProfessor of Global History at Oxford
    Absolutely riveting. An extraordinary story, expertly told
  • Chris MillerAuthor of Chip War
    Deeply researched, disturbing, and enlightening, Apple in China reveals how Apple enabled China's rise, seemingly at the cost of its own future.
  • Robert D. KaplanAuthor of The Revenge of Geography
    It is a once-in-a-generation read.

About the author

  • Patrick McGeeTechnology journalist and author of Apple in China, formerly the Financial Times Apple reporter
    • Journalist at the Financial Times from 2013 to 2023, reporting from Hong Kong, Germany and California
    • Principal Apple reporter 2019 to 2023, then took a two year sabbatical to write the book
    • Degrees in religious studies (Toronto) and global diplomacy (SOAS)
    • Apple in China was a New York Times bestseller

Read it alongside

  • Goes deeperChip War

    Patrick McGee describes Apple's reliance on TSMC and its exposure around Taiwan; Chris Miller explains how a neutral foundry serving many designers gained manufacturing scale.

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