Apple to return Mac production stateside

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CUPERTINO, Calif., Dec. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. technology giant Apple has plans to manufacture computers in the United States, the firm's chief executive officer, Tim Cook, has said.

In recent interviews, Cook said Apple would invest $100 million in U.S. production in 2013.

Currently, customized Apple computers are outfitted with special features, such as an over-sized hard drive and larger memory, in the United States. Otherwise, almost all of Apple's production has been done overseas for years, The New York Times reported Thursday.

"Next year, we will do one of our existing Mac lines in the United States," Cook said in an interview with Brian Williams on NBC.

Cook said the plan "doesn't mean that Apple will do it ourselves, but we'll be working with people, and we'll be investing our money."

The implication, however, is that computer production moved to the United States would be more than the custom-ordered finishing touches currently done domestically.

Apple has recently joined the Fair Labor Association, which monitors outsourced work and found numerous problems at Foxconn, the Chinese firm that makes the iPhone and many other U.S. brand electronics.

In 2010, a spate of worker suicides at Foxconn -- 18 attempts and 14 deaths -- brought global focus on conditions at Foxconn, which is China's largest employer with 1.2 million employees.

A request from Apple prompted the Fair Labor Association investigation, the Times said.