You’re listening to “Global Tech in a Snap,” and today we’re diving into the viral question: What would it really cost Apple to build iPhones in America? Spoiler alert: It’s not just a matter of swapping factories — it could jack up prices big time. According to a new analysis from Bank of America, shifting production of the iPhone from China to the U.S. could increase costs by as much as 90%. That would turn your $1,200 iPhone 16 Pro Max into something pushing $2,300 or more — and that’s just for assembling it stateside, not completely rebuilding the supply chain. Industry analysts are calling these tariffs and relocation pushes an economic ticking time bomb that might set the tech world back a decade.

Key Takeaways:

• Apple currently manufactures about 85% of its iPhones in China.
• Bank of America studied what it would cost to move that production to the U.S.
• If only final assembly shifts to the U.S., labor costs alone would raise the iPhone price by 25%.
• If Apple has to import parts and pay tariffs before final assembly, the increase could hit 90%.
• Apple would need a long list of tariff waivers just to make domestic assembly remotely viable.
• As the Bank of America report put it, “Moving the entire iPhone supply chain would be a much bigger undertaking and would likely take many years, if even possible.”
• Wedbush analyst Dan Ives warned that iPhones could cost up to $3,500 if fully manufactured in the U.S., and that tech earnings could dip by 15%.
• Ives didn’t hold back in his warning: Tariffs could cause an “economic Armageddon” and “take the U.S. tech industry back a decade” while “China steamrolls ahead.”

Bottom line? Rebuilding a global supply chain on American soil isn't a quick fix — it’s more like rewriting the entire rulebook. And for now, analysts agree: moving iPhone manufacturing to the U.S. sounds more like a political soundbite than a practical business strategy.
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