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As a former manufacturing engineer, I can tell you Apple's devices are extremely optimised to reduce the cost of manufacture yet maintain quality and this helps

As a former manufacturing engineer, I can tell you Apple's devices are extremely optimised to reduce the cost of manufacture yet maintain quality and this helps their margins considerable I'd imagine. Their attention to the cost of assembly is - to me - as beautiful as the aesthetic design; they clearly have some amazing mechanical/design/process engineers.

maximilian 16y ago
From things I've read on Steve Jobs, he seems equally interested in the industrial of building the products he designs[1]. I've also heard their lead designer Jonathon Ives talk a lot about materials and how to use them, which I think underscores the fact that he is an industrial designer, meaning he doesn't just design an end product, but also designs the process, or at least designs the product with process holding equal weight with the actual aesthetic. I've also read that they require all parts to be doubly sourced, so that if one source fails, they have a backup. I don't know how common this is, but seems like an interesting point in their process. [1] He doesn't design them himself, but I couldn't think of a better word.
- JofArnold 16y ago
  It's an amazing team. Not just Ives but Cook, Mansfield and others too. I've seen teams with similar complementary personalities and skills in industry before, and provided they have project control and/or are in high-level positions they tend to do extremely well.
- aditya42 16y ago
  Ive, not Ives. Secondly, as an Industrial Design graduate, I believe Ive has more of a functional knowledge of subjects like strength of materials. The rest is just experiential from working with industrial engineers and others at Apple. For example, what you hear him saying in the iPhone commercial about the manufacturing is experiential knowledge. His job is to design the form. It's the people under him who give him the best materials based on his requirements. A good way to understand what the process from top to bottom is, is to hear Jobs explain how they came up with the idea for the iPhone at D8. It starts with an idea that is then handed down to relevant people to think and work on. Both Jobs and Ive are fantastic at what they do, don't get me wrong. But the truth is they're run as much by other people's ideas as they're run by their own.
- nuriaion 16y ago
  Double sourcing is standard. It helps also when you try to get lower prices.
rmah 16y ago
To back up what JofArnold is saying, I have been told that Hon Hai (aka Foxconn) receives about $15 for the assembly of an iPad. I'd bet they get about the same, give or take $10 for assembling each iPhone. As a point of reference an assembly worker there makes about $3,500 USD per year or $1.50 per hour (note, the company provides housing and some food).
- JofArnold 16y ago
  That's an interesting figure - thanks. I'd really love to see the breakdown - the manufacturing geek in me is getting all excited thinking about whether or not they deburr, how processed the parts are when they arrive as Foxconn etc etc.

maximilian 16y ago

From things I've read on Steve Jobs, he seems equally interested in the industrial of building the products he designs[1]. I've also heard their lead designer Jonathon Ives talk a lot about materials and how to use them, which I think underscores the fact that he is an industrial designer, meaning he doesn't just design an end product, but also designs the process, or at least designs the product with process holding equal weight with the actual aesthetic. I've also read that they require all parts to be doubly sourced, so that if one source fails, they have a backup. I don't know how common this is, but seems like an interesting point in their process. [1] He doesn't design them himself, but I couldn't think of a better word.

JofArnold 16y ago
It's an amazing team. Not just Ives but Cook, Mansfield and others too. I've seen teams with similar complementary personalities and skills in industry before, and provided they have project control and/or are in high-level positions they tend to do extremely well.
aditya42 16y ago
Ive, not Ives. Secondly, as an Industrial Design graduate, I believe Ive has more of a functional knowledge of subjects like strength of materials. The rest is just experiential from working with industrial engineers and others at Apple. For example, what you hear him saying in the iPhone commercial about the manufacturing is experiential knowledge. His job is to design the form. It's the people under him who give him the best materials based on his requirements. A good way to understand what the process from top to bottom is, is to hear Jobs explain how they came up with the idea for the iPhone at D8. It starts with an idea that is then handed down to relevant people to think and work on. Both Jobs and Ive are fantastic at what they do, don't get me wrong. But the truth is they're run as much by other people's ideas as they're run by their own.
nuriaion 16y ago
Double sourcing is standard. It helps also when you try to get lower prices.

rmah 16y ago

To back up what JofArnold is saying, I have been told that Hon Hai (aka Foxconn) receives about $15 for the assembly of an iPad. I'd bet they get about the same, give or take $10 for assembling each iPhone. As a point of reference an assembly worker there makes about $3,500 USD per year or $1.50 per hour (note, the company provides housing and some food).

JofArnold 16y ago
That's an interesting figure - thanks. I'd really love to see the breakdown - the manufacturing geek in me is getting all excited thinking about whether or not they deburr, how processed the parts are when they arrive as Foxconn etc etc.