There is a counterpart to you in China who is looking at the iPhone and approving of the fact that its hardware is made in China, but disapproving of the fact that its software is made in California, where there is a racist government, hundreds of thousands of innocent people in jail, and where people die routinely because they don’t have basic medical care. Too bad for that guy also. He has no control over California, its laws, or its problems, in the exact same way that you have no control over China, its laws, or its problems. Same for Tim Cook. He has a lot of corporate power, but it is still illegal for him to get married in California in spite of all that. He can’t wave a magic wand and fix California, let alone fix China. It is a fact of life that a modern computing device will have software from Silicon Valley and hardware from Shenzhen because those are the places where software and hardware are made.

How much does it cost to manufacture an iPhone? | asymco. Not that this is where the conversation should stop, but this is where the conversation must start.