Apple announces $500 million to buy rare magnets
Apple is known as a pioneer in the use of recycled rare materials in electronics products. These rare materials are also used in military weapons and defense technology.
The US iPhone maker Apple has announced that it will spend $500 million to buy rare magnets made in the United States over the next few years.
In the announcement, Apple said that they will buy rare magnets worth $500 million from the US-based company 'MP Materials' over the next few years. The iPhone, MacBook, and Apple Pencil are just a few of the devices that use these magnets.
These magnets made in the United States will also be supplied to different countries around the world, so that the growing global demand for this material can be met, the report says, technology site Engadget.
The sole manufacturer of these uncommon magnets in the US is "MP Materials." Additionally, Apple and "MP Materials" will collaborate to upgrade a processing facility in Texas. There, they will build multiple production lines specifically for Apple products. When the factory is completed, it will create “many new jobs in advanced technology and research-based manufacturing.”
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, said, "USA innovation is the main driver of everything we do, and we are proud to further increase our investment in the US economy." Modern technology relies heavily on these rare metal elements. The US supply of these crucial components will be strengthened thanks to our collaboration.
Engadget wrote that Apple and ‘MP Materials’ will also work together to build a recycling center in California. They have promised to ‘develop new types of magnetic materials and innovative processing technologies’ that will further increase the effectiveness of magnets.
This announcement is part of a promise made by Apple earlier, where the US technology giant announced an investment of $500 billion in the US over the next four years.
Apple had promised to invest $430 billion in 2021. This time, that amount has increased slightly. However, when inflation is taken into account, the amount is almost double digits, Engadget wrote in the report.
Apple is known as a pioneer in the use of recycled rare materials in electronics products. The company started using this material for the first time in the Taptic Engine of the iPhone 11 in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is now the biggest shareholder in "MP Materials." Because these rare materials are also used as important components in various types of military weapons and defense technology.
