The Apple iPhone will likely feature many components manufactured in the USA in the future. (Image source: Apple)
While the iPhone 16 Pro still utilizes camera sensors entirely from Sony, this is set to change with the iPhone 18 Pro. Apple is expected to use sensors manufactured in the USA by Samsung in order to circumvent the very high semiconductor tariffs imposed by the US government under Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced that tariffs of 100% would apply to chip imports in the future. In order to secure an exemption, Apple has already confirmed that the glass covers of all iPhones and Apple Watches sold worldwide will be manufactured in the US. As Financial Times reports, Apple also plans to install camera sensors manufactured in the US by Samsung Semiconductor, starting with the iPhone 18.
Samsung’s factory in Texas will utilize brand-new chip manufacturing technology, but Apple is yet to provide any specific details. According to information from Financial Times, Samsung will manufacture stacked image sensors with three layers, which are set to make their debut in the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18 Pro. This would mean that, for the first time in the history of the iPhone, Apple would no longer use camera sensors from Sony, which were previously manufactured at a TSMC plant in Japan.
These new camera sensors are part of a plan to invest a total of $600 billion to relocate parts of the iPhone supply chain to the US in order to avoid tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Apple emphasizes that the components manufactured in the US will be used in iPhones sold around the world. However, there are currently no plans to manufacture some of the most advanced and most expensive components of an iPhone in the US, such as the display or the processor.
Since 2009 I have written for different publications with a focus on consumer electronics. I joined the Notebookcheck news team in 2018 and have combined my many years of experience with laptops and smartphones with my lifelong passion for technology to create informative content for our readers about new developments in this sphere. In addition, my design background as an art director at an ad agency has allowed me to have deeper insights into the peculiarities of this industry.
Translator: Jacob Fisher – Translator – 2008 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2022
Growing up in regional Australia, I first became acquainted with computers in my early teens after a broken leg from a football (soccer) match temporarily condemned me to a predominately indoor lifestyle. Soon afterwards I was building my own systems. Now I live in Germany, having moved here in 2014, where I study philosophy and anthropology. I am particularly fascinated by how computer technology has fundamentally and dramatically reshaped human culture, and how it continues to do so.