Apple plans to replace 50 per cent of iPhone assembly line workers with machines in the coming years

Apple is set to cut the number of workers on its iPhone assembly lines by 50 per cent in the coming years in a bid to increase automation of assembly processes.

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The decision follows an incident in 2022 in China, where police in chemical protection beat up workers protesting against strict quarantine measures and pay disputes. The result was production disruptions and a drop in iPhone sales. Apple now plans to significantly reduce its reliance on human labour in its factories.

The cost of equipment to automate production is estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars annually. According to Apple, the total number of workers at manufacturing partners has decreased from 1.6 million in 2022 to 1.4 million in 2023.

The report mentions that significant automation has already been used in the iPhone 15 assembly process. Peter Thompson, Apple's vice president of operations, is responsible for introducing automation and has already made strides in automating the assembly of iPhone components. For example, machines can now install metal brackets and flexible circuit boards without human intervention, resulting in a 30 per cent staff reduction.

It is reported that for the iPhone 16, Apple had planned to automate the installation of buttons and other components, but abandoned the idea due to insufficient quality of the finished product. Nevertheless, the company continues to look for ways to replace human labour with machines in the future.

Source: The Information