MORAL OF THE STORY: There is always a need for outsourcing. Even if Dell built their own cases, they would still need to buy screws, as screws have no value add and Dell does not consume enough screws to be even in the top 100 consumers of screws. However, when it comes to Motherboards, Dell engineers CAN engineer a world class motherboard that COULD have provided an edge. Notice the new Macbook Air. It kicks ass and takes names because of its motherboard. Yes! Dont get fooled by the slimline etc. THe first MBA was a DOG! But Apple designed the new motherboard with built in flash memory and now MBA can be had with a built in 256 GB SSD and 4 GB Memory all built into the motherboard!!!!My question-- How much of Apple's motherboard R&D is done by actual Apple employees in Cupertino and how much is done in Taiwan by partners kept on a very short leash? The Taiwanese design just about all the world's computer motherboards so Apple must be in collaboration w them on the motherboards you mention with built in SSD and built in 4GB memory.
How much of Apple's motherboard R&D is done by actual Apple employees in Cupertino and how much is done in Taiwan by partners kept on a very short leash? Very little design, if any, is done outside the USA. Notice the SSD on the laptops are exclusively Apple - they are not commodity SSD drives. The iPad, for example, has 4 motherboards, one in each corner for symmetrical weight distribution. The iPad is perfectly balanced, up/down as well as each corner. This wasn't an accident.