Apple Wants Robots to Replace 50% of iPhone Assembly Line Workers: Report

Apple is looking to slash the number of human workers on iPhone final assembly lines by up to 50%, replacing them with automation over the coming years — reports The Information.

According to the publication’s sources, Apple’s SVP of Operations, Sabih Khan, previously ordered managers to “reduce the number of workers on iPhone final assembly lines by as much as 50% over the next few years.”

The directive came shortly after a streak of COVID-19 lockdowns (that even led to mass employee unrest and clashes with police) at one of Apple’s largest iPhone production facilities, operated in China by the company’s foremost manufacturing partner, Foxconn. Stunted production at Apple’s premier iPhone factory bore down on the company’s supply chain and caused a global dip in iPhone availability.

Seeing the aftermath of the ordeal, Apple wants to reduce its reliance on human workers in iPhone assembly with automated machinery. Apple has reportedly made significant strides toward that end, although perhaps not as much as the Cupertino, California-based company might have hoped.

Per The Information, there is a “significant amount of automation” in the final assembly of the iPhone 15. Apple has dusted off several production and supply chain automation projects it had previously shelved for having high up-front costs and begun implementing them with its manufacturing partners, cutting worker headcount by as much as 30% for some processes.

However, while Apple wanted to completely automate the process of installing buttons and other components for this year’s iPhone 16, the tech giant was ultimately forced to scrap these plans “because of the high rate of defects.”

Even though Apple is hitting some bumps along the way, the company is steadily moving forward with its plans to replace up to 50% of the workers on final assembly lines for iPhones with automation. Apple’s 2023 supply chain report revealed that the number of employees the company monitors at manufacturing partners dropped from 1.6 million in 2022 to 1.4 million in 2023.

People familiar with Apple’s automation efforts noted that the company’s success so far has been aided by its acquisitions of AI companies like Canadian startup DarwinAI. Apple reportedly also acquired Drishti, a startup developing automated technology to identify production bottlenecks on assembly lines in real time.