Apple in China

The Capture of the World's Greatest Company

By: Patrick McGee

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

For listeners of Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs and Chris Miller’s Chip War, a riveting look at how Apple helped build China’s dominance in electronics assembly and manufacturing only to find itself trapped in a relationship with an authoritarian state making ever-increasing demands.

After struggling to build its products on three continents, Apple was lured by China’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of cheap labor. Soon it was sending thousands of engineers across the Pacific, training millions of workers, and spending hundreds of billions of dollars to create the world’s most sophisticated supply chain. These capabilities enabled Apple to build the 21st century’s most iconic products—in staggering volume and for enormous profit.

Without explicitly intending to, Apple built an advanced electronics industry within China, only to discover that its massive investments in technology upgrades had inadvertently given Beijing a power that could be weaponized.

In Apple in China, journalist Patrick McGee draws on more than two hundred interviews with former executives and engineers, supplementing their stories with unreported meetings held by Steve Jobs, emails between top executives, and internal memos regarding threats from Chinese competition. The book highlights the unknown characters who were instrumental in Apple’s ascent and who tried to forge a different path, including the Mormon missionary who established the Apple Store in China; the “Gang of Eight” executives tasked with placating Beijing; and an idealistic veteran whose hopes of improving the lives of factory workers were crushed by both Cupertino’s operational demands and Xi Jinping’s war on civil society.

Apple in China is the sometimes disturbing and always revelatory story of how an outspoken, proud company that once praised “rebels” and “troublemakers”—the company that encouraged us all to “Think Different”—devolved into passively cooperating with a belligerent regime that increasingly controls its fate.

©2025 Patrick McGee (P)2025 Simon & Schuster Audio

Excellent

I had no idea how dependent our current economy and technology is trapped in China

exposing the rotten apple

this book brings to light important information not known to the public. Glad I don't use I products.
Amazing how Apple sold out to the commies just to enrichen the top people at Apple and it's shareholders. Super cheap labor to deliver expensive final product to the world. Liberals with the "liveable wage" doctrine should all boycott Apple and quit using all its products.
The future just got scarier.

Great insight

Well told and well researched. Came across the book on the Daily Show and liked the author’s competency and ability to tell a story. The book is great reflection of that.

Wow. What a read (listen).

Thoroughly enjoyed this. The subject matter was really interesting. The narrator was ok, but their tone was a little more dry than I would have liked. I had heard an interview with the author. He had such passion as he spoke about the book. It would have been really nice had he read the book.

This is a symphony of information on Apple and the rise of China

No matter what paragraph I could use to sum up my knowledge on Apple’s history it could not convey the change in my understanding of both Apple and of China. This is a must read book for both people who care about business and geopolitics. It does a great job in presenting how Apple and China gained the immense power they have today and the immense peril Apple is currently in.

Thank god I saw this recommended on the Daily show. God bless jon Stewart.

This book was absolutely FANTASTIC, as a former developer that worked in china for many years in the Donguan era, it connected in so many levels and as a novice to geo politics, such an eye opener, thanks Jon!

Excellent analysis

This was a great listen. If you like economics, history, tech, politics - this book is for you.

Excellent background and research.

Exceptionally well researched and structured. Truly a feat of previously misunderstood history telling. Hope the author keeps writing more, and in the same style/depth.

Disturbing and Equally Important

I was a very early adopter to Apple products, all the way back to 1984. This book is clearly researched well, almost all of the Macintosh history rings true with my own understanding of its development. But had no idea that ALL of it went to China decades ago. We have trained them well, and almost all of us are complicit. And I’m typing this on an iPhone 14. I won’t upgrade to the AI version, there’s no reason for me to believe it won’t be loaded with CCP malware. And I’ll probably go to a Samsung phone next.

the movie is going to be insane

if someone doesn’t turn this into a movie, the world will be at a loss. this would be more riveting by 100x compared to something like The Social Network.