This digest compiles the latest from Apple Insider.
Today’s Apple Insider Roundup
America's spymasters terrified Tim Cook with Taiwan invasion timeline
Apple CEO Tim Cook lost sleep after the CIA briefed him years ago that China would move on Taiwan by 2027. With that day approaching, not enough has been done about it.
Apple has been reshoring some manufacturing to the US, in initiatives that have been known for years. But now according to The New York Times, Apple and others also had a classified CIA briefing that warned how precarious chip manufacturing is in Taiwan, but have failed to heed it.
Tim Cook from Apple, Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Lisa Su of Advanced Micro Devices, and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon were briefed in July 2023. Following the briefing, Apple’s Tim Cook is reported to have said that he slept “with one eye open.”
Mac mini is a tiny step toward Trump's Made-in-USA dream
It’s not the iPhone, but Apple has further detailed its latest effort in Houston, Texas to move Mac mini production to the US. On the morning of the State of the Union address, this will make some lawmakers very happy.
The Trump administration has long preached about increasing U.S. manufacturing, with President Donald Trump repeatedly demanding iPhone production on U.S. soil. In photos released on Tuesday morning, Apple shows it is making progress, if not necessarily with iPhones.
Following the Wall Street Journal’s special access to Apple’s facilities, the images and video show factory operations at Houston. The facility, which is currently used to assemble AI servers used for Apple’s data centers, is being fitted out to make the Mac mini.
Remembering Steve Jobs on his 71st birthday
Fifteen years after his death, Steve Jobs is still continually quoted, sometimes criticized, but always seen as creating the ethos of Apple. On what would have been his 71st birthday, this is how he shaped Apple — and the world.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, and brought up by his adoptive parents, Paul and Clara Jobs. While he would later dismiss the idea that the circumstances of his adoption had any influence on him, he was born straight into a dispute over a deal, and startling signs of his later strengths and weaknesses were there from his early years.
If iPhone Fold is truly coming in 2026, expect big leaks very soon
Apple’s supply chain is big, so new product launches get leaked in their entirety as they enter mass production. If the iPhone Fold is coming, we should get our first peek at it soon.
I’m on the record as being an iPhone Fold skeptic. Even as the iPhone 18 Pro has begun leaking components, nothing of the sort has happened for the upcoming foldable iPhone.
There’s something odd about that.
iPhone set all-time European sale record in 2025, even as market declines
Analytics firm Omdia claims that in 2025, Apple set an all-time sales record for the iPhone in Europe, with a 6% year over year growth.
Back in June 2025, Apple’s lower-cost iPhone 16e was reportedly selling well in Europe but not as well as the even lower-cost iPhone SE that preceded it. Now, however, figures for the whole of 2025 show that altogether, the whole iPhone range scored Apple a record year in the region.
According to analytics firm Omdia, Apple’s 6% year-over-year growth means it shipped 36.9 million iPhones. That gave it a record 27% share of Europe’s smartphone market.
Take a peek into Apple's efforts to bring Mac mini assembly and chip fabrication stateside
Apple is working to bring more manufacturing to the United States, including chip fabrication and Mac mini assembly, but it’s a slow-moving project.
There is increasing pressure to bring more of Apple’s manufacturing and assembly stateside. However, even with $600 billion in investments, what can be done in the US is insignificant compared to the global supply chain.
The Wall Street Journal got special access to various facilities in the United States to examine how Apple is repatriating its supply chain. Executives like COO Sabih Khan joined tours of the TSMC Arizona plant, the Foxconn Houston facility, and others.
End of today’s Apple Insider roundup.
