MBP i7 shipping from Shanghai, China!?

Question

I finally got a FedEx notice that my 15" MBP just shipped... from Shanghai, China. Why does this give me pause? I'm sure that's the origin of all Apple products anyway, but I guess I'm worried that there is a level of QA-check that will be missing.
It's probably nothing, but in the past I'd always bought from an Apple store. Was quite surprised to see "Shanghai, China" on the FedEx departure location. That's quite a long (and I'm sure rough) journey.
Keeping fingers crossed...

Answer 1

webmaestro74 wrote:
Stephen...
You're right, of course, and I think most Americans are aware (especially those who've lost their US-based manufacturing jobs over the years) that pretty much everything is manufactured overseas... or north/south of the border.
There are still some complete machines still assembled in the US. It's getting rare though.
However, that's not really my issue. I have this crazy notion that products bought from the Apple stores undergo one final check for possible shipping damage or manufacturing defects before being sold. I'm sure that's a false assumption, but it gives me a warm fuzzy nonetheless.
Highly unlikely. Everything comes complete from the factory sealed and ready for sale. The packaging contains everything needed. They won't even think of turning anything on, because most people want their machines to initially fire up just like it came from the factory. All the booklets, packaged accessories, and discs are packed at the final assembly point, and they're primarily produced by local manufacturers.
Apple's subcontractors are established Taiwanese manufacturers like Foxconn, Quanta, and Acer. Personally I think their manufacturing standards were slightly higher when their primary assembly was in Taiwan, but those days are primarily over. They do maintain their own QC personnel at these newer factories in mainland China, and in general the quality is pretty high. Definitely better than most PRC only manufacturing facilities.