Description: "[A] 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" --
Brief description: Patrick McGee was the Financial Times's principal Apple reporter from 2019 to 2023, during which time he won a San Francisco Press Club Award for his coverage. He joined the newspaper in 2013, in Hong Kong, before reporting from Germany and California. Previously, he was a bond reporter at The Wall Street Journal. He has a master's degree in global diplomacy from SOAS, University of London, and a degree in religious studies from the University of Toronto. He and his family make their home in the Bay Area.
Review Quotes: New York Times Bestseller
New York Times Editors' Choice
Selected by the New York Times as One of the Best Books of the Year
Selected by the New Yorker as One of the Best Books of the Year
Selected by the Washington Post as One of 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction from 2025
Selected by Foreign Affairs as a Best Book of 2025
Selected by the Globe & Mail (Canada) as a Top 100 Book of 2025
Selected by Bloomberg as a Book that Top Business Leaders Couldn't Put Down in 2025
Selected by Prospect magazine as a Book of the Year for 2025
#1 on Semafor's Essential China Reading List for 2025
Selected by China Books Review as a Best China Book of 2025
Selected by The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) as its "Business Reporting" Winner for 2025
--Jon Stewart, The Daily Show "This is the best book about Apple ever written, one of the best books about China ever written, and one of the best books about tech, period."
--Ben Thompson, Stratechery "As Patrick McGee makes devastatingly clear in his smart and comprehensive Apple in China, the American company's decision under Tim Cook, the current C.E.O., to manufacture about 90 percent of its products in China has created an existential vulnerability not just for Apple, but for the United States--nurturing the conditions for Chinese technology to outpace American innovation....A persuasive exposé."
--New York Times "Flips the usual narrative about Apple and China on its head... forcefully argues that Apple may be the single biggest supporter of President Xi's 'Made in China 2025' plan."
--Vanity Fair "Scrupulously reported."
--New Yorker "An eye-opening exposé ... [which] chronicles a lucrative relationship stained by manipulation, violence and abuse."
--The Telegraph (UK) "Few people are better prepared to discuss the symbiotic relationship between Apple and China than Patrick McGee... as [McGee] argues, China would not be China without Apple."
--Bari Weiss, Honestly "A riveting account of how Apple came to depend on Chinese suppliers for most of its products... [Apple's] history holds important lessons for the two economies--and for other big manufacturers like Tesla."
--Reuters Breakingviews "Timely... McGee excels at describing the intricacies of supply chains... explains how Apple became inseparable from China and what the fracturing of global trade means for one of the world's most valuable companies."
--The Economist "Remarkable... [breaks] the cone of silence."
--The Circuit "Incredibly timely... [McGee] has used [his] background to create a really comprehensive history telling a story that very few people truly understand."
--Peter Kafka, Vox "Channels" "Explosive... People should be reading this book and understanding the narrative."
--Chris Voss, The Chris Voss Show "An incredible story with profound implications for not just Apple but all of us who depend on China's manufacturing prowess and intricate supply networks to sustain our way of life."
--Hidden Forces "Fascinating... The fundamental issue here [is] whether or not we want our biggest company--our most innovative company, perhaps the paradigmatic company for America--to be that deeply intertwined with China."
--Hugh Hewitt "To call this book a page-turner is almost to diminish its importance. It is a once-in-a-generation read."
--Robert D. Kaplan, author of the New York Times bestseller The Revenge of Geography and Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis
"Deeply researched, disturbing, and enlightening...In these pages we watch as the world's most profitable company gets outmaneuvered by the world's most powerful dictator."
--Chris Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Chip War
"In this hugely important new book, Patrick McGee shows us how Apple's quest for wealth and power in China may in the end be the undoing both of the company and of America's quest for technology supremacy."
--Rana Foroohar, Financial Times Global Business Columnist, CNN Global Economic Analyst, and author of Makers and Takers
"Absolutely riveting. An extraordinary story, expertly told--and one that has important implications for Apple, for tech, and for global geoeconomics."
--Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at Oxford and bestselling author of The Silk Roads