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United States Hardware

How Much Would You Pay For an American-Made Laptop? Palmer Luckey Wants To Know (tomshardware.com) 214

Posted by BeauHD from the made-in-America dept.
Palmer Luckey, known for founding Oculus and defense-tech firm Anduril, is now eyeing U.S.-manufactured laptops as his next venture. While past American laptops have largely relied on foreign components, Luckey is exploring the possibility of building a fully "Made in USA" device that meets strict FTC standards -- though doing so may cost a premium. Tom's Hardware reports: ["Would you buy a Made In America computer from Anduril for 20% more than Chinese-manufactured options from Apple?" asked Luckey in a post on X.] Luckey previously asked the same question at the Reindustrialize Summit, a conference whose website said it was devoted to "convening the brightest and most motivated minds at the intersection of technology and manufacturing," which shared a clip of Luckey discussing the subject, wherein he talks about the extensive research he has already done around building a PC in the U.S. Luckey wouldn't be the first to make a laptop in the U.S. (PCMag collected a list of domestic PCs, including laptops, in 2021.) But those products use components sourced from elsewhere; they're assembled in the U.S. rather than manufactured there.

That distinction matters, according to the Made in USA Standard published by the Federal Trade Commission. To quote: "For a product to be called Made in USA, or claimed to be of domestic origin without qualifications or limits on the claim, the product must be 'all or virtually all' made in the U.S. [which] means that the final assembly or processing of the product occurs in the United States, all significant processing that goes into the product occurs in the United States, and all or virtually all ingredients or components of the product are made and sourced in the United States. That is, the product should contain no -- or negligible -- foreign content." How much more would you be willing to pay for a laptop that was truly made in America?

How Much Would You Pay For an American-Made Laptop? Palmer Luckey Wants To Know More | Reply

How Much Would You Pay For an American-Made Laptop? Palmer Luckey Wants To Know

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  • Display (Score:3)

    by stabiesoft ( 733417 ) on Wednesday July 23, 2025 @08:56PM (#65540950) Homepage
    Can you even buy a display made in the US?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Z00L00K ( 682162 )

      Add to it that what I as a person would do wouldn't matter. what matter is what corporations will do. Corporations looks at the price to a much larger extent.

      DoD might buy fully US made, but they play by different rules.

      The only way to be competitive is to have maximal automation in the manufacturing. Three to four persons servicing the robots that performs the manufacturing. A few people responsible for the design and then when they have finished the initial product only one or two of them are needed since

      • Re:Display (Score:5, Interesting)

        by aaarrrgggh ( 9205 ) on Thursday July 24, 2025 @02:01AM (#65541482)

        Presumably the DoD is specifically who they are interested in. For anybody else, paying a 20% premium over Apple would be idiotic, especially as you go up in specifications. They you get beyond the hardware and have to ask what software is actually going to run on it and would that meet the same "security" guidelines.

        Personally I am all for the US improving their ability to source full supply chains for critical goods domestically, although it would be much more efficient to look at it with allies, and could also improve redundancy. But you really need seed customers that are willing to pay a premium to make it happen and tariffs aren't the right tool for it.

    • I also question if this is even possible. Can you get the major components which are made in the USA? Display, CPU, RAM and flash. Buying from Intel or AMD does not mean the CPU is made in the USA. Do they even offer models made in the USA?

  • But that's not where it would land.

    • He really needs two numbers: (1) how much more people are willing to pay, and (2) how big a tariff barrier there will be for the imported laptops.

      For (1) we have bids of 0% and 20% in the comments so far. Finding out what people would do isn't easy, but it's a lot easier than...

      (2) Who knows what the tariff barriers will be? They depend on trade imbalances, border security, fentanyl precursors, prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro, perceived trade retaliation, and a whole lot of other ad hoc factors. Even though

      • No one cares about fentanyl, as seen when trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht (the guy running the online drug website, silk road)

        • I care about fentanyl. I'm on 50 micrograms per day, and swap out my patches every 3 days.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by piojo ( 995934 )

            Does it work well without affecting your state of mind too much? And without having to ramp up the dose? And can you still feel enough "emergency" pain like when you cut your hand?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by shilly ( 142940 )

        I agree those two numbers are important. With the first, it's also important to bear in mind that what people *say* and what they actually *do* can be wildly different. Getting consumers to put money where there mouth is will be nigh-on impossible for this, I reckon. Or at least, enough consumers to make the venture profitable.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tailhook ( 98486 )

      Likewise on the "Sure." I don't share your view that 20% couldn't be achieved. The designs of all portable electronics today are based on the capabilities of an unlimited supply of cheap, disposable Asian hands. It is feasible to create designs suited to far greater automation.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by leonbev ( 111395 )

      Note that in his Twitter/X pool, he specifically asked if we would be OK with prices that are 20% higher than Apple's.

      Apple's prices are already higher than most of their competitors, so you would really be talking something like 50% more than your typical HP or Lenovo system. Yeah, I'm not willing to pay that much extra for a Made in the USA logo.

    • I wouldn't pay 20% over the price of an Apple laptop, but I would pay 20% over the price of a Lenovo.

  • The "no tariff" price seem fair to me.
    What are they even at now? 40%? 84%? 145%? It really has been a fever-dream.

  • Because not everyone here is American, and not even Americans are (on average) happy with the spyware built into American products. Likely it would be illegal to use in many of the countries I've worked in.

    Well done, Mr President. You own this.

    • Yes, spyware in products is of course an American problem, not a global one. The foreign companies that make all our crap turn off the spyware for models not sold here, I'm sure.

  • Absolutely zero (Score:4, Informative)

    by maliqua ( 1316471 ) on Wednesday July 23, 2025 @09:15PM (#65540998)

    #boycottamerica

    • As the French might call that laptop, #LibertyLaptop.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Misagon ( 1135 )

      I am afraid that this is where we're heading.

      USA under the leadership that calls itself "conservative" is becoming more and more a nation that does not play nice with others, and there are limits to what people will stand before boycotts start.

      I don't think the political climates in China, India or Israel (where Intel chips are being made these days) look very stable either.

  • Two problems (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Wednesday July 23, 2025 @09:16PM (#65541008)

    I don't believe the US currently has the capacity to make a laptop from scratch, even at 20% above Apple pricing. Assemble yes, but manufacture no. If it's possible at all, whatever corners are cut will ensure it's unusable as a computing device.

    It's also far more likely this is some kind of investment scam than an actual legitimate business plan.

    • I have listened to many podcasts about Palmer Luckey, and I found him to be legit, in my opinion. I think the biggest 'problem' may be displays. I can picture a massively automated factory in America using American made parts to assemble computers, and make a profit. It just needs the right people, and the right ideas.

      • I found him to be legit

        Yes, he is a very legit psychopath.

        • From the podcasts, he seemed to be a single person who believed in quality VR. He dived into the problems, and fixed them as best as could be done. Yes, he sold out to Facebook. Someone gave me their Occulus 3, and I toured Athens, and the Galápagos islands. That was cool. The games were less cool, and the least cool thing about it for me, and I think most people is how heavy and uncomfortable it is to wear for hours on end.
    • And honestly, even if we DID have that capacity, I wouldn't be using it to buy laptops, I'd be using it to buy things like guaranteed secure SCADA systems, or computer processors for digital radio, or smart-camera starlight-navigation packages for when GPS is being jammed, or things like that. Laptops are kind of an end-goal when you get all the other pieces working, it's not where you START.
      • I respect your "dream" of America being on the front line of science, and technology. To be real there is a "great" percentage of the population who does not dream like that. The scientists are being fired, and technology is being de-valued. Research grants are being cancelled. Universities are being attacked. It breaks my heart, however, realistic dreams like opening a laptop manufacturer in America... seems like something to think about.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Targon ( 17348 )

          So, Trump and his administration is trying to destroy education and the economy while claiming that more things need to be made in the USA. Without an actual plan, every claim by Trump to want this or that to happen won't work.

          Moving manufacturing to the USA. Start by eliminating the stupid tariffs on components needed for manufacturing. Then, once finished products are being made here, move to encouraging the components to be made here, and then the sub-components to make the components. It could b

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jesco ( 598308 )

      Neither Intel nor AMD have a packaging plant for CPUs in the US. Similarly, I don't think there's a packaging plant in the US for discrete semiconductor components like diodes, bipolar transistors and power-mosfets. The parts might be US designed, even diffused in the US, but for being "Made in America" they need to be packaged in the US also.

      I think that's a show-stopper for his idea.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Targon ( 17348 )

        A proper plan to move manufacturing back to the USA would have had different stages. First stage, don't charge a tariff on components that we don't already manufacture here. Get the finished goods made here as the first phase. Then, for phase two, you start encouraging the components to be made here, with the sub-components needed being free of tariffs. If the raw materials are not available in large enough quantities, then get rid of the tariffs on the raw materials so the very basic elements can b

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      20% is a huge under-estimate anyway. Even 100% is unlikely to be anywhere near high enough.

      For me though I wouldn't buy one at any price. The NSA installs backdoors in products made in America. Maybe China does too, but we don't have any credible evidence of that, and China having a way into my laptop is much less of an issue anyway because they don't do work on behalf of the UK where I live.

  • Interesting that he picked Apple as the price point of comparison.

    Apple computers are already exorbitantly expensive. They're typically about 2-3x more expensive than similarly-equipped Windows computers. If you're OK paying thousands for a Mac Pro, you might be OK paying 20% more. If you're used to paying under $500 for a Windows computer, or $1,200 for a Dell XPS, you might balk at paying thousands for one of these machines.

    • There are no "similarly-equipped" Windows computers.

      When people buy a laptops they're buying hardware AND software. The Windows computers don't have the software Apple users want.

      • There is nothing technical that prevents machines designed for Windows, from running Mac OS, only licensing restrictions. Mac OS runs Windows using Parallels and other VM software, and Mac OS can run on a Windows machine via a VM.

        Feel free to add or subtract licensing fees from the comparison, if that makes you feel better. My point is about the cost of the hardware, and the story itself is about the cost of the hardware.

        • It's not a matter of being "technical", it's a matter of being the desired product, or not.

          People pay for Apple gear because they want the overall product offered. I don't understand why that's so offensive to Apple haters.

          People buy or don't buy stuff for all kinds of personal reasons. Does not make them morons.

          Personally, I didn't buy a $40,000 Buick Tourx, a vehicle I was very hot for, because when it was finally released, it didn't come with a spare tire. Not even as an option. Fuck GM. I wasn't buyin

        • MacOS runs on non-Apple bare metal as well: Hackintosh [hackintosh.com]. And it runs very well. I built a top end "Mac" for a fraction of what Apple would have charged for similar performance. The only issue is that keeping the OS and software up to date can be a major PITA.

    • Re: Chinese-manufactured options from Apple (Score:4, Informative)

      by Vidar Leathershod ( 41663 ) on Wednesday July 23, 2025 @10:54PM (#65541220)

      Similarly equipped? Doubtful. I buy Dell computers every week for corporate customers. Their prices have skyrocketed over the years, to where for âoeequivalentâ hardware to a $2700 MacBook will cost about $2800 to get in a Dell shell with a slower processor - M4 Pro 14 core vs Core Ultra 9 185H 16 core, and that Intel processor is not nearly as fast as the M4 Pro 14 core. In fact, if you move up to a Precision, with a Core i9-13950hx, you still have a processor that benchmarks lower in most tests. Of course, that model will cost you $3200, at which point you have the option to go to the M4 Max for just $300 more, and again you are getting higher performance for nearly every task.

      Dell used to be price competitive. For customers that *need* to run Windows x64, they tend to be the most stable. But that competitive pricing is long gone. They learned from Apple that you can charge a premium and corporations will pay it. The sub-$1000 garbage you get off the shelf from them performs abysmally, and the build quality is pathetic.

      • Re: Chinese-manufactured options from Apple (Score:4, Informative)

        by madbrain ( 11432 ) on Thursday July 24, 2025 @12:01AM (#65541360) Homepage Journal

        The first laptop I ever bought in my life, in 36 years of owning and building desktop PCs, is an LG Gram for Costco I got for $750 last year . It has 16GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD, a 15.6 touchscreen, Wifi 6E, Thunderbolt 4. Most importantly, it is very light, and has excellent battery life.
        Also works fine as a desktop with 3 monitors using a TB4 docking station.

        I had a realtor come over recently with a $3,000+ MacBook Pro.
        Really not sure why thing costs 4x the price of my LG. I immediately noticed the screen was non-touch, though. Apparently, in the Apple world, only tablets and phones are touch.

    • I'm as much of an Apple hate as the next Linux fanatic, but this is not true.

      Apple computers generally have a fairly hefty premium but like 20-50% not 2-3x. I'm comparing like for like, so not a shitbox with similar ram, flash and GHz, but excluding weight, but a high end machine like a good Thinkpad.

      Also Apple have shit warranty options, precisely because they're trying to screw over their customers, but that's another rant.

      Don't get me wrong, I would not pay that premium for a worse machine, but it's stil

  • Who doesn't want laptop assembled in the USA for $10,000, made from parts made 100% overseas?

  • Short answer: fuck all. (Score:3)

    by newcastlejon ( 1483695 ) on Wednesday July 23, 2025 @09:23PM (#65541018)

    "Would you buy a Made In America computer from Anduril for 20% more than Chinese-manufactured options from Apple?" asked Luckey in a post on X.

    Obviously as someone who doesn't live in the US my answer would be "LOL No". I don't think I've ever owned something that was made in the USA. Maybe a couple of CPUs. Who's to say this new company would even make a good product? Tesla have been selling cars for about a decade and their QC is still crap.

    Moreover, with all the tariff business going on wouldn't that mean that the US model is actually 40% more expensive? China makes a laptop for $1000, add on the tariff and the US customer has to pay $1200. Now this guy comes along asking if anyone is willing to pay $1440?

  • ...Is the product quality you actually get. 20% more than Apple but made in the US will get you a $300-value Chromebook.

  • It depends, maybe 20% if it has the following:

    1. At lease 15" 16:10 screen

    2. Trackpoint like Thinkpads have

    3. No Nvidia GPU

    4. Components all Open and OpenBSD must be fully supported. Only because they avoid lock-down hardware

    5. 100% fully repairable.

    6. No Intel ME

    8. Can disable/enable everything via BIOS.

    I am sure I can think of others, but we all know such a laptop will never be made.

    • It's pretty easy to get a laptop that meets all of those except the trackpoint. I think my System76 laptop does. (Not sure about the OpenBSD support, but the components are definitely all open. It comes with Linux.)

      Your problem is wanting one particular feature that just isn't very popular anymore. When I had a Thinkpad years ago, I never used the trackpoint. I found it too imprecise to be useful, and the trackpad worked much better.

  • I'd pay the same amount as I would for the same laptop made anywhere else on the planet.

    In the case of my most recent laptop, purchased on December 16, 2024, that would be $2,069.

    • Was it a MacBook???? If it was a pc, what ungodly specs does it have??? I got a couple i9s with RTX 4080s for around $1600 last year...

      • Well, MacBook Air anyway.

        It's "ungodly spec" that sealed the deal was the inclusion of OS X. I didn't care too much about the hardware specs. Even the 12 year old laptop it replaced had plenty good enough hardware for me, except for its 13" screen. I finally upgraded to get a 15" screen, to be easy on my aging and defective eyes.

        I dunno what an i9s or RTX 4080s is, nor do I care.

  • Yes, I know Lenovo makes the ThinkPad. It's almost as good as the old IBM models, and it still carries the prestige even if it isn't. But really can't anyone else sell a laptop with any kind of trackpoint type device any more? I had one from HP for the first few years of my current job then they "upgraded" me to a new one that doesn't have it. Dell makes a few but they don't meet my needs.

    We used to believe that the Infinite Wisdom of the Free Market would give us the best products in all industries

  • I wouldn't buy a laptop made in the USA (Score:3)

    by dskoll ( 99328 ) on Wednesday July 23, 2025 @10:24PM (#65541176) Homepage

    Canadian. Boycotting US products and services to the greatest extent that I can.

    End of story.

  • It should only create maybe 50 jobs. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ndsurvivor ( 891239 ) on Wednesday July 23, 2025 @11:12PM (#65541256)
    It is not a 'panacea', and won't create jobs like the MAGA's would like. Manufacturing will never again be like in the 1950's. The jobs created will be a few (10-15) Engineers, maybe an accountant or two, some Executives, the rest will be shipping and receiving. They will get parts, put them on a pick and place machine, and on the "other side", people will pick up the boxed up product and ship it out. Maybe some jobs to fix the machines. This is what MAGAs don't get, we do not live in the 1950's anymore.

  • You don't want those dirty Californians taking jobs that could go to your family and friends.
    Demand a factory will be built in your own state. Local pride!

  • Does it mean "in name only," where everything except the final screw in the case is done overseas, then someone in America does the "final final assembly" by screwing in the final screw?

    Does it mean what we normally thing of as "final assembly," where the circuit boards and non-electronic parts are made overseas, shipped to America, then put together in America?

    Does it mean "one more level down," with an American factory soldering the components onto the circuit boards then doing the "final assembly"?

    Does i

    • I heard a podcast about a Tariff lawyer recently... and it sounded like your post. When you pound down into the details of what is made where, it gets really, really complicated. Most economists would say that Countries should make what it is easy or cheap for them to make, and import the rest, with little paperwork or resistance. Not that MAGAs are into educating themselves, nor can do critical thinking. They seem to just want to juice their egos by degrading others. This Tariff thing is just crap

  • Less (Score:2)

    by ukoda ( 537183 )
    From a fiscal POV it would have to be cheaper by enough to cover the extra cost of shipping from the USA. From a principle POV I would not buy one while the USA puts tariffs on our exports to them when we have basically given them free access to our market on almost everything for decades.
    • Please do not think that all Americans are assholes. I did not vote for Trump. I think he is an asshole, I am against his Tariffs, and am against him deporting good people from the USA. I am against his tax and spending bill. I am against his lying and his childish need to be in every news cycle.

  • Are all the chips, the screen, the keyboard, the trackpad etc needed for a laptop available in a form that would allow a manufacturer to meet "made in USA" rules?

    • My understanding is that at this point, America can not even make a board game. We do not have those skills. We obviously have wonderful skills, but those are not that right now. We can bring it back, but it seems like a step backwards, and not forwards, to me. I think we can make the Intel microprocessor chips, and the Micron memory chips here. The PCB, and almost everything else will take a bit of time.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shilly ( 142940 )

      I was thinking about this, too. I wondered if the skills and supply chain exists in defense and could possibly be repurposed. The US defense industry is huge, after all, and I'm sure has quite a lot of rules about US-made components to protect against espionage. But.... the DoD is clearly very price-insensitive.

      From what I understand, you could get a US-made chip from Intel or AMD or SkyWater, but it won't be sub-7nm. Might be hardened against radiation, though! You could get your PCBs too, but they'll cost

  • $2400 instead of $2000? Yes, as long is it meant that customer service didn't have anything harder than a Texas accent to listen to.

    • Don't worry, all customer service will be AI - already is, according to Sam Altman. You will understand it just fine. Whether it understands or can process your requests is another matter.

  • It doesn't really matter to me how much a US-made laptop would cost. I'm not buying anything from there for a while, nor will I be visiting.

  • Not possible (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Deathlizard ( 115856 ) on Thursday July 24, 2025 @01:01AM (#65541422) Homepage Journal

    This is the American Electrola DXC-100
    https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/... [radiomuseum.org]

    This was a radio made in 1993, cost around $250-$300 in 1993 money, was made in Pittsburgh PA and qualified for the Made in USA logo at the time. 2000 (2 batches of 1000) of them were sold by a primarily shortwave Rush Limbaugh clone named Chuck Harder that was previously selling Drake branded radios made in Japan before one of his listeners challenged him to sell a "Made in USA" Radio. It's so American, when you turn it off, the Display says "USA 1" on it.

    And it's made out of 80% US parts. The other 20% is made from friendly foreign components (Think Europe, because in the 90s JAPAN BAD! EVIL! TRADE WAR!!)
    And it sucked. The first batch could barely pick up local AM or SW stations and the 2nd Gen while better, didn't justify the cost when a GE Superadio III or a cheap Radio Shack rebadged Sangean would smoke it for 1/3 the cost. Within a few months Chuck was selling Drake receivers again.

    So Even in 1993, when we still had a semiconductor and computer industry in the US, we couldn't even build a simple radio out of 100% American made parts.
    So what snowball's chance in hell do you think we have to build a PC out of 100% American parts in 2025?

  • Give me a break. Anything with the "Made in America" badge will sell for twice the cost. It's like an "organic" sticker.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ledow ( 319597 )

      It would have to, because the rest of the world wouldn't touch it with a bargepole, and the US rarely accounts for anything as much as, let alone more than, about 50% of any particular consumer market.

  • It can go from "just packaged" up to "every single component and screw has been manufactured in the USA".

    Definitions first. Q&A later.

  • A "US made" laptop would be lucky if the plastic injection mouldings and production stickers were actually manufactured in the US.
  • Lets turn the question around. For real, all raw materials from USA only, all processing/refining of said materials, all manufacturing, all assembly in the US, not a single gain of foreign material in the product or its packaging (not a screw, not a staple, no plastics, no metals, no ICs, electronic components, wiring - ALL must be local from raw materials to product). How much can he really sell it for? Now lets add restrictions that all equipment in the factory has to be 100% made in the USA, not a single

  • I would pay (pinkie to lip) ONE TRILLION DOLLARS!

  • Steam powered, made of rosewood with brass hinges.
    The advantage of steam is you just need a supply of coal and a nearby stream; no messing with power banks to keep it running.

  • German here:
    I would pay absolutely nothing for an American made laptop. I already pay too much for the Microsoft Windows tax that is added to the Chinese manufactured computers. Definitely not as long as that so called president over there is threatening everybody who does not lick his boots.

    I would probably also not pay any premium for a German made laptop either, because most likely this would be a scam anyway.

  • Total American laptop would be $3-5k....and specs would be crap. There is an American phone for sale starting at $2k with really specs. Better model for $3k... No thanks. NAFTA treaty signed by Bill Clinton killed American manufacturing !!!
  • ... and the atempt was only to make it from 4 or 5 parts. Finally it even failed "not sourced from china" when some chainmail part they couldn't get in the usa in sufficient amount the sourced from India alternative was actually dropshipped wares from China. See SmarterEveryDay's video #308 on youtube.
  • It seems to me if America was the manufacturing powerhouse they thought they were then they would be able to compete on price. Not to mention in capitalism it should always be assumed that the consumer will always pay the lowest price.

  • But would I buy it from you? (Score:3)

    by fuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 ) on Thursday July 24, 2025 @07:26AM (#65541844) Journal
    I'm really not sure why I'd want to risk helping fund a domestic authoritarian when I've got the option of spending less on a foreign one whose reach is less likely to include me.

    There are absolutely Americans I could get behind buying hardware from; but, for some weird reason, naming your defense contractor after a Tolkien thing is a pretty reliable sign of being among the most degenerate flavors of reactionary techbro going.
  • Would you buy a Made In America computer from Anduril for 20% more than Chinese-manufactured options from Apple?


    Haha. No I would the fuck not. 20% more than apple? Get all the fucked.
  • The current American way of doing things consists of maximizing profit, particularly short-term profit. In theory, this should result in better products for customers. In practice, this may work for a very limited time only.

  • A "normal" laptop costs in the $400-$600 range for typical machines aimed at the consumer market, going into the $800-$1200 range for the typical business focused products that come with Windows Pro licenses and such. Obviously you can go to more expensive machines with higher specs as well.

    So, where do you see a "Apple priced or even above Apple prices" being viable for these consumer-grade laptops? If the goal is to get the overall computer market in the USA to buy "made fully in the USA, then you can

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