Apple's size and scope, along with direct control of production to force a high quality product helps.
Including knowledge transfer, tooling assistance, trade secrets at the start.
But the truth is, even if you can find a rare product such as this, which is really Chinese assembly with US know how, direct control, and methods, 99.999% if the stuff you buy when Made ib China will be... junk.
The exception to the rule is not relevant. Made in China means "junk".
It's not just Apple. You can buy a forged spanner (and other tools) from China that can beat the pants off of any domestically made version. It's all about what the distributor/brand will pay for.
This is just wrong. You can buy junk in China and you can buy very quality products in China. They launch rovers to the literal Moon. They produce 7nm chips. This is not junk, this is state of art.
That's your own personal experience. I don't buy junk and if I would repeat that experiment, it's very likely that I'd pick up, e.g. Fluke multimeter or some old iPhone I'm keeping around.
My example has nothing to do with what you personally buy, and instead with "what is Made in China" in a local market. I am referring to both reality, and perception.
If you have millions upon millions of products, and only a tiny, tiny, tiny number are of OK quality, then it's entirely fair to say "Made in China" is junk. That's how it works. Exceptions to the rule are simply that, and not relevant.
If a company makes fridges, and 1 model out of 100 are OK, the other 99 crap that breaks in 2 to 3 years, everyone would say "That company makes junk!". Referencing "But they made one good fridge once!" is not something anyone need care about, and is the exception to the rule.
Yet with Made in China, we're talking about a million junky, sub-par products, compared to 1 that may be acceptable. And even then, quality control is still an issue.
Made in China is junk, an entirely fair, reasonable, logical statement, predicated upon the reality of the situation for most people.
Manufacturing in the PRC defaults to “cheap-as-possible” mode if the specs aren’t explicitly laid out. Think stinky black plastic and sharp metal edges.
Most of the time, the default is compatible with what the free-market MBA crowd wants.
Including knowledge transfer, tooling assistance, trade secrets at the start.
But the truth is, even if you can find a rare product such as this, which is really Chinese assembly with US know how, direct control, and methods, 99.999% if the stuff you buy when Made ib China will be... junk.
The exception to the rule is not relevant. Made in China means "junk".