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Tim Cook hypes up Apple's $2.5 billion US glass investment, teases 'a lot' more to come

In a new interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook highlights the importance of his company's newly strengthened partnership with Corning for both the latest iPhones and future products.

By Adrian Diaconescu

Published: Sep 15, 2025, 8:35 AM

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Factory worker at Corning's Apple-dedicated glass facility in Kentucky

There are probably many more exciting details about the hot new iPhone Air, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, and even the "regular" iPhone 17 than the type of glass Apple is using to protect your next handset's screen from scratches, but at the same time, there's a very good reason why Tim Cook is on national TV promoting Corning's Ceramic Shield 2 technology.

Apple and Corning made a lot of headlines last month with a newly signed partnership designed to guarantee all the cover glass on all iPhones and Apple Watches sold worldwide will be manufactured in the US, and now Cook is out there boasting about the American jobs this deal is creating and (vaguely) hinting at more such local economy-boosting efforts to come soon.

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Your "Made in USA" iPhone dream is materializing... one component at a time

Look, no matter what the Trump family promised you a few months back, making a mobile phone stateside from scratch is a utopia. That just can't be done right now, especially at the iPhone scale, but what Apple can do and is (slowly) doing is moving the production of certain parts and components (at least partially) from countries like China and Vietnam to the US.

There's a lot of things that we're doing in the United States, and a lot that we can do, frankly.

Tim Cook, September 12, 2025

According to both Apple's CEO and Corning CEO and Chairman Wendell Weeks, that was not an easy move to do for iPhone and Apple Watch glass, as "some volume" was already being built in Kentucky prior to the two's decision to take their alliance to the next level, but not nearly enough to cover all global sales.

Do you think we'll ever get an iPhone 100 percent made in the US?

It could happen... in a few years It could happen... in a decade or so Not in this lifetime... or the next Who cares about where it's made, just make it cheaper!

That means that an "extraordinary amount of increased volume" had to be moved to "The Bluegrass State", where Apple now has an entire Corning factory "100 percent" dedicated to its products. Or rather one component of its products, which is obviously very important, but still far from achieving Donald Trump's dream of seeing 100 percent of an iPhone made in the USA.

When you look at innovation, when you look at the cost, when you look at the quality, these are all things that are factor into our decisions - this is a great place!

Tim Cook about Apple's investment in Corning's Kentucky facility, September 12, 2025

But while Apple pledged a whopping $2.5 billion for this particular investment, the company is committed to spending a far greater $600 billion in total in the US over the next four years on various other ventures, including a major collaboration with TSMC for system-on-a-chip (SoC) manufacturing. Basically, the Cupertino-based tech giant is tackling iPhone production piece by piece, but it's obviously going to take a long time to move every single piece of the intricate puzzle to the US.

What's the big deal about Corning anyway?

Well, this is not just a player in the global glass and ceramic manufacturing business, but the player everyone wants on their team. Corning is the company behind the Gorilla Glass tech many of you might be more familiar with than Ceramic Shield, but Apple insists the age of Gorilla Glass has ended.

As hard as Corning's CEO is trying to make it seem like all of his company's partners are treated equally, it's very clear that $2.5 billion has bought Apple a privileged relationship with the industry leader and 175-year (!!!) veteran.

Of course, Corning is open to working more closely with Samsung on a stronger (both figuratively and literally speaking) competitor to Ceramic Shield and Ceramic Shield 2, but until then, everything the company does for Apple is "100 percent only for Apple", and most likely superior to Samsung's entirely separate materials (namely, Gorilla Armor and Gorilla Armor 2).

While there's no objective way to compare the strength of Ceramic Shield 2 and Gorilla Armor 2 right now, Corning and Apple claim that the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 family's cover glass is about 50 percent stronger than the first Ceramic Shield generation, providing a huge improvement over an already solid level of scratch resistance and better anti-reflection for minimal glare. Pretty impressive stuff... if it proves true in real-life use.

Is there an "unbreakable" iPhone on the horizon?

Probably not. I certainly don't think so because, well, glass is glass and glass will occasionally shatter if you don't handle it with the utmost care. $2.5 billion can't change that, fancy marketing labels can't change that, and Trump's tariffs definitely can't change that.

Despite using state-of-the-art Ceramic Shield 2 tech, the iPhone Air is definitely not unbreakable. | Image Credit -- Apple

That being said, it's obviously a good thing for the US economy that Apple is bringing jobs back home (even though the exact number of new employees at Corning's Kentucky facility is for some reason not disclosed at any point during Tim Cook's interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer), and it's also good for iPhone fans that the company is working so closely with a pioneer like Corning on making glass... as hard to break as humanly possible. Your move, Samsung and Google!

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.

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