Apple Macs to be made in the US

Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed plans to start manufacturing one of the firm's existing Mac computer lines in the United States from next year.

Cook is reported to have announced the change to its manufacturing strategy during an interview with US news channel NBC, but stopped short of revealing exactly which Mac product line would soon be US made.

"We've been working for years on doing more and more in the United States," said Cook.

"When you back up and look at Apple's effect on job creation in the United States, we estimate that we've created more than 600,000 jobs now," he added.

He said the company has no plans to start making all of its products in the US, partly because of how difficult it is to find enough people with the right skills to do the job.

He blamed this state of affairs on the US education system, but said he hopes Apple's move to the US will spur other vendors to follow suit.

"The consumer electronics world was never really here," he said. "It's a matter of starting it here."

This year has had its ups and downs for Apple, with the latest addition to the iPhone family being warmly received by reviewers, despite the inclusion of the firm's lacklustre Maps app.

The latter was touched on during the interview, with Cook admitting the firm "screwed up".

"It didn't meet our customers' expectations...and we are putting the weight of the company behind correcting it," he added.