Apple to make some Macs in U.S.

Company has been criticized for working conditions in Chinese factories it uses.

NEW YORK — Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company will move production of one of its existing lines of Mac com- puters to the United States next year.

Industry watchers said the announcement is both a cunning public-relations move and a harbinger of more manufacturing jobs moving back to the U.S. as wages rise in China.

Cook made the comments in part of an interview taped for NBC’s “Rock Center,” but aired Thursday morning on “Today” and posted on the network’s website.

In a separate interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, he said that the company will spend $100 million in 2013 to move production of the line to the U.S. from China.

“This doesn’t mean that Apple will do it ourselves, but we’ll be working with people and we’ll be investing our money,” Cook told Bloomberg.

That suggests the company could be helping its Taiwanese manufacturing partner Foxconn Technology Group to set up a factory in the U.S.

Apple representatives had no comment Thursday beyond Cook’s remarks.

Like most consumer electronics companies, Apple forges agreements with contract manufacturers to assemble its products overseas. However, the assembly