I think that's total b.s. I just checked the old Mac I have quick access too--a MacPro1,1 from 2007, and it says "Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China." The OG iPod, from 2001, also had that language.

I've got a couple late 90s Macs in storage. I'll check them later.

Apple under Jobs actually tried to keep as much manufacturing local as possible.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/15/business/apple-california-manufacturing-history.html

In 1983, Mr. Jobs oversaw the construction of a state-of-the-art plant where the new Macintosh computer would be built. Reporters who toured it early on were told that the plant, located just across San Francisco Bay from Apple’s headquarters, was so advanced that factory labor would account for 2 percent of the cost of making a Macintosh. “Steve had deep convictions about Japanese manufacturing processes,” recalled Randy Battat, who joined Apple as a young electrical engineer and oversaw the introduction of some of the company’s early portable computers. “The Japanese were heralded as wizards of manufacturing. The idea was to create a factory with just-in-time delivery of zero-defect parts. It wasn’t great for business.” ... That failure taught Mr. Jobs the lesson. He returned to Apple in 1997, and the next year, he hired Tim Cook as Apple’s senior vice president for worldwide operations. Mr. Cook had mastered the art of global manufacturing supply chains, first in IBM’s personal computer business and then at Compaq Computer.