Trump’s Great Tariff Grab🤯

Those massive, developer-wallet-punching tariffs on imports from China might affect you more than you might think. That’s because Trump’s latest economic maneuver throws a 34% tariff on top of an existing 20%, which is a 54% hit for anyone who likes to open Xcode on something shinier than a potato.

This is more than an iPhone drama. Developers live and die by their tools, and where do those tools come from? We might be heading into a new phase of developer woes, starting next week.

The Issue

So that cupboard of old ThinkPad machines at work might be drafted in to give new developers something to work on. That’s because the next MacBook price hike is likely to be massive, and we all know how little companies want to spend on hardware for developers.

Put it this way. The machine I’m using at work right now has a keyboard from the wrong side of the Atlantic. I don’t know how I don’t know why. What I do know is the keyboard layout is wrong for me, and it makes development difficult. Their solution? Here’s an external keyboard. I mean, thank you but no thank you, I’m not looking for a new machine (although mine is 4 years old) I’m actually just looking for something I can use effectively. 

So, companies don’t want to spend money on tools, but guess where our machines come from? Most Apple hardware is still largely dependent on Chinese supply chains, and yes, that includes the overpriced dongle you’ll inevitably need for something. Your boss is going to be even less willing to open up their budget for any new hardware, starting next week.

 This Sucks for Software Developers

At most companies, you’re stuck with a machine “for the upgrade cycle”, which can be up to four years. Now cue the dreaded scenario: your MacBook dies, you request a replacement, and you’re handed something that last saw a security patch when TikTok was still a dancing app.

In my world, the support team already ghosts managers trying to get new machines (true story, not even a dramatic retelling). If a company wouldn’t answer calls for a regular MacBook, imagine how long it’ll take to order a 43% more expensive one. Not saying you’ll be writing unit tests in the cloud on your phone soon but buckle up as that might just be coming down the tack.

Tariffs = Tech Debt

There’s something poetic about tariffs forcing us to live with older hardware. It’s just like how companies live with unpatched frameworks, and ancient Jenkins scripts. 

You thought working from home with WFH colleagues who ignore pull requests was bad? Try doing it when your hardware is throttled by a thermal demon because it was designed when Metal still sounded like a band and not a graphics API.

What Can You Do?

You can’t easily change geopolitics at this point in an election cycle. So, try these:

Upgrade your personal hardware now

Especially if you’re “hybrid” or remote and need something decent to work from. Contractors, we’re looking at you.

Start mentally preparing 

For delays in onboarding, setup, and lost productivity due to machine issues. Think of it like Agile: inefficient, poorly managed, but somehow considered the standard.

I once had to use a laptop during a presentation because the company hadn’t given me one three weeks into the job. I needed to hide this from the security guys because it would have presented a risk to the company. It might well be that, again, but for tons of developers. Bad times.

Conclusion

This isn’t some abstract macroeconomic theory. It’s real, it’s coming, and it might just leave you debugging JavaScript on a laptop older than your GitHub profile. You can’t code your way out of this one, but you can grab some hardware before it’s priced like a mid-range sedan. Or perhaps hide the MacBook of a departed colleague in your drawer “just in case”?