Hardware

Elon Musk tried to automate every aspect of production of Tesla car, then had to admit that humans are irreplaceable. He gave up on all-aspect automation - there are far too many small components that tiny human hands are more adept to than robots. Actually, disassembling an iPhone a few times, I would agree, these are very intricate and fragile tiny pieces/cables everywhere.

Redesigning the iPhone specifically to be more easier for automated assembly would likely result in a worse product, and thus it wouldn't be worth it for Apple as that would lead to less sales. It's more profitable to just hire cheap labor and sell more product.

Apple has a fully automated recycling robot in the works, it functions but has issues and isn't big enough scale to handle all the recycling waste Apple has. There are videos on it, but as you would probably guess, destructive recycling is far easier than 'white glove' assembly. It breaks the screen, drills out the screws, freezes the back of the phone to weaken the batteries glue, etc. https://youtu.be/fUXiYecGZs8?si=2S5ic8M-M5cbGT8g

While complete autonomous assembly is absolutely doable, it just takes a ton of engineering and time, and with Apple producing new phones every year, that's just not worth it, when you can train a person to do the same task in minutes. It makes more sense for products that aren't going to change much over the years and can easily be nearly fully automated, like the production of pasta.

It already is automated. The supply chain and logistics are all in China because China spent money on infrastructure. You can’t plop a factory in the middle of nowhere without support structures, railroads, ports, trucking stations, etc.

Labor is still required even with automation. Local viability for cars works out sometimes due to high cost of shipping and numerous trade restrictions.