20154473 JEFO Redacted_Redacted.pdf

Attachment 1 U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Justification for Brand Name Exception to Fair Opportunity

March 2026

Date: 9/8/2026 PR Number: 20154473

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity:

The Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Acquisition, Information Technology Contracting Division, prepared this justification for an exception to fair opportunity.

2. Nature and/or description of the item/service being procured and anticipated cost:

CBP intends to procure a brand name specification for the DHS/CBP-initiated project in support of brand name Apple/Mac products for several CBP offices. The specified equipment is required to provide data system functionality. CBP is updating technology in multiple CBP operational offices throughout the United States. The equipment outlined below will provide the requisite infrastructure in direct support of CBP personnel.

3. Authority to award a sole source order:1

RFO Subpart 8.4/GSAR 538.7104-3(a) RFO 12.102(a) RFO 13.101(b) x RFO 16.507-6

4. For RFO Subpart 16.5 procurements, refer to the exceptions to fair opportunity at RFO 16.507-6(b) and check one of the following:

The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.

Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered

1 In this document, citations to RFO Parts 8, 12, 13, and 16 are citations specifically to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Class Deviation 25-20 for FAR Part 8, FAR Class Deviation 25-21 R1 for FAR Part 12, FAR Class Deviation 26-01 R1 for FAR Part 13, and FAR Class Deviation 26-04 R1 for FAR Part 16, which were issued as part of the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO), which was implemented in response to Executive Order 14275, Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement, signed April 15, 2025.

Justification for Brand Name Exception to Fair Opportunity For Actions Not Exceeding the SAT

March 2026 for the original order. If the contracting officer uses the logical follow-on exception, the rationale must describe why the relationship between the initial order and the follow-on is logical (e.g., in terms of scope, period of performance, or value).

It is necessary to place an order to satisfy a minimum guarantee.

x Item peculiar to one manufacturer.

Explanation:

The requested equipment supports the CBP Mac Refresh initiative. The CBP OIT Mac Operating System (OS) requires use of approved software and applications that have been developed within the environment. The macOS is not compatible with other OS platforms, making it the only option for an operating system. Without the compatible equipment for the current macOS platform, it will require massive redesign and replacement of approved, tested, and secure fielded technologies and equipment, negatively impacting mission performance and operations. CBP requires the macOS operating system to support this requirement. The only hardware provider which makes products running macOS is Apple. CBP has made the decision to move away from sole-sourcing the operating system for its computers (Microsoft Windows) and seek to introduce OS competition and diversity. MacOS is the other operating system which supports the use for this requirement and only Apple makes hardware that runs macOS. Further, this use case requires software that only runs on macOS (Xcode, CoreML, MLX). CBP requires that the devices which support this use be enrolled in Apple Business Manager in order for the IT department to manage devices remotely, install updated security protocols, and manage the devices as needed. The Agency requires specific hardware capability to support on-device Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads. Apple’s M3 processor and associated MacBooks provide a 16-core Neural Engine to process AI workloads and unified memory which uniquely enable apps, like those that run AI workloads on device, to share data between the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine. This use case requires the use of the following software tools & frameworks available only on macOS.

Xcode - development, testing, and app distribution for Apple platforms

CoreML - Apple’s framework (built into Xcode) which enables development of AIML capabilities, optimized for on-device performance with mimed memory footprint and power consumption

MLX - open source arrays framework for machine learning on Apple silicon.

5. The anticipated price will be determined fair and reasonable based on one or more of the price analysis techniques described below.

x Market Research.

Justification for Brand Name Exception to Fair Opportunity For Actions Not Exceeding the SAT

March 2026

Comparison of the proposed price with prices found reasonable on previous purchases.

x Current price List.

Comparison with similar items in a related industry.

x Comparison to IGCE.

Contracting Officer’s personal knowledge.

Other. Explain:

6. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification:

I certify that this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which forms a basis for the Justification for Brand Name Exception to Fair Opportunity is accurate and complete.

7. Contracting Officer Certification/Approval:

I hereby determine that the circumstances described herein exist and that the information is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge:

Contracting Officer Date 9/8/2026

MARY W

CARSON

Digitally signed by MARY W

CARSON

Date: 2026.09.08 08:34:14 -04'00'