Apple’s research and development (R&D) spending reached an all-time high in fiscal 2026, climbing to $45.77 billion for the year ended September 26, 2026. That marked a 32% increase—or more than $11.2 billion—from the $34.55 billion reported in fiscal 2025, according to the company’s condensed consolidated financial statements.
The jump far outpaced revenue growth. Apple’s total net sales rose about 15% to $478.8 billion in fiscal 2026 from $416.2 billion the prior year. As a result, R&D now consumes close to one dollar for every ten dollars of revenue, or roughly 9.6% of sales.
On a quarterly basis, the company spent $11.73 billion on R&D in the three months ended September 26, 2026, up 32% from $8.87 billion in the year-ago quarter. Spending was essentially flat compared with the June quarter, rising by just $1 million from $11.729 billion. This suggests the elevated pace that began earlier in the fiscal year has largely stabilized at a new higher level.
The acceleration aligns with Apple’s stepped-up focus on artificial intelligence. Executives previously described AI-related outlays as additive to the investments already planned for the company’s product roadmap. During earlier earnings discussions, former-CEO Tim Cook noted that R&D was “accelerating much higher than the company” overall, while CFO Kevan Parekh highlighted continued expansion in chips, products, AI, and related infrastructure.
The fiscal 2026 total continues a multi-year upward trend. Annual R&D stood at $31.37 billion in 2024 and $29.92 billion in 2023, reflecting steady growth before the sharper step-up in the most recent year. At roughly $125 million per day across the 365-day fiscal period, the latest figure underscores the scale of resources Apple is directing toward new products and technologies amid intensifying competition in AI and hardware.
MacDailyNews Note: The figures appear in Apple’s condensed consolidated statements of operations released with its fiscal fourth-quarter results. They capture expenses for research and development activities across the company’s hardware, software, and services businesses.
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Hopefully Tim Cooks complete lack of understanding of innovation will not holdback on the products developed with R&D budget as very little came out of the proliferate spending by Tim other than a car which was freebie given to Ferrari