Apple’s spending on research and development hit a record high in the company’s latest quarterly results, reflecting the entire industry’s continued efforts toward AI development. Here are the details.
Apple’s R&D spending reaches $11.4 billion
As part of its fiscal second quarter 2026 results, Apple reported $11.4 billion in R&D spending, up 34% from the second quarter of 2025, making it the highest quarterly figure in the company’s history.
Over the past few quarters, Apple’s R&D spending has increased steadily, from around $6 billion in 2022 to more than $11 billion today. The company notably significantly increased its investments between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, when spending crossed the $10 billion mark for the first time.
This increase did not go unmentioned during today’s conference call following the publication of the second quarter 2026 results report.
When asked by Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan how Apple plans to invest in the AI stack, including what it builds internally versus what it relies on partners for, Apple CEO Tim Cook said:
“We’re clearly investing more. You can see it in the OPEX (operating expense) numbers, and if you click on that, a little bit further, and look at the separate R&D areas (from) SG&A (sales, general and administrative), you’ll see that R&D is even accelerating much more than the business. So we’re clearly investing, we’re investing in products and services.
Interestingly, this is the only time R&D spending was explicitly mentioned on the call, and it was Cook who brought it up when asked specifically about AI.
Despite Apple’s increased R&D spending, the company still lags behind some of the tech sector’s biggest companies, particularly those that have invested more aggressively in AI.
For reference, in its most recent earnings reports, Alphabet reported $17 billion in R&D spending, up from $13.5 billion in last year’s quarter, Meta reported $17.6 billion, up from $12.1 billion, and Microsoft reported $8.9 billion, up from $8.1 billion.
Earlier today, Apple released its fiscal second quarter 2026 earnings report. The company reported revenue of $111.2 billion, a 17% year-over-year increase.
For the full breakdown of Apple’s results, follow this link.
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