Apple’s R&D spending has hit a new record as investments in artificial intelligence increase

Apple’s research and development spending hit an all-time high in the company’s latest quarterly results, demonstrating a continued push for industry-wide AI development. Here are the details.

Apple’s R&D costs are $11.4 billion

As part of its fiscal 2026 results, Apple reported $11.4 billion in R&D spending, up 34% from the second quarter of 2025, the highest quarterly figure in the company’s history.

Over the past few quarters, Apple’s R&D spending has increased from a range of $6 billion in 2022 to more than $11 billion today. Notably, the company ramped up investments between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, when spending topped $10 billion for the first time.

Even today, this growth has not gone unnoticed conference call After the release of the earnings report for the 2nd quarter of 2026.

By Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan on how Apple is investing in AI, including what it’s building internally versus relying on partners, Apple CEO Tim Cook responded:

“Obviously, we’re investing more. You can see in the OPEX (Operating Expenses) numbers, and if you click on them one step deeper and look at SG&A (Sales, General and Administrative) separate R&D, you’ll see that R&D is accelerating even faster than the company. So we’re investing in services.

Interestingly, this was the only time R&D spending was mentioned publicly during the call, and it was Cook who brought it up when asked specifically about artificial intelligence.

Despite Apple’s increased R&D spending, it still lags some of the tech industry’s biggest companies, particularly those that are investing more aggressively in artificial intelligence.

For reference, in their recent earnings reports, Alphabet reported $17 billion R&D spending, up from $13.5 billion in the previous quarter, Meta reported $17.6 billionfrom 12.1 billion dollars and Microsoft reported $8.9 billionIt was more than 8.1 billion dollars.

Earlier today, Apple announced its earnings report for the second financial quarter of 2026. The company generated 17% year-over-year revenue of $111.2 billion.

For a full breakdown of Apple’s earnings results, follow this link.

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