Apple spent a record $45.77 billion on R&D in fiscal 2026, up 32%

What happened

Apple’s research and development expenses reached a new all-time high in fiscal 2026, climbing 32% year over year to $45.77 billion. AAPL Company Marcus Mendes | Nov 2 2026 - 2:16 pm PT 0 Comments Apple’s research and development expenses reached a new all-time high in fiscal 2026, climbing 32% year over year to $45.77 billion. Apple is a software and consumer electronics company based in Cupertino.

CFO Kevan Parekh also explained that AI-related spending was being added to the investments Apple was already making in its existing product roadmap. Apple’s R&D spending reaches new record-high While it may have taken Apple longer than some wished it had to ramp up R&D in the face of growing competition in AI, the company has significantly accelerated its spending over the past year.

As Apple shared in its Q4 2026 results, it spent $11.73 billion on R&D, bringing its total spending for fiscal 2026 to $45.77 billion, a 32% increase compared to the $34.55 billion it spent in fiscal 2025. During an earnings call earlier this year, former CEO Tim Cook said Apple was “clearly investing more,” adding that R&D was “accelerating much higher than the company” overall.

Interestingly, today’s figures also suggest that Apple’s R&D spending may be starting to level off. While Apple’s Q4 2026 R&D expenses were up 32% from $8.87 billion in the year-ago quarter, they were virtually unchanged from Q3, increasing by just $1 million.