Apple's annual R&D spending jumps 32 percent to a record $45.77 billion, MacRumors and 9to5Mac report

Apple spent a record $45.77 billion on research and development in fiscal 2026, according to the company's financial statements for the year that ended September 26. That is $11.22 billion more than the $34.55 billion it spent in fiscal 2025, an increase of 32 percent, as reported by 9to5Mac and MacRumors.

Spending outpaced sales

Revenue grew more slowly than R&D over the same period. MacRumors notes that sales rose 15 percent while research spending climbed by nearly a third, leaving Apple spending close to one dollar on R&D for every ten dollars it takes in. The figure works out to roughly $125 million per day.

A step up that has since levelled off

The quarterly numbers suggest the jump happened early in the fiscal year and then stabilized at a higher base. R&D in the September quarter came to $11.73 billion, up about 32 percent from $8.87 billion in the year-ago quarter, according to 9to5Mac. Compared with the June quarter, however, spending was virtually unchanged: the difference was just $1 million. 9to5Mac points to this as a sign that the increase may be flattening out rather than still accelerating.

What management has said

Both outlets point to earlier comments from Apple executives about why costs were rising. Then-CEO Tim Cook said earlier this year that Apple was clearly investing more, and that R&D was growing considerably faster than the company as a whole. Chief financial officer Kevan Parekh said on an earnings call that spending related to AI would come on top of investments already planned for Apple's existing product roadmap.

The larger budget arrives during an unusually busy stretch for Apple's product line, with the iPhone Duo, new Macs and iPads, and the HomeView hub all launching within weeks of each other. Apple's financial statements do not break R&D spending down by product or project, so the figures alone do not show where the additional money went.

The numbers also sit alongside other cost pressures the company discussed on its earnings call, including higher memory prices that Apple said would weigh on margins in the holiday quarter.