July 31, 2026 – Apple has posted another record-breaking quarter for research and development spending, underscoring the company’s accelerating investment in future technologies, particularly artificial intelligence.
During the third quarter of its fiscal 2026, which covered the period from March 28 to June 27, 2026, Apple allocated $11.73 billion to R&D. The figure represents a 32% year-over-year increase and marks the highest quarterly R&D expenditure in the company’s history.
The latest milestone follows an already elevated level of spending in the previous quarter. In fiscal Q2 2026, spanning December 28, 2025, through March 28, 2026, Apple reported $11.4 billion in research and development costs, reflecting a 34% increase compared with the same period a year earlier.
With three quarters now completed in fiscal 2026, Apple’s cumulative R&D investment has climbed to $34.04 billion. That total is already approaching the company’s entire fiscal 2025 R&D spending of $34.55 billion, suggesting Apple could set a significant annual record before the current fiscal year concludes on September 26, 2026.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has previously highlighted the company’s intensified investment strategy during its earnings conference call. He noted that research and development spending is growing at a much faster pace than Apple’s overall business, emphasizing that the company has substantially expanded its investment in AI-related initiatives compared with the previous year.
Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh also said that Apple’s AI spending is being layered on top of its existing long-term product development roadmap rather than replacing previous investments. However, the company has not disclosed how much of its R&D budget is specifically dedicated to artificial intelligence, nor has it revealed what percentage of total research spending those investments represent.
