Bloomberg claims to have some info on how Apple plans to spend some of the $10.5B it has set aside for capital expenditure over the next year, saying that the investments will span everything from lasers to robots.
A fair chunk of the cash – up from $7B last year – will of course be spent on initial work on the company’s spaceship campus, but Bloomberg’s sources say that Apple takes a very hands-on approach to its manufacturing process.
Jony Ive’s industrial design team reportedly builds its own manufacturing and testing equipment to develop innovative new ways to manufacture its products and to ensure that what is designed is practical to build.
Examples given of new manufacturing & testing techniques devised by Apple in the past include:
- A spinning-cube machine to ensure iPhone 4 gyroscopes were sensitive enough for games
- A new display lamination technique for the 2012 iMac
- A new method to apply anti-reflective coatings on MacBooks
In some cases, Apple builds the actual machinery that is then given to its overseas suppliers to use during the manufacturing process.
If Apple is indeed planning to launch its long-rumored iWatch next year, it’s likely that a bunch of that cash will be earmarked for the production and test technology needed to manufacture them.
