Apple to Build Semiconductor R&D Center in Israel?

a5chipIn the wake of reports that Apple is considering the purchase of Israeli firm Anobit, Israeli financial newspaper Globes reports that Apple plans to set up its first research and development center outside of its Cupertino headquarters.

Sources inform "Globes" that Apple Inc. has decided to open a development center in Israel focusing on semiconductors. The decision was taken even before the company entered into talks to acquire Herzliya-based flash storage solutions provider Anobit Ltd..
Apple has hired Aharon Aharon, a veteran player in Israel's high tech industry, to lead the new development center.

[...]

Aharon Aharon comes to Apple with a varied background that will assist him in setting up a semiconductors operation for a foreign company. His most high-tech venture was Camero Tech Ltd., which develops Radio Frequency (RF) based imaging systems, and which he founded in 2004 with Amir Beeri. Aharon serves as chairman of Camero Tech. Before that he was chairman of embedded security solutions developer Discretix Inc. and managed their Israel development center. Earlier still he was VP operations at Zoran Corp. (Nasdaq: ZRAN), having begun his career at IBM's Haifa development center where he reached the post of deputy director.

Globes also claims Aharon will spend several months at Apple's headquarters and will return to Israel to set up the research center whether or not Apple purchases an Israeli company.

Both Globes and Israeli business paper Calcalist report [translation] that Apple vice president Ed Frank has been taking meetings with high-tech companies in Israel ahead of the announcement of the development center. A number of other US tech firms have research centers in Israel, including Intel, Google, IBM, Microsoft.

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...

Top Rated Comments

jweinraub Avatar
177 months ago
I agree. I am keeping politics out of it. I am just slightly concerned that one of my larger holdings is investing in a war zone. (Not that I don't own a few Israeli stocks, I just like to keep it out of the mainstream part of my portfolio.)

I travel to Israel for business and pleasure several times a year and not once did I ever witness anything unsafe. In fact, I feel more unsafe in parts of NYC than I ever did anywhere in Israel. Herzliya where all the tech centers exist, (kind of Israel's silicon valley) is extremely safe. Why else would Google, Intel, IBM, Microsoft, and TI have offices there (I think TI since closed up shop but not due to terrorism)
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kps Avatar
177 months ago
If Russia ever gets a legitimate rule of law, look for Apple to move in fast.
All the smart Russians have already moved to Israel (possibly the first time in history that people have pretended to be Jewish to escape persecution).
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mechcozmo Avatar
177 months ago
Im not sure if apple should develop anything in Israel based off the conflicts in that area, I'm just thinking that even though that company is based there moving the company and building a center in a country with less tensions might be a better idea.

Intel, Motorola, and a number of other high-tech companies have R&D in Israel. I think it's about a half-hour north of Tel Aviv, is a small city that's the "Silicon Vally of Israel".

It's a very stable area. Most of the news reports find that reporting, "And nothing happened today" doesn't get them viewership, so you get reports of terrorism, etc. I have visited and felt safer in the country than most other places— the West Bank and Gaza Strip excepted. At the risk of this becoming political, the country is very stable outside of those two area and arguably relatively stable in those areas when you look over the last 100 years!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gorskiegangsta Avatar
177 months ago
I wonder how many of those making politicized posts actually know that a fairly decent portion of technological achievements (including Intel's Core Duo and Sandy-Bridge architectures) was developed in Israel.
-that Israel is among the top countries in the world in areas of Natural sciences, Engineering, Medicine and Research
-that it has one of the highest percentages of scientists and of registered patents per capita in the world
-that it is consistently ranked as one of the most innovative countries in the world
-that its universities and research institutions are consistently ranked among the top in the world


[Israel]’s main strengths remain its world-class capacity for innovation (6th), which rests on highly innovative businesses that benefit from the presence of the world’s best research institutions, geared toward the needs of the business sector. The excellent innovation capacity.. ..is reflected in the country’s high number of patents (4th). Its favorable financial environment (10th), particularly the solid availability of venture capital (2nd), has further contributed to making Israel an innovation powerhouse...
WEF Global competitiveness report 2011-2012 (http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GCR_CountryProfilHighlights_2011-12.pdf)

I, personally, think it'll be enormously beneficial to Apple to have an R&D center there and I hope it'll help them innovate in microprocessor space.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
shaytmg Avatar
177 months ago
Thrilled to hear Apple is getting on the Israeli bandwagon. Many hi-tech companies have offices in Israel and it is often referred to as the "Start Up Nation."
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kps Avatar
177 months ago
Glad to know that Apple is investing in such a safe, stable part of the world.
Next thing you know they'll be building their head office on a major fault line.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)