It's been well over two years since monthly drone updates have been shared online covering the construction progress of Apple's second campus in California, called Apple Park. Over the weekend, drone videographer Matthew Roberts posted his latest video on YouTube, but instead of covering the newest updates to the campus, the video captured a drone that malfunctioned and crashed over Apple Park.


Roberts said the crashed drone's operator got in touch with him, asking for help in locating the downed drone on Apple's new campus and sharing the footage from the crash with Roberts. The drone that crashed is said to be one of DJI's devices, so the owner was able to review a cached version of the video on the DJI app on their phone/tablet following the incident. "There were no signs of premature failure," the owner said, and it's still unclear why the drone malfunctioned.

Roberts eventually discovered the drone crashed among the solar panels on the roof of the main Apple Park building. The drone's owner has contacted Apple and notified them of the incident, and Roberts said that "it remains to be seen" if Apple will return the drone back to its owner. In the video, it appears that the drone has remained mostly intact following the crash.

apple park drone crash video
In the latest monthly update of Apple Park shared by Roberts earlier in February, the new campus was described as seeing increased activity from employees now that more have moved in, with bicycles appearing throughout parking lots and on walkways. The maintenance facility has also been completed, but Apple is still working on landscaping in a large area located between the main building and Steve Jobs Theater.

Top Rated Comments

djeeyore25 Avatar
96 months ago
An unknown error caused the drone to crash. The drone should be named High Sierra.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
triton100 Avatar
96 months ago
Hopefully Apple will reply to him with an invoice for repair of damage to solar panels.
Just like if someone had crashed their drone on his house.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tardegrade Avatar
96 months ago
... it's still unclear why the drone malfunctioned.
Apple HQ Lazer Defence Shield, primary test - successful.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jav6454 Avatar
96 months ago
Why not use another drone to lift and take the “crashed” drone away? I don’t know much of drones, but seems logical since many of these devices can lift themselves twice over now.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chriscrk Avatar
96 months ago
Are there laws for drones flying over private property like that, especially for such a secretive company?
This seems dangerous, it could have broken one of the solar panels or even hit someone if it fell in the park area.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
whooleytoo Avatar
96 months ago
Why not use another drone to lift and take the “crashed” drone away? I don’t know much of drones, but seems logical since many of these devices can lift themselves twice over now.
...and if that one crashes, get an even bigger drone to lift the first two off.

It's drones, all the way up...
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
m4 macbook air pink

Apple Now Selling Refurbished M4 MacBook Air Models

Friday June 13, 2025 3:34 pm PDT by
Apple today added M4 MacBook Air models to its refurbished store in the United States, making the latest MacBook Air devices available at a discounted price for the first time since they launched earlier this year. Both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models are available, with Apple offering multiple capacities and configurations. The refurbished devices are discounted by approximately 15...