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

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

10 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Thursday October 31, 2024 9:42 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well. ...
best early black friday deals

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals

Friday November 1, 2024 8:21 am PDT by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 29 in 2024. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment,...
M4 Pro on Blue

M4 Pro Chip Benchmark Results Reveal an Extremely Impressive Performance Feat

Thursday October 31, 2024 7:06 pm PDT by
The first Geekbench 6 benchmark results for the M4 Pro chip surfaced today. Impressively, the results that are available so far show that the highest-end M4 Pro chip is faster than the highest-end M2 Ultra chip in terms of peak multi-core CPU performance. Here is a comparison of the results: Mac mini with M4 Pro (14-core CPU): 22,094 multi-core score (average of 11 results) Mac Studio...
Apple iPhone SE 4 5G Modem 1

iPhone SE 4 First to Get Apple-Designed 5G Modem, iPhone 17 Pro to Add Custom Wi-Fi 7 Chip

Friday November 1, 2024 4:04 am PDT by
The iPhone SE 4 that's set to come out early next year is expected to debut Apple's first in-house 5G modem, according to Jeff Pu, an analyst who covers companies within Apple's supply chain. In a research note this week with Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities, Pu said Apple is expected to roll out its custom-made 5G modem starting with the next-generation...
ios 18 2 chatgpt plus

iOS 18.2 Beta 2 Shows Siri ChatGPT Limit, Offers 'Plus' Upgrade Option

Monday November 4, 2024 10:54 am PST by
With the second beta of iOS 18.2 that's available for developers today, Apple has further fleshed out the ChatGPT integration that's available with Siri. In the Settings app, there's now a section that shows the ChatGPT daily limit, and offers an option to upgrade to the paid ChatGPT Plus plan. The beta includes an Advanced Capabilities section with a "Daily Limit" reading that shows up as...
M3 Pro Max vs M4 Pro Max Feature

Here's How Much Faster M4 Pro/Max Are for Graphics vs. M3 Pro/Max

Friday November 1, 2024 8:04 am PDT by
Apple's new M4 Pro and M4 Max chips are impressively fast in terms of CPU performance, topping the M2 Ultra, but what about graphics performance? The first Geekbench 6 results for GPU performance are now available for the M4 Pro and M4 Max, and the Metal scores reveal some impressive year-over-year gains. Based on the Metal scores that are available so far, the M4 Pro and M4 Max are up to...
imac video apple feature

What to Expect From Apple This November

Friday November 1, 2024 9:40 am PDT by
After a busy October in which Apple announced new Macs and Apple Intelligence launched, the calendar has now turned to November. Below, we outline what to expect from Apple this month as the slower-but-still-busy holiday season approaches. After seeding the first betas of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 with additional Apple Intelligence features last month, Apple will likely...

Top Rated Comments

jweinraub Avatar
168 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
168 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
168 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
168 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
168 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
168 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)