Apple in Talks to Open R&D Facility in Russia's Skolkovo Innovation Centre?

skolkovo logoRussian newspaper Izvestia reports [Google translation] that the organizers behind the Skolkovo technology park near Moscow are currently in talks with a number of high-profile companies including Apple, Google, and Facebook about locating research and development facilities in the area. Skolkovo has already landed agreements with Microsoft, IBM, General Electric, Cisco, and others, with the project's backers envisioning the region becoming Russia's version of Silicon Valley bolstered by dozens of major corporations.

According to the report, Apple officials in Moscow declined to comment on the claims, but Skolkovo executive Roman Romanovsky indicated that the two sides have expressed interest in negotiating about possibilities. No deal appears to be imminent, although Romanovsky hopes that the talks will eventually lead to an agreement.

Apple is in the process of opening up its first major international research and development center in Israel, looking to leverage its own expertise and that of Anobit, an Israeli flash memory company acquired by Apple earlier this year, to spur new innovations.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 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 ...
macbook pro blue green

When Will Apple Release the M5 MacBook Pro?

Wednesday March 26, 2025 4:53 pm PDT by
Apple regularly refreshes the MacBook Pro models, and a new version that uses M5 series chips is in the works. Apple just finished refreshing most of the Mac lineup with M4 chips, and now it's time for the M5. Rumors suggest that we could see the first M5 MacBook Pro models this fall. Design There have been no rumors of a design update for the M5 MacBook Pro models that are coming this...
Facebook Feature

Facebook's New iPhone App Feature Turns the Clock Back to 2007

Thursday March 27, 2025 1:59 pm PDT by
In the mid-to-late 2000s, Facebook was all about staying connected with friends and family. However, as the social media platform added new features and grew over time, that core experience began to get drowned out. That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook. Specifically, Meta has redesigned the...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
iOS 18 4 Ambient Music Control Center

How to Use iOS 18.4's New Ambient Music Feature in Control Center

Thursday March 27, 2025 7:45 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone adds an Ambient Music feature to Control Center. Below, we take a closer look at how it works. iOS 18.4 is currently in beta, so the Ambient Music feature is not widely available yet. The update will likely be released to the general public next week. To use the feature on iOS 18.4, open Control Center and tap on the plus sign in the top-left...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

'iPhone Fold' to Feature Metallic Glass Hinge That Resists Deformation

Thursday March 27, 2025 4:21 am PDT by
Last week, we covered a report claiming that Apple's book-style foldable iPhone (or "iPhone Fold," as we are provisionally calling it here) will use liquid metal hinges to improve durability and help minimize screen creasing. Today, a Chinese leaker provided more details on the properties of this hinge material that help to clarify why Apple chose it for its first foldable device. According...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
Apple Lumon Terminal Pro

Apple's Mac Site Features Fictional 'Lumon Terminal Pro'

Wednesday March 26, 2025 12:19 pm PDT by
Apple is going all out with promotions for the popular Severance Apple TV+ show today, and as of right now, you'll find a new "Lumon Terminal Pro" listed on Apple's Mac site. The Lumon Terminal Pro is designed to look similar to the machines that Severance employees like Mark S. and Helly R. use for macrodata refinement. The Terminal features a blue keyboard, a small display with wide...

Top Rated Comments

iDemiurge Avatar
168 months ago
It was a combined effort of all the Soviet republics that put Gagarin into space. To say it was just the Russians is not exactly correct. By the way, the quality of Roscosmos is declining. Even its officials are admitting that.

Dude, can you show the Ruskies some love? They've put up with one tyrant after another, and now with a kleptocracy, and still manage to be creative hard-working folks.

Plus, they gave us Tetris! You know that Tetris song that you can't take out of your head? It's a russian folk song!
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spetsnazos Avatar
168 months ago
Same engineers who built this plane?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/12/russian-plane-crash-bodies-retrieved

no the same engineers who were the FIRST in space, the FIRST to travel the planet, and the ones that defeated Nazi Germany in WW2 with superior tanks that could be built quickly and efficiently.

Yea those.

And Russia is the only country that is still going to space. Can't say the same for NASA....
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alex00100 Avatar
168 months ago
Сколоково рулит!
I'm russian and I'm really happy about it! Even if skolcovo is really a mess and noone takes it seriously. Apple certanly won't have any development here course we don't have any experts at this stuff.


can't help thinking they see it as: more jobs(more work) for less of a cost...
Salarys in russia are not far from the US ones. It's not Asia, it's Europe and salarys are almost as high as in the rest of Europe.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
verakot Avatar
168 months ago
Same engineers who built this plane?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/12/russian-plane-crash-bodies-retrieved

Well, of course your engineers never make mistakes like this, right?

http://articles.cnn.com/2008-11-14/us/bridge.collapse_1_gusset-plates-bridge-collapse-bridge-designs?_s=PM:US
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThunderSkunk Avatar
168 months ago
Dude, can you show the Ruskies some love? They've put up with one tyrant after another, and now with a kleptocracy, and still manage to be creative hard-working folks.

If you consider what Russia had to work with, and what they've had to overcome, it's a testament to the people that they've thrived & survived at all, much less manage to put the screws to the US technologically, with all our resources, for decades. Apple working with Russian inventors and designers and engineers is an exciting development, far moreso than what Apple's taking advantage of in China.

Sure, Putins a wacko, but hey, we all get stuck with elections stealing militant psycho leaders from time to time.

And yea, their space program is still apparently cool enough for us, since ours is now based on theirs.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Discoverer Avatar
168 months ago
Same engineers who built this plane?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/12/russian-plane-crash-bodies-retrieved

Oh, so we already know that it was a technical issue with the plane that caused it to crash? Could you please give me a link to the official report? I'd love to read it.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)