Apple may spend more on buying startups and acquiring talent in future: Report

John Ternus is set to succeed Tim Cook as Apple CEO in September. Now, a fresh — and rather speculative — report hints that under the new CEO Apple may change the way it approaches acquisitions and buying talent.

The company, at least compared to other tech giants like Google and Meta, has been quite conservative and easy-going as far as buying startups is concerned. Instead of spending big money on getting entire teams and startups, Apple tends to follow an in-house approach. But a report by Bloomberg notes that the company under Ternus may spend relatively more on acquisitions.

The report comes weeks after Apple announced that CEO Tim Cook would be stepping down on September 1, 2026 with John Ternus, its existing hardware chief, taking over the company. At the same time, Cook will transition to the role of executive chairman of the board of directors, and will continue to be involved in policy matters.

While the Bloomberg report suggests changes in the way Apple will spend its cash going forward, it is worth noting the report is speculative and that Apple has not yet announced, or even hinted at, any categorical changes in the way it runs its business and manages its finances.

Though in the company’s latest earnings call, Apple CFO Kevan Parekh did hint that Apple might dial up some knobs on expenses considering how aggressively other big tech companies were spending capex on AI talent and AI infrastructure. "As we move ahead, we are no longer providing net cash neutral as a formal target, and we will independently evaluate cash and debt,” Parekh had said.