Apple's $100B buybacks vs. low-teens capex: why Apple now follows instead of inventing
ryanorban · x · 2026-09-16
A pointed analysis of Apple's strategy shift: Jobs built categories, Cook built the cash machine — but the machine is eating itself. Watch and AirPods were the last clean wins; since then Apple followed Google into cars (canceled), Meta into headsets (stranded at $3,500), and ChatGPT into Siri. The math: tens of billions in buybacks vs. low-teens capex — Apple funds prototypes but not the decade after them.
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