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Google and Microsoft do a lot of interesting research. Waymo is a good example. I'm not sure what Apple does. My issue with big tech is not lack of innovation or research, but rather that it's all private. We're driving people out orgs that share their research with the world and into ones that lock it away.
I think Apples research is seeing what happens when you sit on a quarter of a trillion dollars. Without veering far off topic. I don't think apple really has a culture of innovation anymore. Each rectangle looks the same. Remember when nokia had all their crazy feature phones. Taking a 30% cut on apps isn't that.
Take Airpods or FaceID, Apple was not the first to innovate in the headphone space or in the face unlock space. But when they did eventually come out with their own version, that version is miles ahead of the competition.