"Apple has a hell of an R&D department. As far as I know, their retina display, unibody laptop manufacturing processes, and touch-based trackpad tech are unique

"Apple has a hell of an R&D department. As far as I know, their retina display, unibody laptop manufacturing processes, and touch-based trackpad tech are unique to them. It's been shown a number of times that their touch screens are way more accurate than others, and somehow their battery life is quite remarkable compared to competitors as well. " Almost everything you mentioned was designed and built by other companies. Apple doesn't design their SoC, they don't design or build their touchscreens, they don't build their cases (though they aesthetically design them). Which is probably a good thing because they need to focus on their core competencies (interfaces and visual designs), and leave the specialized companies to make the specialized solutions. When Apple tried to take a lead on hardware years back, they fell miserably behind. Apple barely spends more on R&D than Dell. http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-rd-for-tech-companies-2010-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-rd-for-tech-...