10-K risk factors · Apple · fiscal 2026 vs. 2025
What changed in Apple’s risk factors
Item 1A of the 10-K for fiscal 2026, filed Nov 3, 2026, set against the year before: what is new, what was rewritten and what was taken out.
The short answer
Apple’s risk-factor section (Item 1A) in its 10-K for fiscal 2026 lists 28 risk factors, against 27 a year earlier, and runs to 12,038 words, up from 9,512 (our count). One risk factor is new: artificial intelligence. None was dropped, ten kept their subject under a rewritten heading, and 19 had sentences added or taken out. Most of the new text is about supplies of memory, chips and computing capacity, tariffs and trade rules, App Store commissions, lawsuits, and artificial intelligence, which now also comes up inside several older risk factors.
New risk factor
Business Risks
Issues related to artificial intelligence may result in reputational, competitive and financial harm to the Company, regulatory action, legal liability, and other adverse effects to the Company’s business.
It opens: Artificial intelligence technologies are increasingly integrated into the Company’s products and services and its business and operations. These technologies present emerging legal, regulatory, ethical and operational risks.
600 words in the filing.
Same subject, new heading
These risk factors cover the same ground as a year ago, under a heading that was rewritten. The body text changed too in most of them; the biggest changes are in the next section.
| Fiscal 2025 heading | Fiscal 2026 heading |
|---|---|
Failure to obtain or create digital content that appeals to the Company’s customers, or to make such content available on commercially reasonable terms, could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition. | The Company may be unable to obtain or create digital content that appeals to the Company’s customers or to make such content available on commercially reasonable terms. |
The Company’s operations and performance depend significantly on global and regional economic conditions and adverse economic conditions can materially adversely affect the Company’s business, results of operations, financial condition and stock price. | The Company’s operations and performance depend significantly on global and regional economic conditions. |
To remain competitive and stimulate customer demand, the Company must successfully manage frequent introductions and transitions of products and services. | To remain competitive and stimulate customer demand, the Company must successfully manage frequent introductions and transitions of products, services and technologies. |
The Company’s net sales and gross margins are subject to volatility and downward pressure due to a variety of factors. | The Company’s net sales, gross margins and results of operations are subject to volatility and downward pressure due to a variety of factors. |
Future operating results depend upon the Company’s ability to obtain components in sufficient quantities on commercially reasonable terms. | Future operating results depend upon the Company’s ability to obtain components, compute capacity and storage resources in sufficient quantities and on commercially reasonable terms. |
The Company is subject to complex and changing laws and regulations worldwide, which exposes the Company to potential liabilities, increased costs and other adverse effects on the Company’s business. | The Company is subject to the risks and costs of complex and changing laws and regulations worldwide. |
Investment in new business strategies, commercial relationships and acquisitions could disrupt the Company’s ongoing business, present risks not originally contemplated, and materially adversely affect the Company’s business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition. | Investment in new business strategies, commercial relationships and acquisitions could disrupt the Company’s ongoing business and present risks not originally contemplated. |
Losses or unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information, including personal information, could subject the Company to significant reputational, financial, legal and operational consequences. | The Company experiences cybersecurity incidents and inadvertent losses and unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information, including personal information. |
The Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely impacted by unfavorable results of legal proceedings or government investigations. | The Company is subject to the risks of adverse impacts from legal proceedings and government investigations. |
The Company’s products and services may be affected from time to time by design and manufacturing defects that could materially adversely affect the Company’s business and result in harm to the Company’s reputation. | The Company’s products, services and technologies, including artificial intelligence technologies and features, may be affected from time to time by design and manufacturing defects. |
Where the text changed most
The 8 risk factors with the most sentences added or taken out. Sentences that were only lightly reworded are not listed.
Business Risks · 273 words, now 652
Future operating results depend upon the Company’s ability to obtain components, compute capacity and storage resources in sufficient quantities and on commercially reasonable terms.
New in fiscal 2026
For example, the Company is experiencing supply constraints and rising costs driven by industry-wide supply-demand imbalances for key components, including advanced semiconductors, memory and storage.
The Company expects these trends to intensify for memory and storage components.
Actions, such as price increases, that have been and may in the future be taken by the Company may not effectively mitigate these negative impacts, and may also reduce demand for the Company’s products.
- and 10 more
No longer in the filing
Such disruptions could occur in the future.
Macroeconomic and Industry Risks · 1,003 words, now 983
The Company’s business can be impacted by political events, trade and other international disputes, geopolitical tensions, conflict, terrorism, natural disasters, public health issues, industrial accidents and other business interruptions.
New in fiscal 2026
A significant majority of the Company’s manufacturing is performed in whole or in part by outsourcing partners located primarily in China mainland, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, in addition to sourcing from partners and facilities located in the U.S. Global supply chains can be highly concentrated, and an escalation of geopolitical tensions, conflict or instability, particularly in regions where the Company relies on single or limited sources for critical components, such as advanced semiconductors, memory and storage, or that are significant to global commodity markets such as oil, gas, rare earths, and other raw materials, could result in significant disruptions.
Restrictions on international trade, such as tariffs and other controls on imports or exports of goods, technologies, including artificial intelligence and super intelligence technologies, or data, can materially adversely affect the Company’s business and supply chain, particularly if such measures apply to countries and regions where the Company generates significant revenue or has significant supply chain operations.
These measures can increase the cost or limit the availability of the Company’s products and the components, rare earths and other raw materials that go into them; require the Company to change suppliers or restructure business relationships and operations; require the Company to refrain from or cease offering, distributing or incorporating affected products, services, third-party applications or technologies, including artificial intelligence technologies; and cause the Company to increase the prices of its products and services.
- and 1 more
No longer in the filing
A significant majority of the Company’s manufacturing is performed in whole or in part by outsourcing partners located primarily in China mainland, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, in addition to sourcing from partners and facilities located in the U.S. Restrictions on international trade, such as tariffs and other controls on imports or exports of goods, technology or data, can materially adversely affect the Company’s business and supply chain.
The impact can be particularly significant if these restrictive measures apply to countries and regions where the Company derives a significant portion of its revenues and/or has significant supply chain operations.
- and 4 more
Legal and Regulatory Compliance Risks · 825 words, now 1,067
The technology industry, including, in some instances, the Company, is subject to intense media, political and regulatory scrutiny, which exposes the Company to increasing regulation, government investigations, legal actions and penalties.
New in fiscal 2026
The Company is also currently subject to a court-ordered injunction in the U.S. preventing it from imposing any commission or fee on purchases of digital goods and services completed using external links contained within third-party iOS and iPadOS applications.
Following an appeal of that order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit Court”) remanded the case to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (“California District Court”) for further proceedings.
The Ninth Circuit Court’s decision is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court (“Supreme Court”), with the Supreme Court reviewing the applicable legal standard for civil contempt.
- and 6 more
No longer in the filing
If such investigations or litigation are resolved against the Company, the Company can be exposed to significant fines and may be required to make further changes to its business practices, all of which could materially adversely affect the Company’s business, reputation, results of operations, financial condition and stock price.
Legal and Regulatory Compliance Risks · 542 words, now 899
The Company is subject to the risks of adverse impacts from legal proceedings and government investigations.
New in fiscal 2026
For example, artificial intelligence models and tools that incorporate or are trained on publicly available information may carry additional licensing obligations or expose the Company to the risk of additional infringement and other legal claims, and may limit the Company’s ability to protect its intellectual property.
The Company is involved in lawsuits, many of which claim statutory damages or seek significant changes to its business operations, and the Company anticipates that it will continue to be a target for such lawsuits in the future.
Because of the scale of the Company’s user, advertiser, investor and developer bases, the plaintiffs in class action cases filed against the Company typically claim monetary damages even if the alleged per-user or per-entity harm is small or nonexistent.
- and 6 more
No longer in the filing
Such agreements can also significantly reduce the Company’s revenue and increase the Company’s cost of sales and operating expenses, materially adversely affecting the Company’s business, results of operations, financial condition and stock price.
Business Risks · 313 words, now 540
The Company’s future performance depends in part on support from third-party software developers.
New in fiscal 2026
The Company distributes third-party applications through the App Store.
Where applicable, the Company may retain a commission from sales of applications and sales of digital services or goods initiated within an application.
If third-party developers use alternative methods of distribution and payment for their applications and digital content, including direct-to-consumer distribution models, the Company may earn a lower commission on such sales, or may not earn a commission at all.
- and 5 more
No longer in the filing
If third-party software applications and services cease to be developed and maintained for the Company’s products, customers may choose not to buy the Company’s products, adversely impacting the Company’s business, results of operations, financial condition and stock price.
Business Risks · 555 words, now 686
The Company experiences cybersecurity incidents and inadvertent losses and unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information, including personal information.
New in fiscal 2026
However, these measures cannot provide absolute security and are not always effective, and losses or unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information do occur.
The rapid advancement and widespread dissemination of artificial intelligence technologies significantly increases the risks associated with cybersecurity attacks.
For example, artificial intelligence technologies are producing highly targeted phishing campaigns, automating the discovery or exploitation of vulnerabilities, generating deepfake content designed to bypass authentication protocols, and identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities at a greater scale and at a highly accelerated pace.
- and 4 more
No longer in the filing
But these measures cannot provide absolute security, and losses or unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information occur and could materially adversely affect the Company’s business, reputation, results of operations, financial condition and stock price.
Although the Company takes steps to secure confidential information that is provided to or accessible by third parties working on the Company’s behalf, such measures are not always effective and losses or unauthorized access to, or releases of, confidential information occur.
Legal and Regulatory Compliance Risks · 408 words, now 535
The Company is subject to the risks and costs of complex and changing laws and regulations worldwide.
New in fiscal 2026
They can also create uncertainty about how such laws and regulations will be interpreted and applied, and compliance is made more challenging by the divergence, and at times direct conflict, between requirements across jurisdictions.
If the Company is found to have violated such laws and regulations, such violations could result in penalties, fines and other legal liability.
As a result, the Company’s products could be banned, delayed or prohibited from importation.
- and 3 more
No longer in the filing
New and changing laws, regulations, executive orders, directives, and enforcement priorities can also create uncertainty about how such laws and regulations will be interpreted and applied.
Business Risks · 312 words, now 449
The Company’s products, services and technologies, including artificial intelligence technologies and features, may be affected from time to time by design and manufacturing defects.
New in fiscal 2026
In addition, the Company’s service offerings can have quality issues and have experienced, and may in the future experience, outages, slowdowns, errors or other performance issues that do not meet user expectations.
In addition, the Company’s products, services and technologies may also be used in unintended ways, or in a manner that its users allege is harmful.
For example, many artificial intelligence technologies are inherently nondeterministic and may produce inconsistent, unpredictable or inaccurate outputs, making it difficult to fully anticipate, test for, or prevent unintended behaviors and harms.
- and 2 more
No longer in the filing
In addition, the Company’s service offerings can have quality issues and from time to time experience outages, service slowdowns or errors.
As a result, from time to time the Company’s services have not performed as anticipated and may not meet customer expectations.
Edited only lightly
Same heading, and no sentence added or removed beyond small wording changes:
The Company is exposed to the risk of write-downs on the value of its inventory and other assets, in addition to purchase commitment cancellation risk.
The Company depends on the performance of carriers and other resellers.
Varied stakeholder expectations about social and other issues expose the Company to potential liabilities, increased costs, reputational harm, and other adverse effects on the Company’s business.
The Company is exposed to credit risk and fluctuations in the values of its investment portfolio.
The Company is exposed to credit risk on its trade accounts receivable, vendor non-trade receivables and prepayments related to long-term supply agreements, and this risk is heightened during periods when economic conditions worsen.
Two risk factors are word for word the same as a year ago.
How this comparison works
- Both 10-Ks were read from SEC EDGAR and Item 1A was split into risk factors at each bold italic heading, keeping the bold category heading above it.
- A risk factor counts as the same one when its heading or its body text mostly uses the same words as one from the year before. Otherwise it is new or removed.
- A sentence counts as unchanged when a sentence on the other side is at least 70% the same, so small wording edits don’t show up as changes. Word counts include headings.
- Quoted text is exactly as filed. Risk factors describe what the company says could hurt its business. They are not forecasts, and a longer section doesn’t by itself mean the risks grew.
Apple company file · How to read risk factors · How to read a 10-K
Disclosures
- Editor holdings
- The editor holds no position in any company named on this page. As of Nov 11, 2026.
- Compensation
- Nobody paid for this page. No affiliate links on this page.
- Sources
- Apple’s 10-K for fiscal 2026 (accession 0000320193-26-000026) and fiscal 2025 (accession 0000320193-25-000079) on SEC EDGAR.
- Last updated
- Nov 11, 2026
General education, the same for every reader. Not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security, and it doesn’t consider your situation.