Apple Reportedly Has Secretive 'Startup' Team Working on Experimental Technologies for Future Devices

[MacRumors]

Apple's secretive Exploratory Design Group is working on a range of next-generation technologies, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.

In his most recent newsletter, Gurman revealed new information about Apple's Exploratory Design Group, known as "XDG" inside the company. The team is apparently highly secretive, even by Apple's notoriously high standards. People working on one project within the group are not permitted to communicate about their work with other members of XDG that are tasked with a different project. Individuals are also organized by skill set rather than specific projects, meaning that XDG members often work on several different projects simultaneously.

The Exploratory Design Group operates as a startup within Apple and is made up of only a few hundred people, mostly engineers and academic types. That's a far cry from the many hundreds of people in the Special Projects Group, which is focused on Apple's self-driving car, or the more than a thousand engineers in Apple's Technology Development Group, the team building the mixed-reality headset.

XDG also receives significant financial resources and members are encouraged to work on projects until they can determine whether or not an idea is viable, rather than "churn out" new features for devices like the iPhone.

Last week, Gurman revealed that XDG was behind Apple's recent breakthrough with non-invasive blood glucose monitoring technology. The group is said to be actively working on next-generation display technology, artificial intelligence, low-processor technologies, next-generation batteries for smartphones, and health features for headset devices to help people with eye diseases. Chip and battery technologies developed by XDG have purportedly already shipped in iPhone, iPad, and Mac models for several years.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Has Secretive 'Startup' Team Working on Experimental Technologies for Future Devices

 

[szw-mapple fan]

No surprises here. All big tech companies have teams like this in one form or another.

 

[dwaltwhit]

I woulda gone with EDGe, but whatever. Of course they have a super secret team of developers!

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

How about a Secretive 'Startup' team to work on providing improvements and stability on iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS? It's the software that needs love and attention.

 

[darngooddesign]

It would be dumb if they weren’t.

 

[mccainbrain]

Apple's secretive Exploratory Design Group is working on a range of next-generation technologies, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.

In his most recent newsletter, Gurman revealed new information about Apple's Exploratory Design Group, known as "XDG" inside the company. The team is apparently highly secretive, even by Apple's notoriously high standards. People working on one project within the group are not permitted to communicate about their work with other members of XDG that are tasked with a different project. Individuals are also organized by skill set rather than specific projects, meaning that XDG members often work on several different projects simultaneously.XDG also receives significant financial resources and members are encouraged to work on projects until they can determine whether or not an idea is viable, rather than "churn out" new features for devices like the iPhone.

Last week, Gurman revealed that XDG was behind Apple's recent breakthrough with non-invasive blood glucose monitoring technology. The group is said to be actively working on next-generation display technology, artificial intelligence, low-processor technologies, next-generation batteries for smartphones, and health features for headset devices to help people with eye diseases. Chip and battery technologies developed by XDG have purportedly already shipped in iPhone, iPad, and Mac models for several years.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Has Secretive 'Startup' Team Working on Experimental Technologies for Future Devices

Hopefully the iRack will be coming out soon.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

So.....Apple has an R&D group.

Big if true.

 

[nistromo]

Wow, write me a 1000 words about Apple having R&D. Stat.

 

[NachoGrande]

a duh....

 

[dannys1]

Wow! Imagine the richest technology company in the word having an R&D department. MIND. BLOWN.

 

[redheeler]

How about a Secretive 'Startup' team to work on providing improvements and stability on iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS? It's the software that needs love and attention.

Chilling with the yearly releases and instead focusing on stability in odd years is the winning strategy they'll never take.

 

[contacos]

duh indeed. Did he think the EKG feature on the Apple Watch just fell into their lap one morning for example

 

[MacWiz_007]

They always have. This is nothing new.

 

[Razorpit]

Wow, write me a 1000 words about Apple having R&D. Stat.

I wish there was a write-up like that on Apple's QA department.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

They always have. This is nothing new.

Agreed. This is nothing new. R&D is REAL & it EXISTS.

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[MallardDuck]

Gee. Surprise. A large technology company has an advanced R&D team.
I'm shocked.

 

[MallardDuck]

I wish there was a write-up like that on Apple's QA department.

My first reaction was What QA department? but that’s not fair. They have one, but dates trump quality. That’s a leadership failure.

 

[Andronicus]

It’s cool and all, but can they have a group dedicated to making siri not the worst out of all the virtual assistants.

 

[CWallace]

How about a Secretive 'Startup' team to work on providing improvements and stability on iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS? It's the software that needs love and attention.

Chilling with the yearly releases and instead focusing on stability in odd years is the winning strategy they'll never take.

Latest round of rumors says iOS 17 will be a "stability" release with little to no new features and plenty of bug fixes.

And, of course, this is being reported as a bad thing and a sign that Apple has, once again, "run out of ideas".

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

The best of Apple innovation is yet to come!

 

[rpmurray]

The group is said to be actively working on next-generation display technology, artificial intelligence, low-processor technologies, next-generation batteries for smartphones, and health features for headset devices to help people with eye diseases.

I really wish Apple would poor a few hundred million (the loose change in Tim's couch) into getting deep into a REAL AI rather than the personal assistant crap that is Siri and most other takes on the tech. I want something that works better than the crappy human intelligence we're currently saddled with.

 

[mtbdudex]

Hmm, it’s called having a business plan.
Like near-mid-long term plans.
2 years out, 5 years out, 8-10 years out.
Research and development..

 

[FeliApple]

How about a Secretive 'Startup' team to work on providing improvements and stability on iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS? It's the software that needs love and attention.

How about a secretive start-up team to work on guaranteeing like-new performance and battery life through iOS updates instead of the now 15-year-old standard of either obliterating devices through updates or facing impossible compatibility issues while staying behind? I’d like that.

 

[redheeler]

Latest round of rumors says iOS 17 will be a "stability" release with little to no new features and plenty of bug fixes.

And, of course, this is being reported as a bad thing and a sign that Apple has, once again, "run out of ideas".

It's Apple's own fault for hyping these whole-number releases so much. In reality a whole-number release every year isn't necessary.

How about a secretive start-up team to work on guaranteeing like-new performance and battery life through iOS updates instead of the now 15-year-old standard of either obliterating devices through updates or facing impossible compatibility issues while staying behind? I’d like that.

And this is partly why Apple likes whole-number releases, to use planned obsolescence on older devices...

 

[rjohnstone]

Show me a large tech company that doesn't have one.