Apple has announced a new US$410 million award from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund for II-VI, a manufacturer of optical technology. Today’s award builds on an initial $390 million awarded from Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund in 2017.
The expansion of the company’s long-standing relationship with II-VI will create additional capacity and accelerate delivery of future components for iPhone, with 700 jobs in Sherman, Texas; Warren, New Jersey; Easton, Pennsylvania; and Champaign, Illinois.
II-VI manufactures vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that help power Face ID, Memoji, Animoji, and Portrait mode selfies. Apple also works with II-VI to manufacture lasers used in the LiDAR Scanner technology that helps deliver faster, more realistic augmented reality experiences and improves autofocus in low-light scenes in photos and videos.