Apple has unveiled an extensive investment in Türkiye aimed at boosting its technology ecosystem with seven new facilities: five Developer Academies spread across the country, a Developer Center in İstanbul, and a Manufacturing Academy in Ankara. The announcement was made during Tim Cook’s visit, in line with Apple’s 35-year history serving Turkish customers. The goal is to empower students, entrepreneurs, developers, and manufacturers through education, free training, and access to Apple’s expert resources.
Developer Academies: Free, Intensive 9-Month Programs
Over the next three years, Apple will establish five Developer Academies across Türkiye. The first will open in İstanbul in 2027. Although the locations of the other four haven’t been disclosed yet, each Academy will offer a free, nine-month immersive curriculum covering coding, design, marketing, project management, and artificial intelligence. Core Apple values—accessibility, user privacy, and sustainability—will be woven throughout the educational programs.
Developer Center in İstanbul & Manufacturing Academy in Ankara
Also slated for 2027 is Apple’s İstanbul Developer Center. Modeled after existing Apple Developer Centers in cities like Bengaluru, Berlin, Cupertino, Shanghai, and Singapore, the İstanbul center will serve as a hub for developers and startups. It will provide hands-on help with app development, workshops, Apple tools, and direct interaction with Apple specialists. The intention is to improve app design, performance, and user experience for Türkiye’s developer community.
In 2028, Apple will launch its Manufacturing Academy in Ankara. This will be the company’s second such facility globally and the first located outside the United States. Free education and consultancy will be offered to students, entrepreneurs, and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), focusing on advanced manufacturing techniques including AI, robotics, predictive maintenance, and automation. The facility will feature labs, live demonstrations, workshops, and collaborative workspaces. Importantly, this is not a factory—it’s an educational and technological empowerment center designed to help Turkish businesses modernize operations.
Apple’s announcement also highlights that Türkiye already takes part in existing Apple programs, like Swift Student Challenge, Meet with Apple events, and Developer Forums. These investments expand upon these initiatives, offering more widespread infrastructure and local support.
No financial figures, student quotas, or precise timelines beyond the 2027–2028 openings have been shared yet. Many details—such as application deadlines, admissions criteria, and exact locations for the four remaining Academies—are currently unspecified.
Analytically, this marks a strategic shift: Apple is not just enabling app creation, but seeding local technological infrastructure. By investing in education, production tech, and localized developer support, it is empowering a more self-sustaining tech ecosystem in Türkiye. What to watch for: where the other Academies will land, how Apple measures success—by jobs created, apps launched, or manufacturing competitiveness—and whether the Manufacturing Academy can become a catalyst for smart industrial transformation across Türkiye’s businesses.
