Apple is reportedly investing $390 million into a company that makes chips for the iPhone X and AirPods

Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

Apple CEO Tim Cook.

• Apple announced that it's investing $390 million (£292 million) into Finisar, a company that builds special chips for some of its products.
• This is the second round in a larger $1 billion (£750 million) overall investment which first saw Apple investing in Corning, a firm that manufactures the glass used in most of its devices.
• Finisar is reopening a facility in Texas which will help create 500 new jobs.

A new CNBC report says that Apple is investing $390 million (£292 million) into Finisar, a company that helps build chips that enable proximity and depth sensing on products such as the iPhone X and the AirPods.

With Apple's money, Finisar is reportedly going reopen a 700,000 sq. feet (65,000 sq. meters) manufacturing facility in Sherman, Texas, where some 500 jobs will be created between engineers, technicians, and a maintenance team.

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The plant will be transformed and refurbished with new machines capable of producing VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) chips.

This special kind of component features in a number of Apple's products, and enables features such as Face ID, ARKit, and even Animoji, but also proximity sensing that, for instance, allows AirPods to stop playing audio when one of the two buds is removed from the user's ear.

"VCSELs power some of the most sophisticated technology we've ever developed," said Apple's chief operating officer Jeff Williams in a statement reported by CNBC.

"We're thrilled to partner with Finisar over the next several years to push the boundaries of VCSEL technology and the applications they enable."

Finisar's CEO chimed in as well. He said: "When you combine our proven ability to consistently manufacture exceptional products with our new state-of-the-art Sherman facility, we're confident we can achieve our shared goal of providing consumers with incredibility exciting features."

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