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Woke Company Report

Apple Inc – Woke Company Report

F61/100 higher is better
Originally published December 6, 2025
Aerial view of Apple Park, Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California
Photo: Apple Park, Cupertino, California. Nils Huenerfuerst, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Full report

Points deducted by category

  1. DEI hiring, pay & suppliers: 13/15 points deducted
    • Live "Inclusion & Diversity" page (Diversity Network Associations, representation and pay-equity content). (source)
    • Board recommended AGAINST the 2025 "Cease DEI" shareholder proposal, which was defeated. (source)
  2. Internal policies & benefits: 8/10 points deducted
    • HRC Corporate Equality Index 2026: 100, verified participant. (source)
    • A verified HRC 100 rating requires transgender-inclusive health benefits. (source)
  3. Free speech, debanking, deplatforming & anti-military/anti-American conduct: 8/15 points deducted
    • Removed Parler from the App Store (Jan 2021), citing its content moderation. (source)
    • Reversal: Approved Parler's return to the App Store (Apple letter to Sen. Lee and Rep. Buck). (source)
    • App Review Guideline 1.1.1 bars "defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content," undefined terms that give Apple broad removal discretion. (source)
  4. Political giving (PAC, treasury, leadership): 0/10 points deducted
  5. Advocacy, lobbying & public statements: 0/15 points deducted
  6. Marketing, products & content: 4/10 points deducted
    • 2026 Pride Collection (Pride Edition Sport Loop, watch face and wallpapers). (source)
  7. Charitable & activist funding: 6.5/10 points deducted
    • Racial Equity and Justice Initiative: Apple "has more than doubled its initial financial commitment to total more than $200 million over the last three years" (Apple Newsroom, June 14, 2023); the program page is still live. (source)
    • ADF's Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index lists "SPLC-Aligned Giving Platform" as a risk factor for Apple (overall score 13%, "Significant Policy Gaps"; checked Oct 20, 2026). (source)
    • Limited partner in Working Capital Fund alongside Open Society Foundations (Soros) (co-investor tie; the fund's 2023 annual report). (source)
  8. ESG, activist investing & industry/regional boycotts: 0/10 points deducted
  9. China & foreign-adversary ties: 5/5 points deducted
    • Apple's 2024 App Store Transparency Report lists 1,307 apps removed from the China mainland App Store in response to government takedown demands (1,131 of them games lacking a required GRN license). (source)
    • Board recommended AGAINST the 2026 "China Entanglement Audit" proposal, which was defeated. (source)
    • Registered lobbying on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (H.R. 6210) in Q4 2020, per Apple's LDA report ("discuss with policymakers technical aspects of H.R. 6210"); news reports said Apple sought changes, which Apple disputed. (source)
  10. Election & voting-law activism: 4/10 points deducted
    • Apple is listed as a corporate signer of the "We Stand for Democracy" two-page ad (NYT and Washington Post, Apr 14, 2021), which opposed "any discriminatory legislation or measures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter" from voting, published as states including Georgia passed election-law changes. (source)
  11. Border & immigration enforcement: 2/10 points deducted
    • Apple and two of its executives, Tim Cook (then CEO) and Deirdre O'Brien (then senior vice president), filed their own Supreme Court amicus brief defending DACA in DHS v. Regents. The Oct 2, 2019 docket entry reads: "Brief amici curiae of Tim Cook, Deirdre O'Brien and Apple, et al. filed." (source)
  12. Faith, family & children: 16/10 points deducted (cap 10; MAJOR items are not limited by the cap)
    • Signed HRC's coalition statement opposing state legislation. (source)
    • Joined the 32-business amicus brief supporting Philadelphia against Catholic Social Services in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. (source)
    • Apple signed the HRC-organized open letter (full-page Dallas Morning News ad, Mar 11, 2022; logo on the ad) opposing Texas's directive to investigate parents of transgender minors receiving gender-transition care: "The recent attempt to criminalize a parent for helping their transgender child access medically necessary, age-appropriate healthcare in the state of Texas goes against the values of our companies." (source)
  13. Climate & anti-fossil-fuel advocacy: 0.5/10 points deducted
    • Apple 2030 carbon-neutral goal (operational and supply chain). (source)
  14. Second Amendment & lawful-firearms commerce: 0/10 points deducted
  15. Government-coordinated content moderation: 0/10 points deducted
  16. Abortion advocacy, benefits & funding: 0/10 points deducted
  17. American Workers & H-1B Displacement: 2.5/10 points deducted
    • DOJ Immigrant and Employee Rights Section settlement (Nov 8, 2023): IER found reasonable cause that Apple "preferred workers holding temporary employment visas for PERM related positions … instead of qualified and available U.S. applicants" (2018–2019). Civil penalty $6,750,000 (agreement). Per the DOJ release of Nov 9, 2023 (https://www.justice.gov/es/opa/pr/justice-department-secures-25-million-landmark-agreement-apple-resolve-employment), Apple pays up to $25 million in total, including an $18.25 million back-pay fund. Apple "vigorously disputes" the findings. (source)

Final verdict: Grade F

Grades run A (best) to F (worst) on a 0–100 scale, where a higher score is better: every company starts at 100 and loses points for each finding. Every finding links to its source. See how we rate for the scale and the category caps. Points from MAJOR items are not limited by the category cap, so a category can show more points deducted than its cap.