Apple acquired Berkeley-based magnetic-sensor startup Sonera Magnetics in May 2026, marking the tech giant’s first known move into neural-sensor companies, according to industry disclosures. The transaction became public on September 8, 2026, through the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act acquisitions database. Neither Apple nor Sonera issued public statements regarding the buyout, and Sonera’s official website was taken offline following the transaction. Deal terms remain undisclosed.
Origins and Technology of Sonera Magnetics
Sonera Magnetics was founded in 2018 by Nishita Deka and Dominic Labanowski, both electrical engineering doctoral graduates from the University of California, Berkeley. Sayeef Salahuddin, in UC Berkeley’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences department, served as a scientific co-founder. The startup began as a Cyclotron Road fellowship company at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and emerged from stealth in September 2023 with an $11 million seed round backed by investors including Founders Fund, Benchmark, IVP, Craft Ventures, and 8VC.
The company specialized in acoustically-driven ferromagnetic resonance magnetometry, a solid-state method for detecting weak biomagnetic fields at room temperature without requiring cryogenic cooling or heavy magnetic shielding. Traditional magnetoencephalography systems rely on superconducting quantum interference devices that demand liquid-helium cooling to approximately -270 degrees Celsius and multi-million-dollar shielded rooms. Sonera combined magnetic thin films with high-frequency acoustic waves to build chip-scale sensors designed for wearable devices.
Potential Integration with Apple Wearables and Health Tech
Sonera’s initial product roadmap centered on the S1 chip, which was positioned for muscle sensing (magnetomyography) in consumer hardware. The sensor technology allows for the detection of magnetic muscle and neural activity without requiring surgical implants, distinguishing it from existing invasive brain-computer interface systems that pair with Apple’s Vision Pro headset.
The acquisition could provide Apple with foundational hardware for future iterations of the Apple Watch or other wearable form factors. Potential use cases include continuous health monitoring of neuromuscular conditions and improved gesture controls, although Apple has not confirmed its specific product plans for the acquired intellectual property.
Apple’s Existing Brain-Computer Interface Ecosystem
The acquisition expands Apple’s presence in neural interfaces, which previously relied on three distinct layers of patents, protocols, and third-party partnerships. Apple filed a patent in January 2023 covering ear-canal electrodes in AirPods-class devices capable of measuring electrical and physiological signals using AI-driven dynamic electrode selection. However, no commercial products utilizing those specific patents have been released.
In May 2025, Apple introduced the BCI Human Interface Device protocol as an accessibility extension in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and visionOS 26, enabling native operating system support for implanted brain-computer interfaces. Synchron served as the launch partner for that protocol. Additionally, Santa Barbara-based BCI firm Cognixion announced a feasibility study in October 2025 integrating its non-invasive EEG-based Nucleus hub with Apple Vision Pro for patient populations with conditions such as ALS and spinal cord injuries, utilizing Apple’s accessibility application programming interfaces.
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