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Benefit Plans
 12 Months Ended
Sep. 25, 2021
Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
Benefit Plans Benefit Plans
2014 Employee Stock Plan
The 2014 Employee Stock Plan (the “2014 Plan”) is a shareholder-approved plan that provides for broad-based equity grants to employees, including executive officers, and permits the granting of restricted stock units (“RSUs”), stock grants, performance-based awards, stock options and stock appreciation rights, as well as cash bonus awards. RSUs granted under the 2014 Plan generally vest over four years, based on continued employment, and are settled upon vesting in shares of the Company’s common stock on a one-for-one basis. RSUs granted under the 2014 Plan reduce the number of shares available for grant under the plan by a factor of two times the number of RSUs granted. RSUs canceled and shares withheld to satisfy tax withholding obligations increase the number of shares available for grant under the 2014 Plan utilizing a factor of two times the number of RSUs canceled or shares withheld. All RSUs granted under the 2014 Plan have dividend equivalent rights (“DERs”), which entitle holders of RSUs to the same dividend value per share as holders of common stock. DERs are subject to the same vesting and other terms and conditions as the underlying RSUs. As of September 25, 2021, approximately 760 million shares were reserved for future issuance under the 2014 Plan. Shares subject to outstanding awards under the 2003 Employee Stock Plan that expire, are canceled or otherwise terminate, or are withheld to satisfy tax withholding obligations for RSUs, will also be available for awards under the 2014 Plan.
Apple Inc. Non-Employee Director Stock Plan
The Apple Inc. Non-Employee Director Stock Plan (the “Director Plan”) is a shareholder-approved plan that (i) permits the Company to grant awards of RSUs or stock options to the Company’s non-employee directors, (ii) provides for automatic initial grants of RSUs upon a non-employee director joining the Board of Directors and automatic annual grants of RSUs at each annual meeting of shareholders, and (iii) permits the Board of Directors to prospectively change the value and relative mixture of stock options and RSUs for the initial and annual award grants and the methodology for determining the number of shares of the Company’s common stock subject to these grants, in each case within the limits set forth in the Director Plan and without further shareholder approval. RSUs granted under the Director Plan reduce the number of shares available for grant under the plan by a factor of two times the number of RSUs granted. The Director Plan expires on November 12, 2027. All RSUs granted under the Director Plan are entitled to DERs, which are subject to the same vesting and other terms and conditions as the underlying RSUs. As of September 25, 2021, approximately 4 million shares were reserved for future issuance under the Director Plan.
Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plans
During the three months ended September 25, 2021, Section 16 officers Katherine L. Adams, Timothy D. Cook, Luca Maestri, Deirdre O’Brien and Jeffrey Williams had equity trading plans in place in accordance with Rule 10b5-1(c)(1) under the Exchange Act. An equity trading plan is a written document that preestablishes the amounts, prices and dates (or formula for determining the amounts, prices and dates) of future purchases or sales of the Company’s stock, including shares acquired under the Company’s employee and director equity plans.
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
The Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “Purchase Plan”) is a shareholder-approved plan under which substantially all employees may voluntarily enroll to purchase the Company’s common stock through payroll deductions at a price equal to 85% of the lower of the fair market values of the stock as of the beginning or the end of six-month offering periods. An employee’s payroll deductions under the Purchase Plan are limited to 10% of the employee’s compensation and employees may not purchase more than $25,000 of stock during any calendar year. As of September 25, 2021, approximately 96 million shares were reserved for future issuance under the Purchase Plan.
401(k) Plan
The Company’s 401(k) Plan is a deferred salary arrangement under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. Under the 401(k) Plan, participating U.S. employees may defer a portion of their pretax earnings, up to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service annual contribution limit ($19,500 for calendar year 2021). The Company matches 50% to 100% of each employee’s contributions, depending on length of service, up to a maximum of 6% of the employee’s eligible earnings.
Restricted Stock Units
A summary of the Company’s RSU activity and related information for 2021, 2020 and 2019, is as follows:
Number of
RSUs
(in thousands)
Weighted-Average
Grant Date Fair
Value Per RSU
Aggregate
Fair Value
(in millions)
Balance as of September 29, 2018368,618 $33.65 
RSUs granted
147,409 $53.99 
RSUs vested
(168,350)$33.80 
RSUs canceled
(21,609)$40.71 
Balance as of September 28, 2019326,068 $42.30 
RSUs granted
156,800 $59.20 
RSUs vested
(157,743)$40.29 
RSUs canceled
(14,347)$48.07 
Balance as of September 26, 2020310,778 $51.58 
RSUs granted
89,363 $116.33 
RSUs vested
(145,766)$50.71 
RSUs canceled
(13,948)$68.95 
Balance as of September 25, 2021240,427 $75.16 $35,324 
The fair value as of the respective vesting dates of RSUs was $19.0 billion, $10.8 billion and $8.6 billion for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The majority of RSUs that vested in 2021, 2020 and 2019 were net share settled such that the Company withheld shares with a value equivalent to the employees’ obligation for the applicable income and other employment taxes, and remitted the cash to the appropriate taxing authorities. The total shares withheld were approximately 53 million, 56 million and 59 million for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and were based on the value of the RSUs on their respective vesting dates as determined by the Company’s closing stock price. Total payments for the employees’ tax obligations to taxing authorities were $6.8 billion, $3.9 billion and $3.0 billion in 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Share-Based Compensation
The following table shows share-based compensation expense and the related income tax benefit included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for 2021, 2020 and 2019 (in millions):
202120202019
Share-based compensation expense$7,906 $6,829 $6,068 
Income tax benefit related to share-based compensation expense
$(4,056)$(2,476)$(1,967)
As of September 25, 2021, the total unrecognized compensation cost related to outstanding RSUs and stock options was $13.6 billion, which the Company expects to recognize over a weighted-average period of 2.5 years.