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Income Taxes - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)
12 Months Ended
Sep. 27, 2014
Sep. 28, 2013
Sep. 29, 2012
Sep. 24, 2011
Income Taxes [Line Items]        
Foreign pretax earnings $ 33,600,000,000us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesForeign $ 30,500,000,000us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesForeign $ 36,800,000,000us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesForeign  
Statutory tax rate in foreign operations 12.50%us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationForeignIncomeTaxRateDifferential      
Undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries 69,700,000,000us-gaap_UndistributedEarningsOfForeignSubsidiaries      
Deferred tax liability related to foreign earnings that may be repatriated 23,300,000,000aapl_DeferredTaxLiabilityRelatedToAmountsThatMayBeRepatriated      
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities held by foreign subsidiaries 137,100,000,000aapl_CashCashEquivalentsAndMarketableSecuritiesHeldByForeignSubsidiaries 111,300,000,000aapl_CashCashEquivalentsAndMarketableSecuritiesHeldByForeignSubsidiaries    
Reconciliation of provision for income taxes, statutory federal income tax rate 35.00%us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationAtFederalStatutoryIncomeTaxRate 35.00%us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationAtFederalStatutoryIncomeTaxRate 35.00%us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationAtFederalStatutoryIncomeTaxRate  
Tax benefits from equity awards 706,000,000aapl_ShareBasedCompensationTaxExpenseBenefit 643,000,000aapl_ShareBasedCompensationTaxExpenseBenefit 1,400,000,000aapl_ShareBasedCompensationTaxExpenseBenefit  
Measurement of tax position, minimum likelihood of tax benefits being realized upon the ultimate settlement, percentage 50.00%aapl_PercentageOfIncomeTaxExaminationMinimumLikelihoodOfTaxBenefitsBeingRealizedUponSettlement      
Gross unrecognized tax benefits 4,033,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits 2,714,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits 2,062,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits 1,375,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits
Unrecognized tax benefits that would affect effective tax rate, if recognized 1,400,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsThatWouldImpactEffectiveTaxRate 1,400,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsThatWouldImpactEffectiveTaxRate    
Unrecognized tax benefits, gross interest and penalties accrued 630,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestAccrued 590,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestAccrued    
Recognized interest and penalty expense of tax matters 40,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestExpense 189,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestExpense 140,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestExpense  
Reduction in gross unrecognized tax benefits due to review by IRS 570,000,000us-gaap_IncomeTaxReconciliationTaxSettlementsDomestic      
Tax benefit recognized in connection with the IRS review $ 166,000,000us-gaap_IncomeTaxReconciliationTaxContingenciesDomestic