Apple Inc. has acquired a startup specializing in artificial intelligence-powered light and optics design tools, a move that signals the company’s deepening commitment to integrating AI into the physical engineering of its hardware products. The acquisition, first reported by 9to5Mac , represents a strategic investment in the intersection of computational design and photonics — a field that underpins everything from iPhone camera systems to the displays on Apple’s Vision Pro headset. While Apple offered its customary non-committal statement — “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans” — the implications of this deal extend far beyond the boilerplate. The acquired company developed AI-driven software tools that accelerate the design and simulation of optical components, reducing what traditionally takes weeks of iterative physical prototyping into hours of computational modeling.…