Topping off a busy week that saw the launch of the first Apple Intelligence features and several new Macs, Apple reported its Fiscal Fourth Quarter Results This Afternoon. The period included very early sales of the iPhone 16 line, which offered an opportunity to gauge the momentum of the company's latest phones. The Apple Watch Series 10 and AirPods 4 also launched during the quarter. CEOTim Cook he told CNBC that iPhone 15 sales were “stronger than 14 in the prior-year quarter, and 16 was stronger than 15.”
The company reported revenue of $94.9 billion, representing a new record for the September quarter and a 6 percent year-over-year increase. The strong performance was somewhat clouded by a one-time $10.2 billion income tax charge that Apple paid to Ireland after a long-running tax dispute. Almost all segments of Apple's business also increased, with the exception of the “wearable devices, home and accessories” category. iPad revenue rose 8 percent after Apple finally introduced the new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in the spring.
Apple's first set of ai-powered Apple Intelligence capabilities focuses primarily on image summaries, writing tools, and cleansing. ChatGPT integration and the ability to generate images will arrive with iOS 18.2 in December. “We're already getting great feedback from customers and developers and a really early statistic, representing just three days of data: Users are adopting iOS 18.1 at twice the rate they adopted 17.1 in the previous quarter,” Cook told CNBC. .
The iMac, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro were updated this week with Apple's latest M4 silicon. The Mini underwent a substantial redesign and is now smaller than ever. The M4 editions of the MacBook Air, Mac Pro, and Mac Studio are rumored to arrive next year. Apple updated the iPad Mini earlier this month. This batch of new hardware, along with the iPhone 16 line and wearables, could boost Apple's performance in the all-important holiday quarter.
