Technology1 min read

Apple is all in on AI — its own and everyone else’s

By · Via The Verge · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The hardware maker delivered strong fourth-quarter performance, led by an iPhone revenue surge of 17.5% alongside Mac revenue reaching a four-year high. To sustain this momentum, leadership plans to commercialize artificial intelligence tools via ecosystem upgrades and premium server features like intelligent photo editing. Meanwhile, the company relies on external partnerships and on-device processing to severely limit infrastructure capital expenditures relative to major cloud rivals. Enterprise adoption is simultaneously increasing, with clients like Gap deploying desktop Mac hardware to manage local model workloads.

Key points

  • Rising memory component costs are expected to create margin pressure during the crucial u…: Rising memory component costs are expected to create margin pressure during the crucial upcoming holiday quarter.
  • Management intends to monetize its 2.5 billion active devices through paid server tiers,…: Management intends to monetize its 2.5 billion active devices through paid server tiers, subscriptions, and hardware upgrades.
  • Enterprise clients including Gap and Christie’s are utilizing Mac Mini and Studio compute…: Enterprise clients including Gap and Christie’s are utilizing Mac Mini and Studio computers to execute local AI models.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Apple’s latest earnings show how it’s continuing to capitalize on the AI boom without busting its budget on the infrastructure spending consuming its competitors.

Apple is all in on AI — its own and everyone else’s

AI was mentioned 45 times on the quarterly earnings call.

AI was mentioned 45 times on the quarterly earnings call.

Overall, Apple posted its best-ever fiscal year for revenue and earnings per share. iPhone and Mac sales continued to grow strongly in the fourth quarter. iPhone revenue rose 17.5% from a year earlier to a September quarter record of $57.6 billion while Mac revenue climbed 24% to $10.8 billion, its highest level in four years. Shares nevertheless fell in premarket trading Tuesday after Apple warned that rising memory costs would squeeze its profit margins in the holiday quarter.

Apple hasn’t disclosed how much of its revenue growth reflects AI demand or higher prices, but its executives clearly see the technology as a way to drive further sales.

During the earnings call, CFO Kevan Parekh cited a “wide range of ways that AI can contribute…

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