Apple had its first $100 billion quarter thanks to the new iPhone 17 series and a strong performance by services, up 15 percent from 2024. Revenue for fiscal Q4, ended September 27, totaled $102.5 billion, up 8 percent year-over-year. Profit surged 86 percent to $27.5 billion (due mainly to a 2024 tax hit). Q4 results capped a record fiscal year with revenue of $416 billion. Sales of the iPhone 17s brought in $49 billion for the three months. The company sold 100 million more units than last year during the same period despite “supply constraints” on some 2025 models. Design changes drove iPhone sales up 6 percent from Q4 of last year.

“In September, Apple gave customers a reason to buy its newest iPhones by changing their external design,” The New York Times reports of the market approach, which featured “a thinner and smaller model called the iPhone Air” and an overhauled iPhone Pro with a raised bump across the back.

Sales of iPhones are expected to be strong through the holidays, with Apple predicting a “double digit” increase that could boost the company to an overall 10 to 12 percent quarterly revenue boost, well ahead of the 8 percent analysts are projecting.

“After years of sluggish growth, this is the second consecutive quarter in which iPhone revenue increased compared with the same period last year,” The Wall Street Journal writes, noting that third-party analyst firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners “said it observed ‘great interest in the Pro and Pro Max models, while the new iPhone 17 Air model showed virtually no sign of traction.’”

On the analyst call, Apple CEO Tim Cook called the 17 Pro “the most pro phone we’ve ever done,” but declined to comment on the Air. “When combined with the recently announced MacBook Pro and iPad Pro with the powerhouse M5 chip, we are excited to be sharing our most extraordinary lineup of products as we head into the holiday season,” Cook said in an earnings statement.

China sales “fell 3.6 percent to $14.5 billion” due to what Cook said was an inventory shortage, but the executive added that he expects “sales in China to increase in the current quarter,” NYT writes.

“Services revenue reached an all-time high of $28.8 billion” for the quarter said CFO Kevan Parekh on the earnings call, citing “all-time revenue records in the Americas, Europe, Japan and rest of Asia Pacific as well as a September quarter record in Greater China.”

“The company said it is increasing investments in artificial intelligence, noting that as a reason why operating expenses in the December period are expected to be roughly $1.5 billion higher than analysts’ forecasts,” explains WSJ, pointing out that “such spending remains a fraction of rivals’ AI investments.”

Related:
Apple Intelligence Could Soon Integrate More AI Apps Beyond ChatGPT, Tom’s Guide, 10/30/25
Tim Cook Says More AIs Are Coming to Apple Intelligence, The Verge, 10/30/25
How Tim Cook Evaded Disaster at Apple This Year, The Wall Street Journal, 10/31/25