Under CEO Sundar Pichai, Google is betting big on AI. Photo: Google
Apple’s five year reign as the world’s most valuable brand has come to an end. For now.
Even though the iPhone-maker reported historic revenues and profits during its Q1 2017 earnings call yesterday, Google has supplanted Apple in the latest brand rankings.
There was good news all around as iPhone sales, services and even the Mac all performed better than predicted. During today’s earnings call, Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri revealed some of the secret sauce that made Apple’s earnings one for the history books.
Samsung was screwed by the Galaxy Note 7 recall. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple’s stellar quarter for iPhone sales didn’t just put more money in the bank; it also helped the Cupertino company overtake Samsung to become the world’s top smartphone vendor.
According to the latest data from Strategy Analytics, Apple shipped 78.3 million handsets in Q4 2016 — around 800,000 more than Samsung. However, the iPhone wouldn’t have stood a chance if it wasn’t for the Galaxy Note 7 recall.
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus helped Apple reverse a three-quarter sales decline. Photo: Apple
The number 7 was lucky for Apple, as worldwide sales of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus hit a quarterly record and put the breaks on a three-quarter revenue skid, the company said in today’s first quarter earnings report.
Apple saw a 5 percent revenue increase ($54.3 million) with more than 78 million iPhones sold. It was the first full quarter of the iPhone 7, delivered during a time of year that typically generates the best sales figures for Apple because of the holiday shopping season.
Get ready for Apple's most exciting earnings call of 2017. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple is set to reveal its first quarterly earnings report of 2017 and, if Wall Street’s estimates are any indicator, it could be Apple’s biggest quarter ever.
After multiple quarters of declining revenues, today’s call could see the company return to growth, lifted by strong iPhone sales over the holidays and a burgeoning services business that has quickly become Apple’s second-biggest moneymaker.
Tim Cook and Luca Maestri are scheduled to hold an open call with investors today at 2 p.m. Pacific. As usual, Cult of Mac will be here liveblogging and analyzing all the action. Get prepped for the call with our guide on what to expect, and join the fun in the liveblog below.
AAPL was up almost 3 percent in after-hours trading to $124.50. Apple stock has been climbing recently but was depressed in anticipation of today’s results.
Tim Cook is thrilled with Apple's Q1 2017 results. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple sold more iPhone units than ever before last quarter, a spasm of sales that finally returned the company to growth, as revealed today in Cupertino’s first earnings report of 2017.
With total revenues of $78.4 billion bringing in a profit of $17.9 billion, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he is “thrilled” with the results. Wall Street is happy, too: AAPL shares are trading up significantly in after-hours trading.
SiriKit is one of the biggest features in watchOS 3.2. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The first beta build of watchOS 3.2 has finally been made available to developers today, less than a week after iOS 10.3 beta 1 and macOS 10.12.4 beta 1 came out.
Among the new features in watchOS 3.2 beta 1 is a new Theater Mode that makes wearing an Apple Watch in movie theaters a little less annoying for fellow film watchers.
Don't expect smaller iPhones to ever be as good. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Buying a Plus-sized iPhone doesn’t just get you a bigger screen, but also a better phone with more RAM and a greater camera. And there’s a good reason for that.
These things attract a greater number of buyers to Apple’s larger handsets, increasing its profits and the average selling price of the iPhone. And that’s why the iPhone Plus will always be better than its smaller siblings.
The Activation Lock checker has mysteriously disappeared. Screenshot: Cult of Mac
Apple has pulled its iCloud Activation Lock page which helped users find out if an iOS device was locked to an iCloud account.
The tool could be used to verify that a used iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch wasn’t stolen before you purchased it — but the website’s URL now leads to an error page.
Let us remind you of the weird Apple products that time forgot. Photo: Hartmut Esslinger
This week on The CultCast: We laugh and cringe about Apple’s weirdest, wackiest and worst products of all time! Plus: How Michael Scott almost single-handedly destroyed Apple; the cool new features in the iOS and macOS betas; facial recognition is coming to iPhone; and a look at the beautiful prototypes that led to some of Apple’s most iconic products.
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace.com website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10 percent off any hosting plan.
Peter Thiel separates Tim Cook and Donald Trump at tech summit. Photo: Sean Spicer/Twitter
The Trump administration and Apple appear to be patching up their rocky relationship after Apple CEO Tim Cook met with two of Trump’s closest advisers this week.
The holidays were good to Apple. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
When Apple reveals its first quarterly earnings report of 2017 next Tuesday, the company could shock us with another record-breaking quarter.
The Q1 2017 earnings will cover Apple’s first full quarter of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus sales, and Apple should also get a big boost from the holiday shopping season, according to some Wall Street estimates. During its last earnings call, Apple predicted its revenue slump will end as the company finally returns to growth this quarter, but will it be enough to satisfy investors?
Here’s what to expect from Apple’s January 31 earnings report.
Grab iOS 10.3 beta 1 while it's hot. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Starting today, all public testers can get in on the new iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.12.4 betas released to developers earlier this week.
If you’re already a member of the Apple Beta Software Program, you can grab iOS 10.3 beta 1 and macOS 10.12.4 beta 1 immediately. If not, just sign up if you want to get early access to upcoming iOS features like Find My AirPods and the new Night Shift mode for Macs.
Random iPhone shutdowns are still happening. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple promised “bug fixes” with its most recent iOS 10.2.1 update, but it failed to fix an annoying issue that causes the iPhone to switch itself off with around 30 percent battery life remaining.
Pop art for the tech generation. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Kitting out your dream geek-room, but don’t know what to put on the walls? Well, have no fear because Retro Patents are here — and they’ve got some unique Apple posters to sell you.
Giving a new lease of life to the original patent illustrations for devices like the iPhone and Macintosh 128K (both of which celebrated their birthdays this month), each $25 print includes the names of its inventors, U.S. Patent & Trademark Office reference number, product name, and the date of the original patent filing.
iPhone's switch to OLED could be temporary. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple supplier Japan Display has found a way to reduce the cost of flexible displays by swapping OLED panels for LCD. The company plans to start mass producing its new screens in 2018, and they’re likely to appear in future iPhones.
Help turn these awesome ideas into reality! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Your iPhone 7 is already water-resistant, but it’s not designed for deep sea diving. Fortunately, LenzO is, and it’ll let you snap stunning pictures in water up to 100 meter deep.
It’s just one of the awesome picks in this week’s Crowdfund Roundup. We’ve also got an adapter that brings MagSafe back to your MacBook, a wearable Lightning cable that you won’t lose, the world’s smallest 4K action camera, and more!
We don’t want to see photos from everyone we follow. Photo: Lee Peterson/Cult of Mac
Instagram isn’t simply a social network for sharing images. Used properly, it’s a powerful tool for connecting with like-minded photographers and getting feedback about your images.
I’m passionate about photography, and finding communities I can engage with is really important when it comes to helping me improve and get ideas for new projects. These Instagram tips and tricks, which I use on a daily basis, can really help you grow as a photographer.
The new Gamevice controller for iPad mini. Photo: Gamevice
If you like the idea of the new Nintendo Switch but you do all your gaming on iOS, the latest controllers from Gamevice are going to be right up your alley.
Like Nintendo’s latest console, they slap physical buttons and analog sticks onto the sides of your iPhone and iPad. They’re also powered by your iOS device so there’s no need to charge a battery, and they bring the headphone jack back to your iPhone 7.
Get the best image-editing app on iOS for under a dollar. Photo: Pixelmator
Pixelmator, one of the simplest yet most powerful image editing apps for iOS, costs a mere 99 cents for a limited time only. The discount saves you $4 and makes Pixelmator an even more affordable alternative to Photoshop.