Apple Q4 earnings hit record high — Tim Cook says there's 'very strong demand' for latest iPhones
Apple forecast double-digit sales growth for iPhones during the holidays
 
Apple sold a lot of iPhones to close out its fiscal year, the company reported today (October 30). And given the level of interest that it's seen in the new iPhone 17 models to date, Apple's expecting to sell even more phones.
Specifically, Apple tallied a little more than $49 billion in phone revenue for the September quarter, the last three months of its 2025 fiscal year. That's a 6% increase from year-ago sales and a record revenue total for iPhones in Apple's September quarter.
More significantly for Apple's future prospects, chief financial officer Kevan Parekh told Wall Street analysts during an earnings call that Apple expects double-digit growth in iPhone sales during the three months ending this December. That would translate to the best quarter ever for iPhone sales.
It's worth remembering that the just-completed September quarter only featured a couple weeks of iPhone 17 sales. The new models hit stores on September 19, while the fiscal quarter ended September 27. The December quarter will mark the first full quarter of sales figures for the new model, which perhaps explains Apple's forecast.
  
But the fact of the matter is, Apple's also seeing some heavy demand for the iPhone 17. "We’re constrained today on several models of the iPhone 17," CEO Tim Cook told analysts. "There’s not a ramp issue [with iPhone production]. It’s just we have very strong demand and we’re working very hard to fulfill all the orders that we have."
Indeed, a quick check of the Apple website as of this writing indicates that there's a bit of a backlog for the Pro models. While iPhone 17 Pro models ordered today would arrive a week later, iPhone 17 Pro Max deliveries are pushed back to mid-November.
Cook touted the current iPhone lineup during today's analyst call. "The 17 Pro is the most pro phone we’ve ever done. It’s incredible, and the design sings," he said. "The iPhone Air feels so thin and so light in your hand. It feels like it’s going to fly away, and then the [iPhone 17] is an incredible value and takes several of the features that were reserved for Pro before and brings them down to the consumer lineup."
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Cook added that the iPhone 17 offerings were Apple's "strongest iPhone lineup ever, and it’s resonating around the world."
Services and Siri
iPhones accounted for 48% of Apple's nearly $102.5 billion in fourth quarter revenue — another September quarter record — but results were also buoyed by the record performances of its services division. Revenue for services, which includes Apple's subscription offerings among other products, grew by 15% year-over-year to bring in a little less than $28.8 billion in revenue.
Apple executives offered a brief update on efforts to bring more AI tool to the company's products, with Cook noting that "we're making good progress" on a more personalized version of Siri. That update to Apple's assistant is on track to appear in 2026.
Asked by an analyst whether Apple had noticed if AI was driving more buying decisions about phones, Cook said it was too early to make any pronouncements about the iPhone 17, given how early in the release cycle Apple still is. While pointing out that many factors influence what phones people buy, Cook added that "I would say that Apple Intelligence is a factor, and, you know, we’re very bullish on it becoming a greater factor."
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Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. He's been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He's been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he's been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.
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