Another quarter of Apple being “so behind” in AI, and another quarter of customers clearly not caring in the slightest. Apple’s quarterly revenue for Q4 2025 was $102.5 billion, up 8 percent from the previous year.

Not too shabby.

After reading the MacRumors earnings call transcript, I had some thoughts related to how Apple’s post-PC product lines did.

No Detail on iPhone Air Sales

Analysts on Apple’s earnings calls rarely come out and ask the questions I wish they would. While reading the live transcript, I kept thinking, “Just ask how the iPhone Air is selling!” Unfortunately, there were only questions that danced around it, no one directly asked.

Apple declined to share any details on product breakdowns, reiterating only that the new iPhones are selling well and are expected to continue performing strongly through the holiday quarter.

The general consensus among analysts is that the iPhone Air is falling short of Apple’s estimates, causing them to scale back manufacturing sharply. TD Cowen, so far, is the only firm suggesting Apple hasn’t slashed the number of Air units being produced.

My two cents? After a little over a month, I have zero regrets choosing the iPhone Air over every other iPhone Apple sells today. Most Air buyers I see on social media feel the same. Some people continue to be perplexed by its very existence, but those of us who get it, get it.

But Also, the New iPhones Are Killing It

iPhone revenue was up 6.1 percent year-over-year. Apple’s Q4 iPhone numbers are always interesting because they represent the months before the yearly iPhone refresh. It’s no secret that Apple launches new phones in September every year, like clockwork.

The fact that so many people seemingly don’t care enough to wait shows how mature the product category has become. It’s like the way most people buy a laptop or tablet….you buy when you need to, and don’t really care about rumors or incremental upgrades.

There were only a few weeks of iPhone 17 sales included in the Q4 numbers, but by all accounts, the new iPhones are off to a great start. I wonder if even Apple has been a little surprised by how well the new phones are doing. The company expects iPhone revenue to grow double digits year-over-year during the holiday quarter.

In response to a question about iPhone product mix, Apple noted:

“…we have constraints at both the top and at the entry…”

Which would seemingly correspond to the iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 17 as being in high demand.

I love that the standard iPhone 17 appears to be doing so well. With the addition of ProMotion and an Always-On Display, this is the first time I can wholeheartedly recommend the regular iPhone for just about anyone (and remember, I really like the iPhone Air).

iPad Sales Flat, Despite Product Launches

iPad revenue for the quarter was nearly unchanged year-over-year at $6.95 billion.

On one hand, that’s good. Revenue is stable after a rough couple of years of declines. On the other hand, it isn’t meaningfully growing, which isn’t great. For the year ending September 2025, iPad revenue was up about 5 percent.

On the call, Apple mentioned a “difficult compare” against last year’s iPad Pro and iPad Air launches. That was strange to me because those products launched much earlier in 2024, May 2024, to be precise. So how would that affect a comparison in the Q4 quarter?

When the Air and Pro launched in 2024, they were the first iPad hardware updates in over a year, so it’s fair to say there was some pent-up demand. Other factors to consider:

• The iPad Air came in two sizes for the first time.
• The iPad Pro saw a substantial redesign, bringing OLED and slightly larger displays.

In 2025, every iPad except for the Mini has received an update, but they’ve all been simple spec bumps (which isn’t a bad thing). To me, that means the 2024 iPad updates had a much longer tail of sales than the 2025 refreshes will. Spec bumps are necessary so that when you decide it’s time to buy a new iPad, you’re getting an up-to-date model, but they don’t do much to spur upgrades beyond that.

I chuckled a bit when I saw this part of the transcript regarding the Wearables category (which was down 0.3 percent):

“Wearables, Home and Accessories revenue was $9 billion, flat, but driven by growth in Watch and AirPods, offset by accessories which were affected by the iPad launches last year.”

I guess it’s hard to spur people to buy new Magic Keyboards and Apple Pencils when you keep the design the same. 🤣

Not Much Going On with Wearables

As mentioned, the catch-all Wearables category was down slightly, although Apple noted growth in both Apple Watch and AirPods.

The AirPods don’t surprise me at all, the AirPods Pro 3 are great upgrades, especially if you’re coming from anything older than the Pro 2.

The Apple Watch is a little surprising, given how its updates were largely greeted with “meh.” I wish Apple had gone into more detail about what’s driving sales. I’d love to think that the new Apple Watch SE with an Always-On Display is contributing, but it’s probably more the Ultra 3. The Ultra appeals to enthusiasts who are much more likely to upgrade early and often.

The Vision Pro at least got a mention on the call, since it just received its first update with the M5 chip. I continue to look forward to the day when Apple starts talking about how its “Vision products” are performing.