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For the first time, John Ternus faced analysts as CEO, and he was able to present a record. At the same time, Apple is warning of shortages for the holiday quarter, and its margin is shrinking. On top of that, there is a spyware warning that reaches all the way into the Bundestag and a Health app that once again arrives without German.
The week revolved around Monday evening. Apple released its fiscal fourth-quarter results, followed by the first earnings call under new leadership. iOS 27.3 beta 1 also kicked off the next round of testing, and on Friday the October releases arrived in stores. Beyond the products, Apple was busy with two court cases in the US and a wave of warnings about mercenary spyware that also reached German lawmakers.
🔥 Story of the Week: Ternus' First Quarter Ends with a Record and a Bottleneck
Apple closed the September quarter with $114.48 billion in revenue. That is 11.7 percent more than a year earlier and above the 9 to 11 percent Apple itself had guided for. Earnings per share came in at $2.10, including 5 cents from tariff refunds. For the full fiscal year, Apple reached $478.83 billion, up 15.1 percent from the previous year.
| Segment | Q4 2026 | Q4 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone | 57.58 billion $ | 49.03 billion $ | +17,5 % |
| Mac | 10.79 billion $ | 8.73 billion $ | +23,7 % |
| iPad | 6.23 billion $ | 6.95 billion $ | -10.4 % |
| Wearables, Home and Accessories | 8.30 billion $ | 9.01 billion $ | -7.9 % |
| Services | 31.57 billion $ | 28.75 billion $ | +9,8 % |
| Total | 114.48 billion $ | 102.47 billion $ | +11,7 % |
Greater China grew the most, up 21 percent to $17.54 billion, while Europe rose 11.5 percent to $32.01 billion. Apple does not report separate figures for Germany.
New Roles on the Earnings Call
On his first earnings call as CEO, Ternus shared the questions with CFO Kevan Parekh and, for the first time, with COO Sabih Khan. Ternus took products, Siri AI and the opening of the memory question, while Khan handled the supply chain. According to Ternus, Siri handles more than 2.5 billion requests every day. He called current memory prices unprecedented, and manufacturing purchase commitments rose by $33 billion from June to September.
For the December quarter, Khan said Apple expects constraints on Mac and iPad, mainly because of memory. For the iPhone Duo, Ternus gave Reuters no date for when the shortage will end. He said the device is constrained as of today, but the production ramp is going well. On the evening of the earnings release, the German online Apple Store listed January 25, 2027, as the delivery date for all configurations. According to Ternus, only a very small percentage of devices have been returned over display issues, and Apple is replacing them.
Best Quarter, Thinner Margin
For the current quarter, Apple expects 7 to 10 percent growth. Against $143.76 billion a year earlier, that works out to $153.8 billion to $158.1 billion, which would be the best quarter in the company's history. According to Parekh, the outlook reflects constrained supply. Gross margin is expected to be between 45 and 46 percent, down from 48.2 percent a year ago. Because operating expenses are rising to $20.4 billion to $20.8 billion at the same time, operating income would stay roughly at last year's level despite record revenue.
Services: Huge Base, Less Momentum
In Services, Apple points to more than 2.5 billion active devices and over 1.5 billion paid subscriptions. Growth in the segment is slowing, however, from 16.3 percent in the March quarter to 9.8 percent in the September quarter. For the December quarter, Apple is guiding for only 8 to 9 percent.
📰 What Else Mattered
Apple warns lawmakers and government members about spyware. Since October 29, iPhones belonging to Bundestag members and members of the German federal government have been displaying a threat notification from Apple. Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger confirmed this on November 1, and the BSI advises treating the devices as potentially compromised as a precaution. The warning does not show whether an attack succeeded. According to security researcher Costin Raiu, the current wave reached users in 99 countries, and Apple says it has sent warnings in more than 150 countries since 2021.
iOS 27.3 beta 1 is substantial. The first beta of iOS 27.3 brings back the new Health app and gives StandBy the iPhone Duo's new features on all compatible iPhones. Safari gets vertical tabs and an adaptive dark mode, and the Duo gets Reachability for its outer display. Live Rewind and Siri Recap in watchOS 27.3 work only in English and are not available in the EU for now. In its Chinese Newsroom, Apple says the features for China will arrive in December with iOS 27.3, and the timing from previous years is laid out in the iOS 27.3 release outlook.
The October releases are now in stores. Since Friday, the MacBook Pro, iMac and iPad mini have been available, including in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Ahead of launch, the first reviews of the iPad mini with A20 Pro and the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR display had already been published.
Two US cases get new dates. The Supreme Court will hear Apple v. Epic on January 11, 2027; the case concerns the legal basis for the contempt finding, not the size of the commission. In the US Justice Department's antitrust case, fact discovery now runs until May 28, 2027, and expert discovery until November 5, 2027. There is still no trial date. Both cases concern the US market, not the App Store in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
💡 Rumor of the Week: The Larger HomeView Is Said to Act on Its Own
According to a report from The Information, Apple is working on a larger HomeView with a robotic arm. A 9-inch display is said to sit on a swiveling arm, with a camera and sensors to perceive its surroundings. The device would then act on its own, for example turning on the lights when someone enters the room or shooing a cat off the table. Apple is reportedly targeting 2027 and around $1,000 in the US, though it could slip to 2028.
What is new is the report of an internal dispute. The hardware is said to be largely finalized, but the software is reportedly contested, namely what the first generation should be able to do at all. The display and timeline match earlier Bloomberg reports. Both outlets rely on unnamed sources, and in January The Information was wrong about a rotating base for the first HomeView. The current HomeView starts at $299 in the US, so the robot model would cost a little more than three times as much.
📊 Number of the Week: 50
According to Counterpoint Research, Apple accounted for half of global smartphone revenue in the third quarter. Samsung ships the most smartphones with 22 percent of devices, but takes only 19 percent of revenue. The average selling price is $367 at Samsung and $442 across the market, while at Apple it rose by 19 percent.
The overall market shipped 19 percent fewer devices than a year earlier, yet revenue still rose by 3 percent. Fewer but more expensive devices are holding the market together, and Apple is benefiting the most.
👎 Flop of the Week: The Health App Learns Eleven Languages, but Not German
With iOS 27.3 beta 1, the redesigned Health app is back in testing, and Apple is naming the languages for the first time. Instead of US English only, it will support eleven language variants, including French, Japanese, Norwegian, Turkish and Vietnamese. German is missing, and Apple's announcement gives no date for it.
The gap matters more because the app requires a device with Apple Intelligence, and Apple Intelligence has supported German for a long time. Of its 16 languages, the Health app is missing German, Danish, Italian, Dutch and Swedish. On Monday's earnings call, Ternus also listed five languages for Siri AI, again without German.
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| September 9, 2026 | Apple unveils the new Health app |
| September 16, 2026 | iOS 27.2 beta 1 includes the app for testing |
| October 13, 2026 | iOS 27.2 beta 4 removes it again |
| November 3, 2026 | iOS 27.3 beta 1 brings it back, with new languages but no German |
🔭 What's Coming Next Week
Monday, November 9: In the Justice Department's antitrust case, a video hearing is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. German time. It covers the schedule and the cutoff date for Apple's internal documents.
Tuesday, November 10: For the gamers among us, the GTA 6 preload begins. On PS5 it starts at midnight local time, and on Xbox Series X|S at 1 a.m. German time. Rockstar says it will need up to 212 GB of storage.
Friday, November 13: The new Apple TV 4K and HomeView go on sale. HomeView is not launching in the EU or in Switzerland. On the Apple TV streaming service, the thriller series "12 12 12" and the special "Snoopy Presents: 12 Days of Snoopy" premiere. In the Supreme Court case, Epic's brief is due the same day.
Weekend of November 14 and 15: "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" can be streamed for free.
💬 My Take
Two numbers from this week don't seem to fit together at first glance. In fiscal 2026, Apple spent $45.8 billion on research and development, 32 percent more than the year before, and attributes this mainly to infrastructure and AI. At the same time, some engineers have been limited since October to $200 instead of $300 a day for AI models.
I don't see this as a contradiction, but as the same calculation. The margin is dropping to 45 to 46 percent in the holiday quarter, memory prices are rising, and purchase commitments grew by $33 billion in three months. The big money is flowing into data centers, chips and memory, while savings are made where they affect individual teams. The token budget is less a cost-cutting measure than a signal that AI usage at Apple is becoming a cost question under Ternus.
The same calculation shows up in an answer Ternus gave on the call: for usage limits on server-based features, there will be expanded access for a fee. I expect Apple to charge customers for AI more and more based on usage. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, that affects few people for now, because as long as Siri AI and the Health app don't speak German, there is hardly anything here worth paying extra for.
📚 From Our Archive
The warning to lawmakers and government members also points to the protection Apple recommends for those affected: Lockdown Mode for iPhone, iPad and Mac blocks many attack paths. For everyone else, Apple recommends installing updates and turning on two-factor authentication for your Apple Account.
A week of record numbers in which Apple runs up against limits: in memory, in supply and in languages.
Apple expects the best quarter in its history but cannot deliver the Duo, Mac and iPad in sufficient numbers. Did you order a device before Christmas and are still waiting, or did the delivery time put you off buying? Tell us in the comments which device it is and what delivery date Apple is giving you.
Until next Sunday, Apfelpatient wishes you a relaxing read and a good start to the week.
