Apple's Q4 2023 Earnings Call Takeaways

Apple today held an earnings call for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2023 (third calendar quarter), with Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri sharing details on recent product sales, services growth, Apple's future plans, and more.

Apple Logo Cash Feature Yellow
We've highlighted the most interesting takeaways from Apple's earnings call.

Services

Apple's quarterly revenue was down one percent year over year at $89.5 billion, but services revenue hit a new all-time revenue record. Services revenue was $22.3 billion, up 16 percent from $19.2 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Across all of 2023, Apple's services category brought in $85 billion, up from $78 billion in 2022.

App Store, advertising, iCloud, AppleCare, payment services, and video hit all-time revenue records, while Apple Music saw an all-time revenue record for the September quarter.

iPhone Sales

iPhone revenue was up during the quarter, coming in at $43.8 billion, up from $42.6 billion in the year-ago quarter. ‌iPhone‌ revenue was down for the year, though, at $200.6 billion, down from $205.5 billion last year.

Apple's ‌iPhone‌ revenue set a September quarter revenue record.

According to Apple CEO ‌Tim Cook‌, the ‌iPhone‌ 15 models sold better than the ‌iPhone‌ 14 models, but supplies of the ‌iPhone‌ 15 Pro and Pro Max were constrained, which impacted Apple's total ‌iPhone‌ revenue.

Cook said that Apple is "working hard" to make more ‌iPhone‌ 15 Pro and Pro Max devices, and that the company expects to reach supply/demand balance at the end of the holiday quarter. ‌iPhone‌ revenue is expected to grow year-over-year in the December quarter.

Mac Sales

Mac sales were way down in Q4 2023, with Macs bringing in $7.6 billion, down 34 percent $11.5 billion in the year-ago quarter. Mac revenue for all of 2023 was $29.4 billion, down from $40.2 billion in 2022.

Last year, September Mac sales were up because of supply chain issues in June, a situation that Apple could not compete with this year. Cook expects Mac revenue to improve next quarter thanks to the October introduction of the M3 Macs, and he said that the negative 34 percent growth should not be seen as representative of the underlying performance of the Mac.

iPad Sales

iPad sales did not fare quite as badly as Mac sales, but ‌iPad‌ revenue was also down. The ‌iPad‌ category brought in $6.4 billion, down from $7.1 billion in the year-ago quarter. Apple has not released any new iPads this year, so the drop in ‌iPad‌ revenue does not come as a surprise.

Across 2023, ‌iPad‌ revenue came in at $28.3 billion, down from $29.3 billion in 2022. Apple CFO Luca Maestri said that year over year performance for the ‌iPad‌ will "decelerate significantly" because of changes in product launch timing. Apple last year launched a new iPad Pro during the December quarter, and no new iPads are planned in 2023.

Wearables, Home and Accessories

Wearables revenue dropped as well, coming in at $9.32 billion for the quarter, down from $9.65 billion in the year-ago quarter. Wearable revenue for 2022 was at $39.9 billion, down from $41.2 billion last year.

Year over year revenue for the wearables category is expected to drop in the December quarter.

Research and Development Spending

Apple spent a total of $30 billion on research and development in 2023, up from $26.3 billion in 2022. Apple CEO ‌Tim Cook‌ said that Apple's increased spending is due to Vision Pro, AI, machine learning, and silicon investments.

Active Install Base

Apple CFO Luca Maestri said that Apple's active installed base of devices has hit a new all-time high across all products and all of Apple's geographic segments.

Vision Pro

Apple CEO ‌Tim Cook‌ was asked whether he thinks the Vision Pro launch and consumer education process will ultimately be similar to the AirPods and Apple Watch, but he said no, because of the purchasing experience.

"I would say no. There's never been a product like the Vision Pro, so we're purposely bringing it out in our stores only so we can really put a great deal of attention on the last mile of it. We'll be offering demos in the stores and it'll be a very different process than a normal grab-and-go kind of process."

Cook went on to say that Apple is seeing a "tremendous amount of excitement around Vision Pro." Cook has tested some of the apps that developers are working on, and he claims that some "real blow away kind of things are coming out."

The Vision Pro will be sold solely in the United States to begin with, and Cooks comments suggest that customers might be required to visit a retail store to make a purchase. Apple's Vision Pro website says that the headset will be available for purchase both online and in retail stores, but Apple could ask customers to come to a retail store to pick up an online purchase in order to ensure a proper fit.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently said that Apple will assemble Vision Pro headsets for customers in its stores, giving each user the appropriate headband, light seal, and prescription lenses if necessary.

Generative AI

Cook was asked how Apple might be able to monetize generative AI, which he of course declined to comment on, but he said that Apple is "investing quite a bit" in AI and that there are going to be product advancements that involve generative AI in the future.

Apple silicon

An analyst asked Cook if it would ever be feasible for Apple to purchase "from the industry." Cook said that Apple silicon is "at the heart of the primary technologies" that Apple likes to control in its devices, and so he does not see the company "going back to buying off of the shelf."

"I am happier today than I was yesterday than I was last week that we made the transition that we've made and I see the benefit every day of it," said Cook.

Apple's Search Deal With Google

Cook was asked to comment on its web search partners, with a specific focus on the ongoing antitrust lawsuit that Google is facing from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Cook said that Apple has "important relationships" with its web sear partners, but that he would not get into "commercial relationships" on the call. Cook said that he sees them "as important" and that Apple makes "decisions that we feel are in the best interests of our users."

Read More

A more complete picture of Apple's earnings on a per-category basis can be found in our full live blog.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

Skipped the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What is Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

Tuesday September 23, 2025 8:55 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead. Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors. Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1

Monday September 22, 2025 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are the first updates to the iOS, iPadOS, macOS 26, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS releases that came out last week. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going...

Top Rated Comments

RickDEGH Avatar
25 months ago
Everything that goes up must come down, unless Apple find ways to generate new interest in their products. I’m certainly not that excited anymore. Perhaps it’s just age.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Imperial926 Avatar
25 months ago
My feeling is that the customer no longer comes first. Superficially they may seem to but a look through the hardware product line soon establishes that Apple produce purely what they want to sell whilst considering how it connects to lucrative services. After premature failure of a number of products and the deliberate policy of making the once simple replacement of items like batteries so difficult I no longer feel valued as a customer. What do I therefore do? I hang on to stuff as long as possible.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MilaM Avatar
25 months ago

Everything that goes up must come down, unless Apple find ways to generate new interest in their products. I’m certainly not that excited anymore. Perhaps it’s just age.
I feel the same. Was also wondering if it's just age. On the other hand I think technology fatigue is real and not necessarily generational.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JamesHolden Avatar
25 months ago

I think it’s time for caretaker CEO Tim Cook to step down and for Apple to be lead by a visionary again. An innovator. Under Cook Apple has become stagnant, predictable and boring. Vision Pro isn’t going to reignite the magic.
I find comments like this very out of touch with reality. Who in tech is doing mad innovative work? Who would you rather see running Apple? Where is this "visionary" going to come from? What company is producing better, more innovative products than Apple?

As much as people love to lionize Jobs, he nearly destroyed Apple the first time around and he practically ran NeXT into the ground too. Had Apple not chosen NEXTSTEP, the legacy/myth of Steve Jobs would be very different.

Cook is far more than a caretaker. During his tenure Apple launched the Watch, got into Services bigtime, transitioned to Apple Silicon, and plenty more. A lot has happened under Cook. Calling him a caretaker is insulting. He's the most successful CEO in the history of business. He may not be a tech visionary, but that doesn't mean he has no vision. He certainly knows how to surround himself with great people.

So, again, I ask....who is more innovative than Apple? If you find Apple "stagnant, predictable, and boring", what company excites you? What industry figure do you think should be running Apple? Who do you think will do a better job than Cook?

I don't know if Vision Pro will "reignite the magic" (I think you and I share a similar opinion on Vision Pro), but it is a very interesting piece of technology. I'm not sure people will want it, but that doesn't mean it isn't quite groundbreaking.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StellarVixen Avatar
25 months ago
Tim, I think it’s time to go. For the past 10 or so years, you managed to keep the Apple at the top and kept the users more or less happy post Steve (and made shareholders very happy). This to me is obvious sign that someone else should take your seat. Someone with newer ideas. Someone bolder. You cannot generate more profits by playing it safe. Data doesn’t lie
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
frownface Avatar
25 months ago
Apple is doomed

Not surprised at the results , lots of people were waiting for usbc to make a jump and naturally that weighed on 14 sales.

Bit of an eye opener to see how poorly ipad sales are doing compared to even watch sales these days though.




"decisions that we feel are in the best interests of our users."
Funny way to spell shareholders.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)