Apple reports strong results – as iPad makes a comeback and it can’t stop talking about AI

Apple has announced its latest results, showing surprisingly strong business at the iPhone giant.

Sales of the phones were down, at $39.3 billion, down 1 per cent on the same period last year. But Apple said that services revenue was up, as were other businesses, and suggested that its interest in AI could lead to renewed growth for the iPhone.

The new results showed that the iPad is making a big comeback. Sales of the tablet were up almost 24 per cent, to $7.16 billion, above analysts’ expectations.

That came after it launched a new iPad Pro and a bigger iPad Air at an event in May. For two years, the line had gone with hardly any updates at all – but Apple’s decision to refresh them seems to have led to a renewed enthusiasm.

As with many of its recent releases, that iPad launch focused on artificial intelligence – or the company’s own Apple Intelligence . And it continued to do so as it revealed its results for the last quarter, with Tim Cook pointing to Apple Intelligence as one of the new iPads’ central features.

“We are very excited about Apple Intelligence and we remain incredibly optimistic about the extraordinary possibilities of AI and its ability to enrich customers’ lives,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive. “We will continue to make significant investments in this technology and dedicate ourselves to the innovation that will unlock its full potential.”

During the call, Apple was asked whether there would be further hardware updates required to take advantage of the new Apple Intelligence features. He pointed out that to get them on an iPhone it must be an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max – but did not say whether the new iPhones, expected in September, would all be able to run the new AI tools.

Mr Cook also pointed to his excitement over the launch of the Vision Pro headset in countries outside of the US. But Apple does not give separate numbers for that business, and so it is not clear how well that headset is selling.

Sales were down in Apple’s wearables segment, which includes Apple Watches and the AirPods headphones. They dropped to $8.1 billion, down 2.3 per cent.