This digest compiles the latest from Apple Insider.
Today’s Apple Insider Roundup
Analysts caught flat-footed as iPhone supply, not demand, capped growth
Apple’s latest earnings blew away expectations, and the magnitude of the success took almost every analyst by surprise. Here’s what they’re saying now to catch up to the new reality made clear by the blockbuster announcement.
For the quarter ended December 27, 2025, Apple reported $143.8 billion in revenue, up 16% year over year, with earnings per share of $2.84. iPhone revenue climbed 23% to $85.3 billion, and Apple told investors to expect March-quarter revenue growth of 13% to 16%, alongside gross margins between 48% and 49%.
Analysts largely agreed on what was driving the results. Demand remains strong across regions and product tiers, but tight supplies of key components are now the main factor limiting how much Apple can grow in the near term.
Apple Creator Studio, ChatGPT health, and iPhone 18 rumors on the AppleInsider Podcast
As Apple reports record earnings, we’re diving into the new Apple Creator Studio to see what’s actually new in it, and what’s different. Plus there are more iPhone 18 rumors, and more reasons to not give your health data to ChatGPT.
Even Tim Cook interrupted his own earnings report to mention the launch of the new Apple Creator Studio. If you like or depend on these apps, this is an exciting release — and it may even help keep those earnings up in future.
Especially since now it’s here, the bundle is proving to be every bit as good as hoped. That includes the new Content Hub with its stock photography, and most definitely the new Pixelmator Pro for iPad.
iPhone 18 split launch strategy is about more than marketing
A new report is late to the party, and backs up claims that go back six months that Apple will launch the iPhone 18 Pro in 2026 and the iPhone 18 in 2027. For the first time, however, the split is said to be necessary for manufacturing reasons.
It was as far back as May 2025 when the first rumors of a split iPhone launch first appeared. Just as with all subsequent reports, the new one from Nikkei Asia says that September 2026 will see Apple launching only:
- iPhone 18 Pro
Amid record revenue, Apple's Q1 2026 R&D spend reveals its AI ambitions
Apple’s Q1 2026 results are in, with record-breaking iPhone sales, but a record R&D spend suggests the company is far from resting on its laurels.
The fiscal quarter, which ended December 27, 2025, saw Apple post records aplenty. With revenue of $143.8 billion, the company saw a 16% increase over the previous year’s results — a new record for the company. Of that figure, a whopping $42.1 billion was net profit.
Comparing that to the previous year’s revenue of $124.3 billion and a net quarterly profit of $36.3 billion, Apple’s already healthy balance sheet just got a shot in the arm. With record total revenue and earnings per share ($2.84, up 19%), it’s hard to imagine how Apple shareholders could have hoped for better results.
JP Morgan hikes Apple stock target to $325 after record-breaking earnings
Less than a week after its last rise, JP Morgan now says Apple’s target price is $325, specifically because of the latest earnings and Apple’s guidance for the next two quarters.
On January 26, ahead of what was already expected to be a record-breaking quarter for Apple, JP Morgan raised its target from $305 to $315. Now following both higher than predicted earnings and, in particular, Apple’s projections for the future, the investment firm has raised the target again.
In a note to investors seen by AppleInsider, JP Morgan summarized the earnings report and said that this should calm fears about rising costs.
The person who could be Apple CEO: Who is John Ternus?
All things considered, John Ternus is the center of speculation as being the best and most likely choice for control of the company. Who is he, and how did he get here?
Apple, like many other massive companies with giant workforces and a decades-long history, have to plan for the future direction of the company. Part of that preparation involves determining who will take control as CEO after the current leader departs, and what to do to prepare for that inevitability.
For Apple and its aging leadership, Apple has to find its replacement for Tim Cook. Even though Cook probably won’t be retiring in 2026, the sheer size and number of moving parts at Apple means it has to prepare now, so there’s enough of a runway for the heir to the position to get ready, as well as the company itself, from 2027 onward.
Tim Cook boasts about US manufacturing, yet it's still nothing new
Apple commitment to US manufacturing has always been notable, even if the company has kept it pretty quiet before 2025. Tim Cook’s attempt at making it look new and fresh during earnings is performative, and unnecessary.
Back in February 2025, Apple announced that it would be investing $500 billion into the US economy, with projects such as building AI servers in Houston. It’s no criticism to say that Apple announced this in order to appease Trump who was then pressing it to build the iPhone in America.
The iPhone will never be made in the US — and later Trump seemed to be quite okay about that. But if Apple needed to show it was investing in the US, it was more than capable of that — because Apple has long been investing in the country already.
End of today’s Apple Insider roundup.
