Apple has spent the past two years presenting its AI ambitions largely through Siri. But during his first analyst call as CEO, John Ternus pointed to a different product, saying the Mac is experiencing its own “AI moment.”
The Mac generated $10.792 billion in revenue between July and September, up 23.7% from a year earlier. That followed 28.7% growth in the previous quarter, its fastest pace since 2021. In the latest quarter, iPhone revenue rose 17.5%, while Services grew 9.8%—its slowest rate since mid-2023.
The Mac’s recent performance stands out, but it remains a smaller part of Apple’s business, accounting for 9.4% of revenue. Across the year, Mac revenue rose 12.5%, compared with 21.2% for the iPhone. The Mac is also still below its 2022 record of $40.177 billion: after falling 26.9% the following year, it reached $37.929 billion this year.
Some of the renewed demand appears tied to using Macs for AI locally. In April, Tim Cook said customers were discovering the Mac mini and Mac Studio as capable machines for local AI and AI agents sooner than Apple had expected. The article links part of the Mac mini interest to OpenClaw, with buyers using the compact, relatively inexpensive computer as an always-on machine.
Apple’s unified memory, introduced with the M1 in 2020, may also have become more valuable as generative AI has grown. Still, AI is not the only explanation for sales. Apple CFO Kevan Parekh credited the MacBook Pro as well as the MacBook Neo, whose appeal includes its lower price. Apple also raised prices in June, including the Neo’s, and does not break out the effects of price and unit sales, so the contribution of each factor is unclear.
Ternus’s comments also highlighted a contrast with Siri. Asked about personal agents, he described Siri AI primarily as an assistant for requests and stressed the need to consider what users grant it access to. Meanwhile, some customers are buying Macs to run third-party agents. The Mac’s unified memory may help, but its openness is another important difference.
There are potential limits to that growth. Memory prices are at unprecedented levels and are expected to constrain Mac supply during the holiday season. The iPhone, which accounts for half of Apple’s revenue, is more tightly controlled: Apple decides what agents can do on the device. Whether the company will eventually open that platform further remains an open question.
Sources: Xataka.