Apple made more money than ever, even with the supply chain crunch

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

In the company's fiscal Q1, which includes the holiday shopping season, Apple has made a tradition of announcing record-breaking quarterly earnings. Apple just reported the biggest revenue for any quarter in its history. Apple posted $123 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $2.10, beating Wall Street expectations of $118.66 billion and $1.89 respectively, as a result of sales of the iPhone 13 lineup and a continued rise of its services business. Apple's profit was a new record.

It was a holiday period and the first full quarter of availability for the 13 mini, 13 Pro, and 13 Pro Max, which made the sales quarter a great one. The unit took in $71.63 billion, an increase of 9 percent over the year-ago quarter.

All of Apple's divisions were up year over year, with the exception of the iPad, which was down due to supply constraints. The Mac was up 25 percent, the services were up 24 percent, and the Wearables were up 13 percent.

New product releases are expected to be very busy for Apple. The company is rumored to be readying a new 5G-enabled iPhone next month. A refreshed iPad Air and possibly a new product in the Mac lineup, like a Mac mini or iMac running the M1 Pro chip, could also be coming, according to Mark Gurman. According to a report yesterday, Apple could soon launch a Square-like service that allows iPhone owners to accept payments without any need for additional hardware.

The company is rumored to be working on a new Mac Pro powered by its own technology. Next-generation Air Pod Pro earbuds are expected to be released in the coming months along with a refreshed iPad Pro and an usual Apple refresh when fall rolls around.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

The mixed reality headset is Apple's first major product in a new category since the Apple Watch in 2015. According to the latest reports, the device might not launch until later in the decade.

Apple continues to struggle with the supply chain crunch even as it marches on with product plans. In the previous quarter, Apple lost out on $6 billion in revenue due to supply chain issues. Delivery times for the 16-inch and 14-inch MacBook Pros have been hit particularly hard and remain lengthy, with delivery estimates of March and April for many configurations. Since the laptops went on sale, it has been hard to find the higher-end models at Apple's retail stores.

Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal that he expects the situation to improve soon.

Outside of hardware, the company is facing greater and more frequent challenges to its strong grip over theiOS App Store; Apple has beengrudgingly agreed to allow third-party payment options in South Korea and for dating apps in the Netherlands but has pushed back against similar pressures in Russia. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, personally lobbied against antitrust legislation in the United States that Apple claims could force it to allow software sideloading and compromise device security.

Before it released earnings on Thursday, Apple rolled out new versions of its software.