Apple had a very big week.
On Friday, the company officially debuted its streaming-video service Apple TV Plus. A couple of days earlier, it reported $13.7 billion in profit in its latest quarter on $64 billion in revenue, exceeding Wall Street’s expectations of $63 billion in revenue. Before that, it unveiled new wireless earbuds, called AirPods Pro, that come with noise-canceling so that users can listen without hearing the world around them.
But Apple’s news wasn’t all good.
Despite solid earnings overall, Apple’s iPhone revenue dropped nearly 14% to $142.4 billion in the latest fiscal year from $164.9 billion in 2018. Meanwhile, some customers question whether AirPods Pro, which cost $249, are worth $90 more than the more basic AirPods. Also, reviewers gave some of Apple’s new streaming shows, including The Morning Show and See, lukewarm reviews.
Read on for more about Apple’s headlines this past week:
Pricey AirPods Pro
Apple new AirPods Pro wireless earbuds have an all-white design and new rubber tips for noise-canceling that can nearly mute ambient noise, as I found during when trying them out. However, at $249, they’re significantly more expensive than the $159 AirPods that don’t have noise canceling.
An upbeat quarter
Apple investors were abuzz this week after the company slightly beat Wall Street’s expectations for the fiscal fourth quarter. The $64 billion in revenue the company reported was at the high end of its forecasted $61 billion to $64 billion in revenue and topped the Street’s $63 billion consensus. Apple’s shares rose sharply after the announcement, and closed trading at $255.82, a sizable gain over the $244.77 they opened at on Wednesday before Apple’s earnings report.
Some big iPhone questions
During a conference call with investors on Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company’s strong earnings were driven largely by a successful iPhone 11, which went on sale in September. He said that the device’s sales are off to a “very, very good start.” He credited Apple’s decision to price the iPhone 11 at $699 instead of at $749, like its predecessor, the iPhone XR. What Cook didn’t say, however, was that overall iPhone revenue continues to slide. In the latest quarter, Apple’s iPhone revenue fell to $33.4 billion in the latest quarter from $36.8 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. For the entire fiscal year, Apple’s iPhone sales slumped to $142.4 billion from $164.9 billion, year over year.
Grab the popcorn for Apple TV Plus
Apple TV Plus started streaming on Friday. The service, which costs $5 per month, offers a small slate of shows, including a sci-fi thriller See and a series titled The Morning Show about a morning news show. So far, critics haven’t found much to like in Apple TV Plus programming, and generally gave most of the shows poor reviews. For All Mankind, a show that examines an alternate history in which the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union lasted longer and in which the Soviets landed on the moon first, is the only Apple TV Plus show to get good reviews.
Do you want to subscribe to Apple TV Plus?
This week, Fortune published an exclusive survey about what U.S. consumers think of the video streaming services like Apple TV Plus, Netflix, and the upcoming Disney Plus. The survey found that 28% of respondents plan to subscribe to Disney Plus, double the 14% for Apple TV Plus. One other key finding: 18% of Netflix users say they’ll subscribe to Apple TV Plus, compared to 21% of Hulu users.
Don’t break your iPhone
Apple warned users this week that iPhone and iPad owners who bought their devices in 2012 or earlier will need to update them before November 3. If not, they risk being unable to use their electronics. Apple said that the update will fix a problem that will prevent the devices from successfully pinpointing their locations, making navigation apps and other trackers inaccurate. A similar problem affected devices from other manufacturers in April. Apple devices running iOS 9.3.6 or iOS 10.3.4 or higher, depending on the model, should be fine.
One more thing…
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was once a big proponent of self-driving cars. But at the J.D. Power Auto Revolution conference in Las Vegas recently, he said that he’s “really given up” on the idea of fully autonomous vehicles hitting the road anytime soon. He added, “I don’t even know if that will happen in my lifetime.”