Apple doesn’t seem too worried about Trump’s tariffs

Apple reported its latest quarterly earnings on Wednesday under the backdrop of a court ruling that’s poised to upend the company’s App Store business and tariff uncertainty that could spur price increases for devices including the iPhone. At least on this occasion, Apple’s revenue numbers weren’t top of mind for tech industry onlookers like they ordinarily would be. Still, overall revenue in fiscal Q2 2025 was $95.4 billion — a 5 percent jump compared to the year-ago quater — and services reached another all-time high. The iPhone, Mac, and iPad businesses all performed well thanks to new products; the iPad was particularly strong, with revenue up 15 percent year over year.

In recent months, Apple has released hardware including new MacBook Airs, a more powerful Mac Studio, and the refreshed iPad Air tablet. And the iPhone 16E, designed to compete with lower-cost smartphones, debuted in February. But Apple’s software team has been going through a rough patch following a series of stumbles and embarrassments.

The company’s attempts to build out its own artificial intelligence capabilities that rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and other leaders in the category have been slow going. In early March, long-promised improvements to the company’s Siri assistant were delayed. Apple is rumored to be integrating Google’s Gemini to its Apple Intelligence software suite this fall to help keep pace.

Meanwhile, the effect of President Trump’s tariffs are already reverberating across many industries, but Cook downplayed any major impacts in an interview with CNBC. He pointed to Apple’s well-distributed supply chain and manufacturing operation as a potential buffer. “If you look at the US, over half of the US sales of iPhone come from India,” he said. “If you look at the other products, Mac and iPad and AirPods and the Watch, almost all of the country of origin is Vietnam.” Much has been made about the possibility of Apple’s next iPhone lineup getting a price hike. “With an iPhone, you really have to go a step lower and look at the individual parts and where they come from,” he said.  

Apple is also navigating significant legal battles. In a Wednesday ruling, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers excoriated Apple executives including CEO Tim Cook for deliberately trying to limit and mollify a 2021 ruling intended to loosen the iPhone maker’s grip over the App Store. Apple has appealed Rogers’ order, but if it holds, companies including Epic, Spotify, and Patreon are planning to seize the opportunity to more freely sidestep Apple’s in-app payments and steer users to the web.