“In the Mac Mini and Mac Studio, they’re both great platforms for AI and agent tools,” Cook said on the earnings call in response to analyst questions. “Customer adoption is happening faster than we expected.”
This news comes amid another record quarter for the company. iPhone sales were lower than expected, although demand for the iPhone 17 was very high, and Apple’s subscription services business continued to grow.
Apple faced supply limitations both of them iPhone and Mac production line this quarter. The iPhone shortage is mostly due to a limited supply of the advanced chips that power the phones. But as Cook explained, there are at least two different factors driving the shortage in Apple’s Mac business: the rapid adoption of generative AI and unexpected demand for the company’s new, colorful, affordable MacBook Neo laptop.
Mac sales typically represent a small fraction of iPhone sales – $8.4 billion this quarter, compared to roughly $57 billion in iPhone sales – and the Mac Mini, specifically, represents a small fraction of that. But with the launch earlier this year of OpenClaw, an open source AI tool, Mac Minis have started flying off shelves because they offer enough power and a dedicated computing environment for agent AI tasks.
Some eager customers have already been waiting months to get their Mac Minis. MacRumors reported in early March that Apple had stopped selling a configuration of the computer that included 512GB of memory. As of last week, the base model of the Mac Mini is completely sold out.
Cook, and his soon-to-be successor John Ternos, also addressed Cook’s transition from the CEO role later this year. Cook said on the earnings call that this is the “right moment” to take over as executive chairman “for a number of reasons,” including that Apple is in good financial shape and that its next product roadmap is “incredible.” He described Ternos as “a person of great character and a natural leader.”
Ternus then joined the call for a minute to confirm that Cook is a business leader and assure investors that he will take a similarly intentional and thoughtful approach in leading the company. He also mentioned the company’s roadmap.
Both men had few details on what’s supposedly a very exciting product roadmap, but will hopefully include more Macs.
