Live blog: Apple’s fiscal year Q2 2016 earnings call [Updating]

Apple just posted its official Q2 2016 earnings report and we’ve broken down how that compares to previous quarters. Next up on the schedule is Apple’s quarterly conference call with analysts where CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri typically recap the numbers and field questions about Apple’s financial situation.

To recap the big numbers from today’s report, Apple counted $50.6b in revenue, $b in profit, m iPhones sold, m iPads sold, and m Macs sold during the final three months of last year. Apple Watch numbers aren’t broken out at this point and instead included in the Other category with iPods, Apple TVs, and other accessories.

We’ll be tuned in to the call as it plays out, and update this post with up-to-the-minute details while highlighting major updates. The call is scheduled to kick off at 2 pm PT/5 pm ET so stick around.

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Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: AAPL

Apple announces Q2 2016 revenue of $50.6b: 51.1m iPhones, 10.2m iPads, 4m Macs

Apple has officially posted its Q2 2016 earnings results with $50.6 billion in revenue and $10.5 billion in profit from the January to March quarter. Apple’s guidance last quarter first pointed to a year-over-year decline in iPhone sales for the quarter following the holiday season citing global economic issues and inflated iPhone 6 demand due to supply constraints the year earlier. Apple’s updated 4-inch iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro launched at the end of March.

Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2016 second quarter ended March 26, 2016. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $50.6 billion and quarterly net income of $10.5 billion, or $1.90 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $58 billion and net income of $13.6 billion, or $2.33 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 39.4 percent compared to 40.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 67 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Here’s Apple’s breakdown of iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales from the quarter:

  • iPhone: 51.1 million units
  • iPad: 10.2 million units
  • Mac: 4 million units

For iPhone sales, that’s an 18% year-over-year drop and a 19% drop for iPads.

Apple CEO Tim Cook had this to say:

“Our team executed extremely well in the face of strong macroeconomic headwinds,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are very happy with the continued strong growth in revenue from Services, thanks to the incredible strength of the Apple ecosystem and our growing base of over one billion active devices.”

And Luca Maestri, chief financial officer, said this:

“We generated strong operating cash flow of $11.6 billion and returned $10 billion to shareholders through our capital return program during the March quarter,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “Thanks to the strength of our business results, we are happy to be announcing today a further increase of the program to $250 billion.”

Apple’s Q2 results compare to the prior quarter’s $75.9 billion in revenue, 74.8 million iPhone sales, 16.1 million iPad sales, and 5.3 million Mac sales. In the same quarter a year ago, Apple reported $58 billion in revenue, 61.1 million iPhones sold, 12.6 million iPads sold, and 4.5 million Macs sold. Apple reported $18.4 billion in profit in the prior quarter and $13.6 billion in profit in the year ago quarter.

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Filed under: AAPL Company, iOS Devices Tagged: AAPL

Does a standing desk really make a difference? Hands-on with the UpDesk PowerUp

I’ve always been intrigued about the idea of a standing desk, but I’ve never been motivated to actually try one until recently. As someone who sits at a desk and blogs about Mac and iOS for a living, I was particularly interested in seeing what type of physical benefits such a desk could offer.

Enter the PowerUp from UpDesk, a Nashville-based company that specializes in standing desks. The PowerUp, as its name alludes to, is a motorized standing desk that can lower and raise with the press of a button.

I’ve been testing out the PowerUp for the last few weeks, and have collected some thoughts and observations about the setup. Does it really make a difference in my day to day Mac and iOS blogging workflow? more…

Filed under: Mac, Reviews Tagged: Desk, exercise, fitness, Furniture, Health, Mac, review, standing desk, UpDesk

Satechi launches inexpensive, Mac-matching docking station w/4K HDMI GigE and 4xUSB 3 hub

Popular peripheral maker Satechi is launching a new compact hub for Macs called Aluminum Mini Docking Station. The new hub expands one USB 3 port into four USB 3 ports plus adds access other networking and audio/video ports. Like a lot of other Satechi hardware, Aluminum Mini Docking Station is color-matched in silver to fit in with an iMac or Mac mini too.

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Filed under: Mac Tagged: Satechi

Apple releases third iOS 9.3.2 beta for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to developers

A little under a week after releasing its second beta, Apple has released the third developer beta of iOS 9.3.2 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. iOS 9.3.2 appears to be a smaller update compared to the past significant iOS 9.3 update that brought about features such as Night Shift and Touch ID notes.

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Filed under: Developers, iOS Tagged: Developer Center, developers, iOS, iOS 9.3.2, ios beta

9to5Toys Lunch Break: Retina MacBook Pro from $1,150, 4K iMac $1,150, 512GB Thunderbolt SSD $284, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

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Apple 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro 2.7GHz/8GB/256GB $1,200 or $1,150 w/ .edu (Reg. $1,499), more

Apple 13-inch MacBook Air 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB (early 2015) from $700 shipped w/ .edu (Orig. $999)

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Apple 21-inch Retina 4K iMac 3.1GHz/8GB/1TB (newest version): from $1,150 shipped w/ .edu (Reg. $1,499)

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Transcend storage upgrades for your Mac: 512GB Portable Thunderbolt SSD $284, 256GB Expansion Card $170, more

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App Store Free App of the Week: Readdle’s Calendars 5 for iOS goes free for the first time in years (Reg. up to $7)

Air Display 3 for iOS gets its first price drop to $10 (Reg. $15)

Star Wars KOTOR for iOS now matching its lowest price ever: $3 (Reg. $10)

Upgrade Your Mac with 3 Great Apps: Scapple $9 (Orig. $15), STAMP Premium $5 (Orig. $10), Ghostnote $7 (Orig. $10)

Apple offers Day One 2 iOS journal app for free ($10 value)

New MacBooks

The best accessories for Apple’s 12-inch MacBook: USB-C cables, hubs, flash storage, more

Apple drops the price on refurbished 12-inch MacBooks, now start at $929 shipped

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

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Best Buy offers $1 iPhone 6s (16GB) on Sprint (Reg. $199), or $100 gift card w/ installment plan

yamaha-rx-v7792

Home Theater: Yamaha 7.2-Ch. A/V Receiver w/ AirPlay + Bluetooth $479 shipped (Reg. $700), more

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

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Twelve South HiRise Deluxe Stand for iPhone & iPad w/ Lightning + microUSB cables:$40 Prime shipped (Reg. $60)

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Dock your iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch with this Rosewood Desk Stand for $20 Prime shipped

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Review: Are these third-party $11 Apple Watch Sport bands any good? Turns out, they aren’t too bad.

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

pictar

PICTAR’s vintage-inspired SLR camera accessory for iPhone looks to add affordable functionality

Filed under: Tips and Tricks Tagged: 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, 9to5Toys, Amazon, app deals, Best Buy, Daily Deals, Expansion card, free apps, Gold Box, MacBook Air, Portable Thunderbolt SSD, Retina 4K iMac, Transcend storage, video games

Opinion: Apple’s MacBook lineup has a storage problem

Yesterday, we showed you how to upgrade late model MacBooks with a 480GB or 1TB SSD. In some cases these upgrades might yield eight times the original capacity of the machine’s internal storage.

While it’s certainly nice to have the option of upgrading, such enhancements do come with downsides. First, there’s the price: it’s $600 to upgrade to a 1TB drive. Second, the upgrade breaks Boot Camp support.

But $600 is relatively cheap when you compare what it costs to score a MacBook with a 1TB SSD. MacBooks feature faster PCIe storage, but it’s still a high price to pay for something so vital — and so cheap by today’s standards.

Apple’s MacBook line has an issue with internal flash storage prices. It’s a problem that continues to worsen, especially as Apple has made it increasingly difficult for users to upgrade. more…

Filed under: iOS Devices, Mac Tagged: 11-inch macbook air, 12-inch MacBook, 13-inch macbook air, 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, Flash storage, MacBook, Opinion, Storage

Microsoft introducing Skype for Business Mac Preview w/ Outlook calendar integration

Microsoft is getting serious with the Mac today with its new Skype for Business preview for OS X. The new business-focused version of Skype for Mac runs on OS X El Capitan and focuses on creating an enterprise-friendly experience. IT professionals can request access to the new Skype for Business Mac Preview starting today.

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Filed under: Apps, Mac Tagged: Microsoft, Skype