Technologies

Apple may reveal its biggest quarter ever after iPhone 13, AirPods 3 and MacBook Pro launches

A pandemic, economic uncertainty and an international chip shortage apparently haven’t slowed the tech giant.

Ever since Apple‘s value blew past a trillion dollars a few years ago, analysts and tech industry experts alike have frequently wondered aloud, «How much larger can it get?»

We’ll get an answer Thursday, when Apple announces its fiscal first-quarter sales and tells us how many iPhones, Macs and other products it sold during the holiday shopping season. Apple has built a lot of its business around this period, timing product launches — like those of its well-reviewed iPhone 13, its revamped MacBook Pro laptops, its latest iPads, AirPods 3 and the Apple Watch Series 7 — to maximize sales as people hunt for gifts for family and friends. After the quarter’s December close, investors pushed Apple’s shares so high that the company’s value topped $3 trillion for the first time, despite ongoing supply shortages for chips and other technology.

On average, Wall Street analysts expect the quarter to deliver new all-time financial records of $1.88 per share in profit on $118.38 billion in revenue, according to surveys published by Yahoo Finance. Though that’s impressive, Apple isn’t expected to show as much growth as it did in the 2020 holiday shopping season. That’s when the iPhone 12, Apple’s first 5G-compatible device, helped push the company’s profit up 30%, while sales jumped more than 17%.

That wasn’t all, though. Apple has continuously said over the past year that its Mac computers and iPads were seeing record demand as well, in part thanks to the company’s highly anticipated new M1 «Apple Silicon» chips. That technology scored well among reviewers, including CNET’s, who ran tests that showed performance improvements and increased battery life. «It was zippy,» CNET’s Andrew Hoyle wrote of using the new MacBook Pro to process high-detail photos.

Now analysts are broadly expecting 2021’s holiday shopping season to mark another record for Apple.

«The performance seen by Apple in the quarter was despite an unprecedented chip shortage out of the Asia supply chain,» Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a Monday message to investors. Despite Apple’s established position as one of the world’s most highly valued companies, Ives says he still expects to see Apple’s «renaissance of growth» continue and its shares «outperform.»

An Apple spokesman declined to comment ahead of the company’s earnings report.

Industry leader

No matter what Apple says in its financial report Thursday, the results will be seen as a bellwether across the tech industry, and potentially beyond. But that report may prove an outlier as other companies struggle with supply and worker shortages, disappointing already dour Wall Street investors worried by further inflation, COVID-19’s continued impact on the world, and saber rattling between Russia and the US over Ukraine.

«Given resilient iPhone and Mac demand, we see Apple as a high-quality ‘flight to safety’ name to own during market volatility,» Cowen analyst Krish Sankar wrote in a note to investors. He too labels Apple’s stock at «outperform.»

Apple has long operated one of the most successful supply chains, particularly as it navigated disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. Even so, Apple’s executives have said they believe the company has lost out on billions of dollars in sales due to silicon chip shortages and manufacturing problems amid seemingly ceaseless demand.

Rod Hall, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, said he’s «slightly cautious» about Apple’s prospects, considering tech’s continuing challenges with the global supply chain. In a note to investors, he warned that even though Apple may have been able to manage the chip shortages better than most, he’ll be closely listening to executives as they give commentary on a post-earnings conference call.

Apple has also largely escaped the scrutiny that tech giants like Alphabet (née Google) and Meta (née Facebook) have faced over how their respective advertising-heavy business models erode people’s privacy and trust in big tech.

Whatever Apple announces Thursday, it’ll come at a time when investors are questioning Big Tech’s future. Netflix shares have plunged more than 35% this year, driven in part by the company’s own predictions last week that it would add far fewer subscribers than expected in the first months of 2022. Electric-car giant Tesla’s stock, meanwhile, plummeted nearly 28% from $1,199.78 per share at the start of the year, driven in part by the company’s struggles to put out new cars.

It all comes down to the iPhone

The iPhone remains king at the Cupertino, California-based company, even as Apple fans and industry watchers dissect each of the company’s new product lines and business moves.

Last year, the iPhone represented 52% of the company’s $365 billion in revenue, a slight increase from the 50% it represented in 2020 and a slight decrease from the 54% in 2019. That’s part of Apple’s seemingly endless conundrum: Its position as one of the largest companies ever is tied to the iPhone’s success.

Apple has tried to build on that success, announcing ambitious services offerings, including the $5 per month Apple TV Plus, the $5 per month Apple Arcade and the $10 per month Apple Fitness Plus. Its other iPhone add-on-type products like the AirPods headphones and Apple Watch wearable have performed well too, analysts say.

Rumors suggest that Apple’s next big product launch will be a headset, potentially coming this year or next. Many tech executives believe that headsets from Apple, as well as those from Microsoft, Meta, Sony, Google and Magic Leap, could represent the next step in computing beyond the phone. And many companies have already begun preparing.

Over the past year, tech executives from game companies to social networking giants to, yes, even Apple have begun publicly discussing a new term for the types of experiences these headsets will make possible: the metaverse. That’s a catchall description of apps and experiences people can share in connected virtual worlds like a video game.

The metaverse «is an attempt to redefine our entire relationship with the internet, from virtual communities to ownership of digital content. It snakes into gaming, cryptocurrency, NFTs, teleconferencing software and 3D scanning. It’s… a lot,» CNET’s Scott Stein wrote about what he expects from the technology this year. «A year ago, nobody even talked about the idea of a metaverse. Now it’s spread across countless news stories.»

For Apple, though, the metaverse may represent more than the next step in computing: It may finally be the product to take the financial crown from the iPhone.

But don’t expect CEO Tim Cook to spill the beans about his plans while speaking with analysts on a conference call Thursday. Those reveals are typically reserved for Apple’s splashy events, whether in person or entirely virtual, as the events have been during the pandemic.

Instead, when analysts and investors wonder how much larger Apple will get, what they’ll mean is how many more iPhones can Apple sell, as well as maybe iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, AirPods and all sorts of other tech, including the company’s (in)famous $19 polishing cloth.

«We’d expect a bullish installed base update,» Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty wrote in a message to investors, citing upbeat reports from Apple throughout the past year. Though she also rates Apple’s stock at «outperform,» she’ll be listening for any other signs of how the pandemic and supply chain are affecting the company.

Technologies

Pluto TV to Stream 49 ‘Survivor’ Seasons for Free

The 50th season of the competition series is set to air on CBS in February.

Pluto TV might help you plan your next reality TV binge. All 49 seasons of the competition series Survivor will stream on demand on the service later this month.

The Survivor catalog will arrive ahead of the landmark 50th season of Survivor, which airs on CBS on Feb. 25. You can currently watch the previous 49 seasons with a Paramount Plus subscription, which starts at $8 per month (or $9 after a price hike on Jan. 15). Pluto’s route is free, but it comes with ads.

There will be two ways to watch: Pluto’s dedicated 24/7 Survivor channel, which will stream episodes in chronological order, or you can stream episodes on demand.

The channel marathon and on-demand availability begin on Jan. 24 at 5:15 p.m. ET.

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For more information on Pluto and other free, ad-supported streaming services, check out our roundup of the best options.

Technologies

Apple Picks Google Gemini to Power Siri

Sorry OpenAI, Apple went back to its old lover.

Apple has chosen Google’s Gemini to power its next iteration of Siri, coming later this year, both companies said in a joint statement on Monday.

Apple and Google’s Siri deal follows months of rumors saying that the iPhone maker had chosen Gemini to advance Siri over OpenAI’s ChatGPT. A report in November said that Apple would pay Google $1 billion per year for Google’s AI prowess. It helps that last November’s release of Gemini 3 made a huge impact and reportedly put OpenAI in a «code red» position.

«After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google’s Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users,» according to the statement on Monday. «Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple’s industry-leading privacy standards.»

Google referred to the joint statement when asked for comment. Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Despite Apple being one of the most valuable companies in the world, it’s behind in the AI race. Instead of developing its own foundational models, which reports suggested hadn’t been going well, Apple instead worked with OpenAI to power Apple Intelligence. Even with the Siri refresh under Apple Intelligence, Apple’s AI assistant fell short of expectations, although subsequently it’s proving to be more useful.

Apple’s deal with Google further marries two American tech giants who had already been exchanging billions of dollars. During the Department of Justice antitrust trial against Google, court documents showed that Google paid Apple $20 billion in 2022 to ensure that Google Search would remain the default search engine across Apple devices. Now, some of that money will be flowing back to Google so that Siri can get a much-needed leveling up.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Technologies

Samsung’s Galaxy Z TriFold Is a Phone-Tablet Hybrid With a Clear Purpose

I got my hands on the new foldable at CES. It feels like a wildly practical two-in-one device, thanks to the massive display and overall sleek build.

I’ve tested my fair share of thin and foldable phones over the years, but something about Samsung’s Galaxy Z TriFold struck me as particularly unique when I held it for the first time at CES 2026 in Las Vegas.

At last, it seems foldables are approaching their long-desired goal: a two-in-one device that fits neatly in your pocket.

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The Galaxy Z TriFold — which technically folds twice but has three panels — is like a true phone-tablet hybrid that stands apart from its bar-style counterparts. Its value lies less in flashy specs about its thinness and more in its utility and practicality.

Yes, the Galaxy Z TriFold feels impressively sleek when open: It’s just 3.9mm at its thinnest point and 4.2mm at its thickest, not accounting for the camera bump. It also feels wonderfully normal in my hands, to the degree that I didn’t really think about its weight of 309 grams as I used it.

Still, the foldable doesn’t inspire the same ergonomic awe as Samsung’s book-style Galaxy Z Fold 7 or the bar-style Galaxy S25 Edge, which primarily lean on an ultrathin, lightweight design.

The Galaxy Z TriFold is all about getting things done on a portable scale. Need to shoot off a quick text or check an email? The 6.5-inch cover display is similar to using a nonfolding phone — minus the slightly chunky 12.9mm thickness when the trifold is closed. And when it’s time to watch a movie, multitask or type up a paper, the expansive 10-inch internal display offers plenty of real estate.

Read more: The Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold was selected as a winner in the Best Mobile Tech category for the Official Best of CES 2026 Awards.

That duality makes the Galaxy Z TriFold work like a true hybrid device, filling a niche that book-style foldables have yet to satisfy, despite their numerous efforts.

Comparing the Z TriFold and the Z Fold 7 at a glance

Placing Samsung’s Z TriFold and its two-panel Galaxy Z Fold 7 side by side underscored just how different each phone is.

Yes, you can watch videos at a larger scale on the Z Fold 7’s inside display, but that experience pales in comparison to the true tablet-like feel of the unfurled Z TriFold. You can open up to three apps simultaneously on both phones, but doing so on the trifold feels like a less significant compromise thanks to its larger screen. And with Samsung DeX, turning your phone into a mini computer of sorts has never felt more practical, since there’s more room to work with.

One of the biggest indicators of how far foldables have come is the fact that both the Z TriFold and the Z Fold 7 pack pretty impressive cameras: a 200-megapixel wide, 12-megapixel ultrawide and 10-megapixel telephoto camera on the back, along with two 10-megapixel selfie cameras. So if you’re choosing between the larger and smaller Samsung foldables, that’s one key factor they have in common.

Two hinges on the trifold means double the screen creases, but they’re thankfully less visible than the Z Fold 7’s, which is already pretty subdued. Learning how to close the trifold correctly can be a bit of a learning curve, especially if you’re right-handed like me; you’ll need to close the left panel first. But each time you (I) mess up, the phone gives haptic feedback and an alert that you (we) are doing it wrong, which is helpful.

What’s perhaps most assuring is the trifold’s 5,600-mAh battery, which can hopefully allow the phone to power through a full day’s use, and then some. The Z Fold 7 has a 4,400-mAh battery, which lasted all day in my initial testing, but without much juice to spare. Hopefully, the Z TriFold remedies that. The trifold’s 45-watt super-fast charging is a nice perk, too.

Speaking of charging: Samsung told me the Z TriFold will come with not just a charging cable in the box, but also a charging brick. Nature is healing.

US release and price

The Z TriFold is already available in Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. In fact, my colleague Prakhar Khanna beat me to the punch and got his hands on the phone in Dubai last month.

Samsung has said the Z TriFold will launch in the US in the first quarter of this year. It’ll be interesting to see if people in the US respond similarly to those in other countries like Korea, where the phone reportedly sold out in minutes.

Another looming question remains: the price. Samsung didn’t share the US price at CES, but we’ll likely learn more as we approach the (also unknown) release date. Given the Z Fold 7’s $2,000 price tag, though, you might want to start saving up now.