Overview
- Apple reported $12.72 billion in fiscal 2025 capital expenditures, up 35% year over year, with analysts projecting about $14.3 billion next year.
- Rivals are committing far larger sums to AI infrastructure, including Alphabet at roughly $92 billion, Meta near $71 billion, Amazon around $125 billion, and heavy quarterly spending at Microsoft.
- Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers, built on its own chips rather than Nvidia or AMD, began shipping from a Houston factory earlier this month.
- Some AI compute outlays are recorded as operating expenses, with R&D helping lift operating costs 11% to $15.91 billion.
- Apple returned about $20 billion via buybacks in the quarter and roughly $91 billion for the year, while CEO Tim Cook cited iPhone 17 demand as "off the chart" and Apple guided 10%–12% December‑quarter sales growth, with an improved Siri slated for next year.