Celebs, a big reveal, and some old-fashioned showmanship used to make an iPhone launch the hottest ticket in town. But that feels like a long time ago. Apple’s unveiling of its latest range of smartphones on Tuesday
was pretty much as expected, including confirmation it’s still behind on the artificial-intelligence boom compared with technology peers.
The thinner iPhone Air model is something of a change for Apple. But the underlying message of the event was that customers and investors will have to wait until next year for supposed real change, with the expected launch of a foldable device with AI capabilities. Apple’s AI slowness is a black mark against the company, with the stock lagging behind Big Tech rivals.
A comparison with Oracle could not be more stark. The software firm posted earnings and the stock surged after it revealed its backlog of orders rose to $455 billion from $138 billion due to demand for cloud-computing infrastructure. Oracle and Apple are in different businesses, of course. But Oracle has aggressively pivoted its business toward AI under the leadership of CEO Safra Catz. Meanwhile, Apple boss Tim Cook has not shown
comparable agility in the face of an AI challenge from rivals Samsung and Google.
There are a few points in Apple’s favor. It isn’t losing market share and isn’t having to make huge capital expenditures to support AI—Oracle’s capex has risen twentyfold in six years. Apple’s spending remains relatively muted despite U.S. investment pledges.
But low capex might not look like such a comparative advantage if the borrowing costs to fund that spending fall. Traders are locking in
bets on the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates after data revisions indicated a weaker labor landscape than previously thought. The market is rewarding ambitious spending rather than caution at the moment.
“One more thing” was former Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ catchphrase when pulling out a surprise feature to wow the audience at these launches. Right now AI is the big “thing” investors want and Apple doesn’t have.
—Adam Clark
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Oracle’s Cloud Outlook Wows Investors Despite Mixed Earnings
Oracle may have reported mixed fiscal first-quarter earnings, but it was a significant increase in its backlog of contracted work that sent its shares soaring 27% in after-hours trading. The
company’s cloud infrastructure business expects rapid expansion, according to CEO Safra Catz.
- Adjusted earnings rose to $1.47 a share while revenue rose 12% from a year ago to $14.9 billion. Both were slightly below expectations. Oracle also missed expectations for cloud services revenue growth, a key metric, and its guidance
for the second quarter was in line.
- But the headline for many was Oracle’s contracted backlog rising to $455 billion, up from just $138 billion in the fourth quarter. The figure is indicative of the intense demand for renting artificial intelligence servers in the cloud, a business that Oracle, chaired by Larry Ellison, has only recently entered.
- Oracle’s sales growth masks a huge shift happening as it follows the Microsoft playbook. Once just a vendor of packaged software, Oracle is shifting
customers to cloud-based versions with annual subscriptions, while at the same time launching a public cloud to compete with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft’s Azure.
- First-quarter revenue from Oracle’s public cloud services rose from a year ago. Catz said they signed four multibillion-dollar contracts with three customers in the quarter. They expect to sign up more multibillion-dollar customers and the backlog is expected to exceed half a trillion dollars.
What’s Next: Oracle has been aggressively building data centers to fulfill customer demand. In fiscal 2026 Oracle expects $35 billion in capital expenditures, up from $1.6 billion in 2020 before this shift began. The rocketing backlog will require even more capex to support it.
—Adam Levine
Apple’s New Lineup Includes Much Thinner iPhone Air
High-end iPhone purchasers are about to find themselves with more choices as Apple releases a new iPhone Air on top of new Pro models in the latest iPhone upgrade. The difference is mainly aesthetic. The Air is much thinner, while the Pro has a heartier more versatile
camera system and longer battery life.
- The new iPhone Air will sell for $999 in the U.S., while the price of the iPhone Pro went up to $1,099 and the Pro Max remains at $1,199. The new phones will arrive Sept. 19, with preorders beginning this Friday.
- Apple was forced to make a few other sacrifices to achieve the iPhone Air’s ultra-slim design. The new phone lacks the fastest 5G wavebands, something both the Pro and base iPhone 17 models support. The Air also sports a slower USB-2 connector, while the Pro supports USB-3 speeds up to 10 GBs per second.
- Apple also updated its line of AirPods, including a Pro 3 model that offers four times the active noise cancellation as the original Pro model, and live translation, which is powered by artificial intelligence. Users can speak in different languages, with the conversation translated in real time.
- The Apple Watch Series 11 has 24 hours of battery life, while main updates focus on personal health features. Apple has developed a feature that tracks potential hypertension, or high blood pressure, and will notify the user for signs of it.
What’s Next: The iPhone Air is Apple’s first new iPhone in years, designed to appeal to consumers after the tech giant has struggled to roll out AI features. It’s seen as a precursor to a foldable iPhone, The Wall Street Journal reported, something Apple is expected to roll out as early as next year.
—Angela Palumbo
Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump From Firing Fed Gov. Cook
