Apple CEO John Ternus once spent hours past midnight counting grooves on screw heads during his early days at the company. Working on the Cinema Display monitor, his first Apple project, Ternus discovered the stainless-steel screws had 35 grooves instead of the required 25 and argued with the supplier to correct them—despite their location on the back of the monitor. In a 2024 Penn Engineering commencement speech, the 25-year Apple veteran explained his philosophy: "The care that you put into your work really matters." He acknowledged questioning whether his obsession was normal but concluded "it might not be normal, but it's right." Ternus's approach echoes co-founder Steve Jobs's famous design philosophy of obsessing over even unseen details. Previously Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, Ternus succeeded Tim Cook, who served 15 years as CEO.

Apple stock has gained 40% over the past year, and analysts believe the biggest driver for further growth isn't a new product but resolving supply constraints. The company posted record revenue of $109.4 billion in its latest quarter, up 16% year-on-year, with iPhone revenue surging 22% to $54.3 billion and Mac revenue climbing 29% to $10.4 billion. However, Apple acknowledged it cannot meet the "remarkably better than expected" demand for iPhones and Macs due to supply chain limitations. Management expects these constraints to "increase significantly" in the September quarter, limiting guided growth to 9%-11%. The opportunity lies in unlocking this pent-up demand as supply issues resolve in coming quarters.

Apple shares rose 2.6% on Tuesday whilst the broader technology sector declined, cementing its role as a hedge against volatility in the AI trade. The 30-day correlation between Apple and the Nasdaq-100 reached -0.82, the strongest inverse movement since 2005. Apple has climbed 7% over the past month and 20% for the year, outpacing the Nasdaq-100's 15% advance. Its conservative approach to AI spending has attracted investors wary of escalating infrastructure costs, whilst rivals like Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft have committed hundreds of billions to AI infrastructure. Apple reported record June quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16% year-over-year. The company has surpassed $5 trillion in market capitalisation, becoming only the second publicly traded firm to do so.