The iPhone 17 outsold the iPhone 16 by 14% in its first 10 days across the U.S. and China

Apple’s newest iPhone 17 is already outperforming last year’s iPhone 16, with sales jumping 14% higher during the first 10 days of release in the United States and China, according to Counterpoint Research.

This is Apple’s first quantifiable look at how the new iPhone is doing in its two most important markets, and so far, things are moving fast.

According to data from Bloomberg, the base iPhone 17, priced at $799, is showing much higher demand than the iPhone 16 did at launch. In China, sales of the standard iPhone 17 model are already nearly double what the iPhone 16 managed in the same launch window.

That growth is reportedly being credited to hardware, not hype. The iPhone 17 now ships with more storage, a better screen, and Apple’s new A19 chip, an upgrade from last year’s version that’s actually being noticed by buyers.

“Consumers are resonating with the base model iPhone 17 on improved specs and upgrades,” said Ivan Lam, senior analyst at Counterpoint. “In China, sales are almost double those of the base iPhone 16 over the initial availability period – and the momentum continues to be good into October.”

Apple sees Pro Max bump from pandemic-era users

While the base model is moving fast, it’s not the only one. The iPhone 17 Pro Max is also getting a strong response, especially in the US.

Buyers who haven’t upgraded since the pandemic are now returning for Apple’s highest-end version, which comes with redesigned physical features, an overhauled heat system, and the best camera setup Apple’s ever sold in a phone.

Even with all this hardware attention, the company is still facing serious problems on the software side. Apple’s rollout of AI features is still a mess. Apple Intelligence hasn’t launched in China yet, and its troubled Siri upgrade is now delayed into next year.

Despite all that, the iPhone is still holding up sales-wise, Apple still relies on it for about half of its revenue, and it’s working for now.

Outside the phone business, Apple also launched a new 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro, but didn’t even bother throwing an event for it. All three were quietly announced on a Wednesday morning, and the changes are barely noticeable.

These are what Apple calls “chip-and-ship” refreshes, they stuck in the new M5 chip, which benchmarks 15% to 20% faster than the M4, but most people won’t notice. Internally, even Apple is pushing these products as replacements for old Intel MacBooks or first-gen M1 devices.

AI division loses top engineers as Siri continues to stall

Inside Apple, things are falling apart in the AI department. The company’s efforts to reboot Siri have been chaotic since last year, and now it’s losing key staff.

The Apple Foundation Models team has already lost its founder and about a dozen engineers. More exits are on the way.

Just this week, Ke Yang, who led Apple’s Answers, Knowledge and Information (AKI) unit, quit and joined Meta Platforms Inc. He was supposed to be in charge of making Siri more like ChatGPT, but he only lasted a few weeks before walking out.

He replaced Robby Walker, who also left recently. Yang wasn’t well-liked inside the team, but the back-to-back departures are still a disaster.

Apple is now testing iOS 26.4, which is supposed to include the new Siri. But people testing the build are already raising issues with how well it works. Meanwhile, the company’s top AI executive, John Giannandrea, also known as JG, is under pressure.

JG’s responsibilities have already been trimmed: Siri was moved into Apple’s software group, and robotics was reassigned to the hardware division.

There are already talks that Craig Federighi and Mike Rockwell are stepping in to manage more of Apple’s AI roadmap. At the same time, Apple is reportedly interviewing outsiders to replace JG altogether. He was brought in back in 2018 to lead Apple’s AI direction, but things clearly haven’t gone as planned.

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