Apple's real profit machine isn't the iPhone. It's the toll booth

Apple is known as the company that makes the iPhone. But look at where its profit comes from, and a different business has quietly taken over: not the device, but the toll Apple collects on everything that happens on it afterward. The margin gap that explains everything In fiscal Q4 2025, Apple's Services segment (App Store commissions, iCloud, search licensing, Apple Music, AppleCare, advertising) posted a gross margin of 75.3%.