Apple just reported its biggest quarter ever, making about as much money in three months as Disney, Netflix and YouTube combined did all last year!

We have the details about how Apple pulled it off.

In other news:

• Get your first look at fun new emoji coming soon.

• Apple is wooing Neil Young fans from Spotify with an opportune marketing campaign.

• Face ID might soon work with face masks -- finally! It's only been two years!

-- Leander Kahney, EIC.

Here’s everything you need to know about Apple’s biggest quarter ever — www.cultofmac.com

Apple sold a crazy number of iPhones and Macs during the December quarter. And the result is what CEO Tim Cook called the company’s “biggest quarter ever.” Take a deeper dive into the details to see how Apple was so very successful.

Fun new emoji coming in iOS 15.4 will let you salute, melt and tear up — www.cultofmac.com

Soon you’ll be able use an emoji to show that your battery is low. Or that you’re melting, are feeling ambivalent or patriotic, or getting teary-eyed. This is because the crop of fresh emoji approved in fall 2021 will debut when iOS 15.4 does.

Apple Music taunts Spotify with massive Neil Young promotion — www.cultofmac.com

After Spotify pulls the singer’s content from its platform, Apple Music adds a “We Love Neil” section featuring albums, interviews and playlists.

Get the whole Microsoft Office for Mac suite for $50 — www.cultofmac.com

Some software is just essential. And we've got a hot deal on one of computing's bedrock software suites: Microsoft Office for Mac.

More on Face ID with a mask: Only on iPhone 12 and 13, but it works with Apple Pay — www.cultofmac.com

Developers uncover additional (and important) tidbits in the first iOS 15.4 beta about how the new feature works. Here’s what you need to know.

Watch new Apple TV+ comedy 'The Afterparty' for free on YouTube — www.cultofmac.com

For the first time ever, Apple TV+ offers the debut episode of an Apple Original series on YouTube. You can watch the first episode of crime comedy The Afterparty in full for free now.

Say cheese: Albert Einstein, Dr. Fauci and RBG welcome new M1 Pro MacBook [Setups] — www.cultofmac.com

On Fridays, it’s fun to focus on computer setups with entertaining features whenever possible. Sometimes it’s seriously vintage gear. Or it could be wacky decor. Once in a while, an exotic location pops up. Today we found one where a brand-new M1 Pro MacBook meets a kooky crew of bobbleheads and other figures under a really over-the-top camera rig used as a webcam.

Tweets o' the day

One more thing ...

Steve Jobs on his new washer and dryer: "They are really wonderfully made and one of the few products we've bought over the last few years that we're all really happy about.... I got more thrill out of them than I have out of any piece of high tech in years."