Apple positioned the iPhone 16 as the first model built from the ground up for Apple Intelligence. But until the company shared iPhone sales numbers, we didnt know whether customers would care or not. Now, the answer seems clear.iPhone 16 sales performance points to a bright AI futureLast week, Apple reported its biggest quarter in the companys history: $124.3 billion in revenue.Digging into the details revealed strong sales for Apples trio of flagship products: iPhone, iPad, and Mac.iPad and Mac performed especially well, which may or may not have been due to an AI impact.iPhone saw a very minor decline from the year beforebut performed very well regardless.Heres why.Tim Cook said the iPhone 16 family is outperforming the iPhone 15 family so far. Thats a significant data point.Perhaps even more important, he mentioned that the iPhone 16 is selling better in countries where AI is available than ones where its not.Currently Apple Intelligence is unavailable in the EU and China.And China is very clearly the place that held back iPhone sales.What does all of this mean? That Apples AI narrative is workingat least so far.Apple can celebrate iPhone success, but strengthening Apple Intelligence is the next big taskWhether you think Apple Intelligence offers compelling functionality yet or not, customers are putting up money to buy the new AI-centric iPhone 16 at higher rates than weve seen with past iPhones. And the current struggles in areas where AI isnt available are short-term hiccups that reflect significant opportunity ahead for Apple.So overall its good news for Apple Intelligence, good news for iPhone sales, and now the biggest question is: will iPhone 16 users care about AI once they actually have it? How will the all-important customer satisfaction numbers turn out?In other words, can Apple deliver a great AI product? We should find out soon with iOS 18.4s upgrades, but iOS 19s unveiling in June will prove especially telling too.What do you make of Apples recent iPhone sales report? Let us know in the comments.Best iPhone accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel