John Ternus Details iPhone Duo Development and Apple's AI Strategy in TIME Interview

Apple CEO John Ternus encouraged the iPhone Duo team to keep searching for a better display surface rather than use materials its engineers considered flawed, according to a new TIME profile. The interview also covers his approach to AI and the supply pressures facing the company.

The magazine features Ternus on its Best Inventions of 2026 cover, with iPhone Duo among this year's selections. Based on two September interviews, the profile follows his first weeks leading Apple and the engineering decisions behind its first foldable iPhone.

Building iPhone Duo

Ternus's involvement in foldable devices goes back to a 2011 patent application he filed with five other engineers, exploring batteries and circuit boards for the concept. Flexible OLED screens seemed likely to become possible, but the early phones that followed did not impress him.

"The other examples in the world felt kind of cheap and crappy," Ternus said, referring to other companies' early foldables in the 2010s.

Richard Dinh, Apple's vice president of product design, recalled asking whether the team should proceed with a display surface similar to competitors' materials, despite its flaws. Ternus encouraged him to keep looking for the right solution. Dinh said that gave the team room to connect suppliers and develop the nano-textured surface used on the finished phone.

The design combines a custom polymer surface with a hinge containing more than 100 precision components. The matte finish makes the crease less conspicuous, rather than eliminating the physical fold. Apple has separately confirmed that the display's cover layer can be replaced if it wears over time.

The work extended beyond the hinge. A new display engine handles transitions between the outer and inner screens, while iOS moves key controls from the bottom to the right side for easier thumb access. The $1,999 foldable opens for pre-orders on October 16 and reaches stores on October 23.

AI and the Role of the iPhone

On AI, Ternus rejected the idea that using Google's Gemini technology for Siri means Apple has abandoned control of its products. He compared the arrangement to sourcing displays, memory, and modems from suppliers rather than making every component itself.

"We make the things where we can really bring differentiation," he said.

For Siri, that distinction is access to personal context. With permission, the assistant can connect information across messages, email, calendars, and documents to help with tasks such as preparing for a meeting or finding a flight confirmation. Ternus also argued that more capable AI would not remove people's need for physical devices to communicate, take pictures, and view images of loved ones.

Lilian Rincon, who leads Apple's AI product efforts, said Siri was deliberately not designed as a substitute for human relationships. Executives also emphasized its privacy protections: requests run on-device where possible, with more demanding work sent to Private Cloud Compute, where Apple says queries are not stored or accessible to the company.

Design and Supply Pressures

Ternus is spending multiple days a week with the industrial-design and human-interface teams, consistent with his hands-on oversight of Apple's design studio. The profile also describes Tim Cook continuing to handle high-level government relationships as executive chairman.

Memory supplies are a more immediate constraint. Asked about reports that Apple had tested chips from a Chinese supplier, a move criticized by a bipartisan group of U.S. senators on national-security grounds, Ternus described the shortage as a crisis and said all supply options should be considered.