Apple CEO John Ternus has spent multiple days a week in the studio with the company’s industrial-design and human-interface teams, according to TIME’s reporting. Andrew R. Chow interviewed him for TIME in September, after Ternus took over from Tim Cook on September 1.
TIME published the interview on October 15, ahead of its Best Inventions of 2026 issue, which goes on sale October 26. The full video went up on YouTube on October 20, and 9to5Mac’s writeup of it focused on the design comments. The interview also covers the iPhone Duo, memory shortages, and AI.
Ternus pushed the Duo team to keep working while rivals shipped
Richard Dinh, Apple’s VP of product design, recounts a moment when he asked Ternus whether the team should use a surface material similar to competitors’. Ternus replied, "Look, Rich, you’ll know when it’s the right thing." According to TIME, that answer gave the team the confidence to push further. Ternus also encouraged the team to invest more time and effort even as rivals reached the market first. Tim Cook, now executive chairman, has said separately that he is not meddling with Ternus.
Hardware and software teams built the Duo together
The iPhone Duo folds to about passport size and opens into a tablet-sized screen. TIME names Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8 as its closest rival, and early testers say the crease is barely noticeable. TIME cites those testers without independent tests.
TIME reports that hardware and software teams worked together on the Duo’s display engine and on moving the main controls to the right side of the screen. The hinge has more than 100 small interior parts, and the Duo’s surface is matte and light-deflecting.
Design decisions on the Duo have drawn other reports. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple dropped a shorter Apple Pencil for the Duo before production.
Dinh credits Ternus with the collaboration: "John was really at the center of driving the spirit of collaboration across the company."
An engineer who filed a foldable patent in 2011
Ternus studied mechanical engineering and joined Apple in 2001 as an engineer. In 2011, he and five other engineers filed a patent for foldable devices. That puts his interest in foldables more than a decade before the Duo.
In the full video, Ternus says he has worked hand in hand with industrial designers since he joined Apple, according to 9to5Mac’s writeup. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman had already reported in October 2025 that Ternus was the leading candidate to succeed Cook, nearly a year before the handoff.
On rival foldables, Ternus told TIME, "The other examples in the world felt kind of cheap and crappy."
He also said Apple doesn’t have to make every part of a product itself. He said the company tries to "constrain ourselves to the stuff that matters most."
The Duo’s success is far from guaranteed
TIME calls the Duo’s success "far from guaranteed" and says many buyers may balk at its price.
