Apple CEO John Ternus isn’t holding back when it comes to rival foldable smartphones, calling earlier attempts from competitors “cheap and crappy” in a new interview with TIME.
Ternus appears on the cover of TIME’s “Best Inventions of 2026” issue, which hits shelves October 26. Apple’s new iPhone Duo is among the inventions featured, with the interview offering a closer look at why Apple took so long to release its first foldable iPhone and what went into making it.
Apple’s interest in foldable devices actually goes back more than a decade. In 2011, Ternus and five other Apple engineers filed a patent application exploring foldable electronics, including the batteries and circuit boards needed to make them work. “It felt clear that we were going to eventually get to a place where OLED displays were going to be flexible,” Ternus told TIME.
But when competing foldable phones began appearing in the 2010s, Ternus wasn’t impressed with what he saw. “The other examples in the world felt kind of cheap and crappy,” he said. Apple wanted to avoid those same problems, particularly the visible crease running down the middle of folding screens.
Getting that display right became one of Apple’s biggest challenges. Richard Dinh, Apple’s vice president of product design, recalled asking Ternus whether the team should settle for a surface material similar to what competitors were already using. Ternus pushed the team to keep working on a better solution rather than compromise.
That work eventually led to a custom polymer surface using nanotexture technology, along with a hinge made from more than 100 tiny precision components. Early users reportedly say the crease is barely noticeable, addressing one of the biggest complaints about foldable smartphones.
The TIME interview also offers some insight into how Ternus is running Apple. The CEO has been spending several days each week working directly with Apple’s design teams, while also pushing for faster product releases and leaner teams. Product design remains a major focus as Apple looks to move more quickly without compromising on quality.
Ternus also discussed Apple’s AI strategy, including its decision to use Google’s Gemini technology for Siri AI. “There’s not really a goal that we have to make every single thing in a product. We make the things where we can really bring differentiation,” he explained.
He believes Apple’s biggest advantage with Siri AI comes from the personal information people already store on their iPhones. “Everything in your life is on your phone. With Siri AI, you can leverage all that information to do things, learn things, and figure out things in a way that nobody else can do.”
Those comments follow his earlier explanation of why Siri AI isn’t meant to replace the iPhone, but instead make the device more useful.
Of course, this interview comes at a timely moment, ahead of iPhone Duo pre-orders, which start this Friday at 5am PT/8am ET, at a cool starting price of $2,999 in Canada.
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