John Ternus talks iPhone Duo, ‘cheap and crappy’ foldables in new interview

9to5mac.com Oct 15, 2026

John Ternus talks iPhone Duo, ‘cheap and crappy’ foldables in new interview

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Oct 15, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

TIME named the iPhone Duo a 2026 invention of the year, featuring Apple CEO John Ternus on the cover. Ternus, who began foldable research in 2011, explained that early competitors produced “cheap and crappy” devices, prompting Apple to invest heavily in materials and design. The Duo’s custom polymer surface and precision hinge, developed with global suppliers, reportedly leaves users unable to feel a crease. Ternus highlighted his hands‑on design work and the team’s focus on OLED flexibility.

💡 Why It Matters

· The iPhone Duo’s breakthrough surface technology could set a new standard for foldable durability, reshaping consumer expectations for future multi‑screen devices.

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Ternus spent 15 years planning the iPhone Duo

Apple’s new CEO, John Ternus, has spent 15 years refining the iPhone Duo, a foldable device that finally launched in 2026 after rivals beat Apple to market. Ternus, who joined Apple in 2001 and became Cook’s successor in 2026, led a team that filed a foldable‑display patent in 2011. He emphasized quality over speed, insisting on perfect glass layers and a unique nanotexture. The Duo showcases Apple’s commitment to in‑house innovation and design excellence.

💡 The iPhone Duo signals Apple’s willingness to delay market entry for superior engineering, potentially redefining consumer expectations for foldable smartphones. It also underscores the company’s strategy of controlling key hardware components to maintain a competitive edge.

appleinsider.com · Oct 15

Apple’s M5 MacBook Air with 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD drops to $1,599

Amazon’s mid‑October sale offers a $200 discount on Apple’s 13‑inch MacBook Air M5, lowering the 24‑GB RAM, 1‑TB SSD configuration to $1,599. The Sky Blue finish is highlighted, and units are in stock with free expedited delivery for Prime members. The promotion also includes other MacBook Air models, such as 13‑inch M5 with 16‑GB RAM and 512‑GB SSD at $1,234, and 15‑inch M5 models with varying specs and discounts. The deal reflects Apple’s continued focus on high‑performance ultraportables.

💡 The discount makes a premium, high‑memory MacBook Air more accessible to professionals who need robust multitasking power, potentially shifting purchasing trends toward Apple’s M5 lineup.

appleinsider.com · Oct 15

Apple’s ‘Minions’ research turns idle Mac GPUs into a virtual GPU cloud

Apple unveiled Minions, a system that aggregates idle Apple Silicon GPUs across Macs to form a virtual GPU cloud for AI inference. The architecture includes a central Minions Server, PostgreSQL metadata store, Minion Executors on macOS devices, and a watchdog for fault tolerance. Using Thunderbolt 5 RDMA, the setup combines compute and memory from multiple machines, reducing long inference jobs from over ten hours to minutes without extra hardware. Apple’s researchers already employ Minions internally, showcasing its scalability and efficiency.

💡 By turning everyday Macs into a high‑performance AI cluster, Minions eliminates the need for costly GPU farms, offering a cost‑effective, scalable solution that could reshape how businesses deploy machine‑learning workloads.

9to5mac.com · Oct 15

Apple SVP Greg Joswiak: ‘We don’t feel threatened’ by OpenAI hardware plans

Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Greg Joswiak, told TIME that the company does not feel threatened by OpenAI’s hardware ambitions. He emphasized Apple’s integrated hardware‑software ecosystem as a defense, arguing that its approach delivers a superior user experience. Joswiak clarified that Apple’s AI focus targets everyday consumers rather than “lunatic fringe” enthusiasts, and that the firm is developing privacy‑preserving, personalized AI rather than pursuing superintelligence. The interview highlighted Apple’s confidence in its strategy amid rising AI competition.

💡 Apple’s stance signals a deliberate divergence from Silicon Valley’s high‑risk AI trajectory, positioning the company as a consumer‑centric alternative in a rapidly evolving tech landscape.

appleinsider.com · Oct 15

Joswiak: Siri AI is for everyday, not the AI ‘lunatic fringe’

Apple senior vice president Greg Joswiak told Time that the company’s new Apple Intelligence and upgraded Siri are designed for everyday users, not for AI enthusiasts he described as the “lunatic fringe.” He emphasized that Apple will support users but its goal is to make the assistant useful. Joswiak said the integration capabilities of Apple’s ecosystem give it an advantage over competitors such as Claude or Grok. The comments came in a cover story about incoming CEO John Ternus, who spent 15 years developing the iPhone Duo announced on September 9, 2026, with pre‑orders starting October 16 and shipments on October 23. Apple has faced criticism for lagging in AI, and Joswiak’s remarks aim to reassure consumers that focus is on improvements than demonstrations.

💡 By prioritizing mass‑market usability, Apple aims to embed its AI deeply across devices, turning integration into a competitive moat.

appleinsider.com · Oct 15

Skip the controller, the Apple TV 4K still isn’t a good gaming…

Apple released the 4th‑generation Apple TV 4K with an A19 chip, 128 GB storage, and continued controller support, promising improved gaming performance. However, the device remains limited to 4K at 60 fps, lacks Just‑In‑Time compilation, and offers insufficient storage for modern titles. Its $299 price point and absence of variable refresh rates make it unattractive to core gamers. Consequently, the Apple TV 4K is better suited as a streaming box than a serious gaming platform.

💡 The Apple TV 4K’s shortcomings reveal that Apple’s push into console‑style gaming is superficial, underscoring the company’s focus on its mobile ecosystem rather than competing with dedicated gaming hardware.