Apple CEO John Ternus has dismissed early foldable smartphones as feeling kind of cheap and crappy,
defending his company’s long delay in entering the folding device market. Hitting the market nearly a decade after other foldables, Apple has instead developed the iPhone Duo, featuring a premium design and a barely-noticeable display crease.
From 2011 Patent Filings to the iPhone Duo
Apple’s exploration of foldable technology stretches back much further than public product timelines suggest. Long before smartphones dominated the market, specifically in 2011 when flip phones were still commonly carried, Ternus and five fellow engineers submitted a patent application detailing foldable electronics and investigating the circuit boards and batteries required for such a concept. Ternus noted that it felt clear OLED displays would eventually become flexible, yet initial commercial attempts from rivals in the 2010s failed to meet his standards.
That hesitation lasted years while engineers refined the hardware architecture. Richard Dinh, Apple’s VP of Product Design, recalled asking Ternus whether the team should move forward with a top surface material similar to competitors’ designs, which Dinh felt had flaws but was potentially good enough. Ternus rejected the compromise, telling Dinh, Look, Rich, you’ll know when it’s the right thing.
That directive encouraged the design group to spend more time on innovation and manufacturing.
Engineering the Nanotexture Polymer and Hinge
The refusal to settle for existing manufacturing standards pushed Apple’s engineering team to travel worldwide to connect suppliers and develop a custom polymer surface paired with nanotexture technology. Underneath that display sits a hinge engineered with more than 100 tiny interior precision components. Early users have noted that this combination results in a folding screen where the central crease is barely detectable.
This hardware release arrives alongside a leadership shift at Apple. Ternus officially succeeded Tim Cook as CEO on September 1, following a transition Cook told The Independent’s David Phelan started years ago. Since taking the role, Ternus has spent multiple days a week in the studio with industrial-design and human-interface teams. According to reporting by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Ternus is also restructuring the company to accelerate product development, aiming to broaden the device lineup through a leaner organization with a heavier focus on engineering.
AI Integration and the Path Forward
Beyond hardware, Ternus addressed Apple’s software strategy, specifically its reliance on Google’s Gemini technology to power Apple Intelligence features. Ternus explained that Apple does not have a goal to build every single component internally, reserving custom development for areas where the company can achieve genuine differentiation. Regarding Siri AI, Ternus maintained that Apple possesses a unique competitive edge due to the sensitive data already stored locally on users’ devices, empowering the virtual assistant to process, acquire knowledge, and execute tasks autonomously in ways unavailable anywhere else.
Pre-orders for the iPhone Duo open this Friday at 5 a.m. Pacific Time, priced starting at $2,999 in Canada. Meanwhile, the device is featured in TIME magazine’s Best Inventions of 2026 issue, with Ternus appearing on the cover ahead of the magazine hitting newsstands on October 26.
