Apple has a new CEO, and he has a new kind of iPhone. John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook at the start of the month, unveiled the iPhone Duo on Wednesday. The device folds like a book, with a 5.4-inch outer screen and a 7.6-inch internal display.
It is the most radical physical change to the iPhone since the original glass slab launched nearly 20 years ago.
Ternus and the “One More Thing”
Ternus spent most of his career at Apple on the product side, and he is a mechanical engineer by training. Analysts say that background could bring back some of the “wow factor” that critics say has faded since the days of Steve Jobs.
Nearly an hour into a livestream about updates to existing lines like AirPods, Ternus used a line Jobs made famous. “But actually, there is one more thing,” he said, before showing the foldable phone.
“iPhone Duo brings an entirely new design while preserving everything you love and expect from iPhone,” Ternus said. “It gives you the largest display ever on an iPhone while still fitting easily in your pocket. It reflects extraordinarily complex engineering, yet feels effortless to use, and it makes new experiences possible.”
A Niche Category
Foldable phones are not new. Samsung and Huawei have sold them since 2019, though early models had durability problems. The category remains small.
“Folding phones are a solid category, but they’re not a huge category.”
“I think Apple will do a lot to popularize it, but even so, I think it’s a niche product, and if it’s the future of the smartphone, it’s probably the far future,” said Jason Snell, who writes about Apple at Six Colors.
Snell said foldable phone sales make up around 2% of all smartphone sales worldwide. The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999, which is $700 more than the entry-level iPhone 18 Pro that Apple also announced on Wednesday. The Duo will be available starting October 23.
Siri Gets Smarter
Apple also pledged to release a beta of iOS 27 in October. The update includes a long-awaited, AI-enabled version of Siri that can access users’ contacts, calendar, messages, emails and apps. Apple says the update will make iPhones “intelligent personal hubs.”
Snell said this is a bet on “on device” AI, not the cloud-based chatbot models that need data centers. “If you’re a phone maker, you want to lean into that,” he said.
Dipanjan Chatterjee, a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, said Apple is betting that Siri “can become an invisible intelligence layer connecting context, personalization, and privacy across the ecosystem.” He added: “Apple has spent years promising a smarter Siri. Now the bill has come due.”
The Price Problem
The bigger risk may be the market itself. Philip Michaels, a freelance tech writer who follows Apple, pointed to tough economic conditions and rising component prices, especially memory chips.
“Basically, the challenge for Apple is going to be the same challenge for a lot of companies,” he said. “Prices are rising, wages are flat, things cost more. Are people going to be convinced to buy a new phone, particularly when the main driver appears to be software features that are going to be available on current phones?”
Cook Stays On
Tim Cook is not leaving entirely. He is staying as executive chair of the board. Analysts expect him to remain active in Apple’s political affairs, especially relations with China and the Trump White House.
David Pogue, a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning, doubts Ternus can match Cook there. “I’m not sure Ternus has those skills and certainly doesn’t have that experience,” he said.
The Duo is a statement about hardware. Whether it is a statement about the future of the smartphone is another question.
Source: npr.org
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