Apple CEO John Ternus said early foldable phones felt "kind of cheap and crappy," explaining why the company waited seven years after Samsung to release the $1,999 iPhone Duo.
Key Points:
- Ternus said rival foldables from the 2010s felt poorly made, which helps explain Apple's late entry.
- He helped file an Apple patent application for foldable devices as early as 2011.
- The Duo opened for preorders Friday ahead of an Oct. 23 launch, though its price may deter buyers.
Ternus Foldable Critique
Ternus spoke in an interview that ran Thursday with a list of the year's best inventions, which put the iPhone Duo on its cover. Rival foldables from the 2010s were often fragile and marred by a prominent crease down the middle of the screen. "The other examples in the world felt kind of cheap and crappy," he said.
Ternus and five other engineers filed a patent application for foldable devices in 2011, when many people still carried flip phones. Even then, he said, flexible OLED displays looked inevitable.
Richard Dinh, Apple's vice president of product design, said he once asked Ternus whether the team should settle for a surface material like those of competitors. Ternus told him he would know when it was right. The finished phone pairs a custom polymer surface with a hinge built from more than 100 tiny precision parts, and early users say they can barely see a crease.
Preorders opened at 5 a.m. Pacific time Friday, ahead of the phone's Oct. 23 launch. The device unfolds from a 5.4-inch outer display into a 7.6-inch inner screen.
Also Read: How Apple’s iPhone Duo Went From Preorder To Backorder In 30 Minutes
iPhone Duo Stakes
Analyst Neil Cybart, who has tracked Apple for more than a decade, called Ternus a logical choice for the top job. Cybart said Ternus has long backed Apple's design-first culture. Since taking over from Tim Cook on Sept. 1, Ternus has spent multiple days a week in the studio with Apple's industrial-design and interface teams.
Samsung released its first foldable in 2019, and strong demand for its Galaxy Z Fold8 points to a growing appetite for the category, especially in Asia. Still, many buyers may balk at the Duo's price, and Apple's Vision Pro headset has sold poorly over the past year.
Ternus has knocked rival foldables before. In a September interview after the Duo's unveiling, he described Android models as "cheap-feeling plastic surfaces that don't feel good to the touch," saying Apple's nanotexture keeps the screen flat.
On a French talk show later that month, he said Apple chose not to join two phone-shaped halves, an approach he argued yields an awkward square device.
Read Next: Can USDC Win Over The Developing World? Circle Is About To Find Out
