Ternus tells TIME early foldables felt 'cheap and crappy' as iPhone Duo pre-orders open
Apple CEO John Ternus has used a new interview with TIME to explain why Apple took so long to enter the foldable market, describing some early rival foldables as feeling "kind of cheap and crappy," according to MacRumors and 9to5Mac, which summarized the piece.
Ternus is on the cover of TIME's Best Inventions of 2026 issue, which MacRumors says is due October 26. The interview centers on the iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable, which opens for pre-orders today, October 16, ahead of its October 23 on-sale date.
According to 9to5Mac's reading of the interview, Ternus was involved in Apple's foldable research as far back as 2011, when he and five other engineers filed a patent application covering the batteries and circuit boards such a device might need…