John Ternus became the first hardware-focused CEO at Apple since the Steve Jobs era, and he inaugurated the launch of the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first foldable phone.
The website FastCompany published an article titled “John Ternus’s next big thing might be the iPhone.” It explained that Ternus’s next major mission might begin with the iPhone, as he officially became Apple’s CEO on 1 Sep 2026, ending Tim Cook’s 15-year leadership.
Just eight days later, he stood on stage to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first foldable iPhone.
The question that follows is: How will this man be evaluated? The answer might not be by creating a new product bigger than the iPhone, as many expect.
Looking back to 2011, when Tim Cook took over from Steve Jobs, many analysts believed he would be judged by his ability to consistently launch world-changing products. The result was he did not, yet Apple still grew to a company worth $4.6 trillion.
Apple’s attempts to find the product after the smartphone during Tim Cook’s era have been mixed, with some failures. For example, the Apple Vision Pro, launched over three years ago, remains a niche product with a very high price.
Meanwhile, the car project took 10 years and cost billions of dollars, but Apple has yet to bring a single branded car to market.
Apple is not alone in facing this obstacle. Meta has invested heavily in VR, the metaverse, and smart glasses for years but has not produced anything close to replacing the smartphone.
All these products are based on the assumption that smartphones are saturated and disruptive to people’s lives. Yet the lack of a successful new trend might signal that people do not actually dislike their phones as much as assumed. If true, this is good news for Apple.
The most significant product since the iPhone isn’t hardware but ChatGPT, which changed the world immediately upon release. People access it via existing devices like computers, tablets, and smartphones. The unanswered question is whether AI will change technology use enough to require new forms of devices.
OpenAI, together with Jony Ive, former Apple design chief, is developing a screenless portable device focused on voice control, with hopes to launch by the end of 2026.
Nineteen years after the first iPhone, phones have been upgraded massively—high-speed internet, professional cameras, multiple sensors, and powerful processors—all contributing to better AI experiences. High-resolution screens remain a selling point as long as people care about photos, videos, and maps. In other words, Apple already has leading AI hardware.
Apple’s likely approach to AI can be seen in how it handled digital cameras. The first iPhone’s camera was poor and couldn’t shoot video, but now iPhones have up to four high-quality cameras and direct camera app buttons. This shows Apple can still invest heavily in AI without abandoning what makes an iPhone.
Ternus’s immediate challenge is to lead Apple out of a period where it seems unprepared to integrate AI into its operating system, especially with the new Siri version delayed by two years.
Of course, Apple has chosen not to compete by building the most advanced AI models. Still, it has vast potential to create features that improve lives incrementally billions of times a day on devices it fully controls—from chip to application—a capability few tech giants possess.
This doesn’t mean Apple has stopped developing new form factors; new devices are still in development. But if Ternus can fully leverage the familiar iPhone’s capabilities, the question of what comes after the iPhone might not be as urgent as thought.
Source:FastCompany