"Design is how it works" rings true at Apple today, and John Ternus wants to assure everyone that respect for the user and building products that are beneficial is "job one."
John Ternus may be Apple's new CEO but he's not letting his new role interrupt his passion for industrial design. He emphasized that Apple had been working towards iPhone Duo for over 15 years in a previous interview.
A video version of that interview with Time was shared Tuesday with more conversation around the importance of design at Apple. Ternus starts by sharing his continued role of being involved with industrial design.
John Ternus joined Apple 25 years ago as a member of the product design team. His background in mechanical engineering placed him close to the industrial design team.
"I think what's so special about this place is design is at the center of it," Ternus shared. "Our designers both on the software side and the hardware side, they really understand the engineering. And the engineers have a deep appreciation for design."
"It's a really powerful collaboration," he concluded.
The conversation touched on similar topics in the previous published article, like child safety, Screen Time, and Ternus' love of driving fast cars. Everything centered around the announcement of the iPhone Duo and it representing Apple's ability to provide something useful while being whimsical.
"I think the opportunities in the products, that stuff will change," Ternus said in response to a question about Apple's future emphasis on design. "It'll evolve as it does as new technologies come, but the way we work — I don't want that to change."
Apple has notably sat out the larger portion of the AI race by not developing its own frontier model. Apple's executives have shared that the company doesn't need to develop everything, nor does it need to appeal to a "lunatic fringe."
"Design has always been at the core of this company, and I think our respect for the user and for building products that are helpful and beneficial to people — that is job one," Ternus concluded. "We're going to continue on that."
Apple ships the iPhone Duo to the lucky customers that managed to pre order one for release on October 23. The device has reportedly seen "extraordinary demand" and new orders won't ship until the end of January 2027.
