Apple's new CEO John Ternus unveiled the iPhone Duo, a $2,000+ foldable phone that represents the company's biggest design shift since 2007. The article examines whether Ternus—a private engineer with no Jobs or Cook-style public presence—can lead Apple while the company lags behind competitors in the AI race.

• Ternus pushed the Duo project for years despite competitors releasing foldables first, insisting on solving the visible crease problem through custom materials and a precision hinge with 100+ interior components rather than settling for "good enough."
• Apple is conspicuously absent from the AI arms race that's consuming Microsoft, Google, Meta, and others; the company skipped Trump's September AI summit with tech leaders, betting instead on modest, privacy-focused AI for devices rather than frontier models.
• Ternus differs fundamentally from his predecessors—he's a detail-oriented hardware engineer (not a visionary like Jobs or a political operator like Cook), which signals Apple is returning to product-first strategy after years emphasizing services growth.