John Ternus and Joz Discuss iPhone Duo Design, Price, and iPhone 18 Pro Camera [Video]

Apple CEO John Ternus and worldwide marketing chief Greg Joswiak have discussed the decisions behind iPhone Duo and the iPhone 18 Pro camera in a new interview following the company's September 9 event. The conversation covers why Apple waited to release a foldable, how it approached the inner display, and the thinking behind Duo's higher starting price.

The roughly 21-minute interview was conducted at Apple Park by Tom's Guide's Mark Spoonauer and TechRadar's Lance Ulanoff. You can watch it in full below.



Building iPhone Duo
Ternus said the timing depended on reaching Apple's standards for quality, durability, and design. Joswiak added that competing foldables had not been particularly inspiring, pointing to their proportions and software experience as areas Apple wanted to approach differently. The resulting iPhone Duo pairs a 5.4-inch outer display with a 7.6-inch inner screen.


The CEO described the hinge and display as a complete system engineered to keep the screen flat when unfolded. Glass sits on both sides of the OLED panel for durability and flatness, while the surface users touch is polymer rather than the glass found on a conventional iPhone display.

That polymer surface also required Apple to develop a new way of applying its nano-texture finish. The treatment produces a flat, durable surface that feels better to the touch than the plastic surfaces typically found on foldables, he said.

The marketing chief added that Apple took extra steps to keep the nano-texture solution secret, including giving it an unrelated internal code name. Other details had already leaked, including the phone's aspect ratio.


Those proportions also shaped the software. Moving controls to the right side reclaimed vertical space on the outer display while keeping them under the user's right thumb when the phone opens. Maintaining a consistent aspect ratio between the inner and outer displays also lets content scale proportionately as users move between them. Apple's guidance for how apps should work on iPhone Duo shows how layouts adapt to the larger canvas.

Developers with existing iPad apps already have experience designing for larger sizes and different aspect ratios, giving them a foundation for adapting their software to Duo. Apple also reached out to a broader group of third-party developers ahead of the announcement, with Netflix among the examples discussed.

Apple Pencil support was framed as optional rather than something required to use the larger display, offering another way to take advantage of the extra space. Support for Apple Pencil with USB-C is scheduled to arrive later this year.



Pricing and the Missing iPhone 18
Asked about the $1,999 starting price, Ternus described Duo as an exceptionally complex device and said Apple believes it represents "a great value." Different models serve different customer priorities, he explained, with the Pro lineup remaining the right choice for many buyers.

The iPhone Duo vs. iPhone 18 Pro Max comparison details that choice, including the foldable's $700 premium and the Pro Max's more versatile rear cameras and longer rated battery life.

The executives did not explain why a standard iPhone 18 was absent from the event, instead redirecting the conversation to the products Apple had announced.

Inside the Variable-Aperture Camera
The iPhone 18 Pro's variable-aperture camera was another focus. Six small blades can widen the aperture to capture more light or narrow it to increase depth of field, helping keep subjects at different distances in focus.

The adjustment happens automatically for everyday photography, with the iPhone determining the appropriate aperture for each shot. Apple's new Pro controls also let photographers manually adjust aperture, shutter speed, and focus, among the changes covered in the iPhone 18 Pro vs. iPhone 17 Pro comparison.

Asked about adding more moving components to the camera, Apple's CEO noted that previous iPhones already use moving parts for focusing and image sensor stabilization. He said material selection and extensive reliability testing were central to making the new aperture mechanism durable. The executives declined to say whether it is assembled by hand or robot.

The discussion then turned to A20 Pro's benefits for computational photography, on-device AI, and gaming. Ternus cited a 40 percent year-over-year increase in graphics performance, while Joz added that sustained performance has also improved by 40 percent. The chip is paired with a new vapor chamber designed to maintain performance under heavier workloads.

Battery life received a mention as well. iPhone 18 Pro now exceeds the battery life of last year's iPhone 17 Pro Max, while the new Pro Max pushes endurance further.

iPhone 18 Pro pre-orders are now open, with availability beginning September 18. iPhone Duo follows with pre-orders on October 16 and release on October 23, as detailed in the full pre-order and release schedule.