Apple CEO John Ternus said other foldable phones "felt kind of cheap and crappy," according to a TIME profile published Oct. 15. The remark comes a day before iPhone Duo pre-orders open Friday, Oct. 16.

What Ternus said

TIME writes that foldable attempts in the 2010s "from other companies" tended to be fragile and not all that useful, with a big crease in the center. Ternus then says: "The other examples in the world felt kind of cheap and crappy."

TIME does not quote Ternus naming a company or a model in its Oct. 15, 2026 profile. The line is about "the other examples," and it appears as an aside in a longer profile of his move to CEO.

MacRumors reported it as Ternus describing "some early foldable smartphones" that way. It added that Samsung released its first foldable in 2019, which is MacRumors' context, not Ternus's words.

What Apple says it did differently

According to TIME, Apple's product design vice president, Richard Dinh, said Ternus pushed the team past a top surface material similar to competitors'. TIME says the result is a custom-polymer surface over a hinge with more than 100 tiny precision components.

TIME adds that first users have said they can barely detect a crease. That is a report of early impressions, and we have not tested the iPhone Duo ourselves.

Where Samsung comes in

TIME describes demand for Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold8 as "strong," which it reads as a sign of growing appetite for foldables. In TIME's Oct. 15, 2026 profile, it does not say Ternus was talking about Samsung. For the company's own figures, see our Fold 8 demand claims story.

Before pre-orders open

Pre-orders start Oct. 16, per MacRumors. Our price and pre-order story has Apple's pricing, and the pre-order checklist covers setup before Friday.

Why it matters

The trade-off is confidence against proof. A CEO calling rivals' products cheap sets a high bar for his own phone, and it invites buyers to judge the Duo's crease and hinge against that claim. Our assessment: the quote is marketing framing from a profile, not evidence about any rival, so reviews after launch will matter more than the remark.