Apple's foldable iPhone Duo starts around $2,000 and tops out near $3,200, and John Ternus introduced it as chief executive the day before this segment aired.
Ben Bajarin, who has attended Apple's launches since 2001, says the hardware isn't what separates it from the foldables already on the market — the software is, and even that isn't built for the customer most likely to spend $2,000 on a phone.
"I wouldn't say...Apple's just crushed the competition when it comes to hardware."
Bajarin is CEO and principal analyst at Creative Strategies and was on site at Apple Park for the launch.
I listened to the full segment so you can skip it.
Here are the 4 takeaways that matter.
👤 Guest: Ben Bajarin, CEO and Principal Analyst at Creative Strategies, who has attended Apple product launches since 2001
🎙️ Host: Akash Pasricha, who anchors TITV, The Information's live weekday news show
📰 Published: 10 September 2026 on YouTube (The Information)
🔴 YouTube | ⏱️ 14 min
Key Takeaways
Ternus's first keynote leaned on inheriting Apple's culture, not on his own style
Bajarin compared it to the succession worry when Steve Jobs died: "the culture continue with Tim Cook and beyond"
The foldable's hardware doesn't beat the competition — the software does
Bajarin called it "a blend between iPad and iPhone"
The device is built for entertainment on the go, not for creatives
Camera trade-offs from the thin folding body rule out the people Bajarin thinks would pay the most for it
Apple's own precedent for a bigger phone was a move to stay relevant in China
The larger iPhone Plus/Pro line traces back to China's early appetite for "phablets"
A pricier product makes buyers scrutinize it more, in Bajarin's account of the firm's own research
"Anytime the price goes up to a specific area, the lens in which the person evaluates that product goes up a lot"
Apple could double the size of the global foldable market and still be supply constrained
Bajarin's estimate is 15 to 20 million units through the end of 2026, against a foldable category that has never topped 20 million units a year
1. Ternus Inherits A Culture
Pasricha opened by asking how John Ternus performed in his first keynote as chief executive, a day after Apple unveiled the foldable iPhone Duo.
Ternus's on-stage style was not a surprise. Bajarin said Ternus had "been on camera before" and already had "that Apple presenter vibe," so there was little suspense in how natural he looked
What mattered to Bajarin was what Ternus signaled about continuity. Bajarin said Apple, in Ternus's own framing, "is not just a company it's a culture," and that he "stepped into the moment and recognized" the size of what he's inheriting
He drew a direct line to Apple's last succession. Bajarin called it "the sole concern when Steve Jobs passed away," and credited Ternus — who worked through the Steve Jobs era — with understanding "the gravitas" of that same question now
2. Software Wins, Not Hardware
Asked for his hands-on review of the foldable phone itself, Bajarin drew a sharp line between the device and the operating system running it.
Apple's hardware is good, not category-leading. "I wouldn't say...Apple's just crushed the competition when it comes to hardware," Bajarin said, noting that Chinese phone makers and Samsung have already converged on the same "passport-like form factor"
Every other foldable's real weak point, in his account, has been software that still behaves like a normal phone. Bajarin said the standing complaint across the category is that a folded device "feels like a candy bar smartphone software" stretched onto bigger glass
Apple's answer is an OS built around the shape, not around one screen size. Bajarin called the software itself "a blend between iPad and iPhone," built to run the same apps across a folded phone-sized screen and an unfolded near-iPad-mini one
The physical result held up in his hands. Bajarin said the phone "felt okay" to hold, didn't feel unusually wide even closed, and worked one-handed and two-handed alike
3. Who The Foldable Is For
Pasricha pushed on who buys a foldable phone, and where the camera trade-offs leave the people most likely to want one.
Bajarin's answer is entertainment on the move, not productivity. He described the target buyer as someone "out and about" without a laptop who wants a bigger screen at lunch, in the park, or on the train, pointing to Apple's own gaming demos as the pitch
Camera compromises rule out one obvious buyer. Bajarin said the trade-offs mean the phone isn't built for people who make movies and photos for a living, and that a thinner folding body left less room for the camera module and cost the phone Face ID, which reverted to Touch ID
He expects those trade-offs to shrink, not disappear. Bajarin said Apple will bring "less camera trade-offs in the future" over the next two to three years, though "I wouldn't say zero"
The foldable category itself remains small. Bajarin put historical global foldable sales at "less than 20 million units," and said Apple "helps double the size of the foldable market" while still representing a small share of total iPhone sales
4. Precedent And Tight Supply
Bajarin connected the pricing and manufacturing questions back to a decision Apple made once before.
Apple has been here before, on screen size. Bajarin traced the original jump to a bigger iPhone back to China, where large-screen phones — phablets, in the old industry term — were already standard: "Apple did that to keep relevance in China and then it ended up...being great for the rest of the world"
Financing softens the sticker price almost everywhere. Bajarin said most markets, including China, now offer zero-interest or carrier payment plans, which narrows how much of a jump buyers actually feel
But a $2,000 price tag changes how carefully people shop, on his account of the firm's own research. "Anytime the price goes up to a specific area, the lens in which the person evaluates that product goes up a lot," he said — buyers either commit or walk, with little room for an impulse buy
Manufacturing the phone is harder than selling it. Bajarin said the hinge and dual-layer glass make this "a new manufacturing process to scale," and put Apple's own first-cycle estimate at 15 to 20 million units through the end of 2026
He expects Apple to be supply constrained regardless of demand, comparing it to early iPhone launches, and noted that even a modest slice of Apple's overall scale — "if they're making 20 million" — still moves the entire foldable market
Bonus Insights
Pasricha framed the launch itself as historic, calling the foldable "probably the biggest change to the iPhone that we've seen...since the iPhone was invented" — a claim from the host, not from Bajarin
Press access to the keynote was limited even for someone who has covered Apple since 2001. Bajarin noted that reporters in the room "sit there and watch the same video that others do," with little direct executive presence on stage beyond Ternus's own appearance
Bajarin closed on Apple's sheer scale. Even a device aimed at a narrow slice of buyers still moves the whole category: "that's the scale of Apple for you right there that even if they sneeze at something it makes a dent"
Bajarin's bottom line is that Apple's foldable wins on software rather than hardware, and that its price and camera trade-offs point it at people buying a second, entertainment-focused screen rather than at Apple's most demanding customers.
Products, Companies & Tools Mentioned
Apple (Launched the foldable iPhone Duo under new chief executive John Ternus, the subject of the whole segment)
Creative Strategies (Bajarin's research firm, where he is CEO and principal analyst)
Samsung (Cited as one of the phone makers Apple's foldable now resembles on hardware form factor)
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