Anybody who follows my work is aware of I’ve by no means been an enormous fan of Apple. I usually favor open ecosystems, modularity, and uncooked efficiency over Apple’s closed method.
As a daily builder of high-performance desktop computer systems — usually finishing two in depth builds per quarter — I strongly favor the AMD Threadripper and Ryzen AI processor strains. For cellular productiveness, I choose 16-inch laptop computer kind elements that provide skilled utility, and I actively champion modular PC designs just like the Framework Laptop computer 16.
Apple’s walled-garden method, characterised by glued-together, non-upgradable elements and premium pricing for locked-down {hardware}, runs essentially opposite to how I choose to work together with know-how.
Nonetheless, credit score have to be given the place it’s due. Whereas I may not have adopted its ecosystem, I deeply admired Apple throughout these golden years when it persistently launched modern, distinctive designs that brought on real disruption and marvel out there. Again then, Apple didn’t simply launch merchandise; it launched cultural occasions.
The unique iMac G3, the tactile click-wheel iPod, and the primary iPhone weren’t merely practical devices — they had been visceral, nearly emotional experiences. As current commentary from Gizmodo aptly summarized, digital units was once like collectible toys for adults, objects we fetishized for his or her visible and tactile aesthetics. They commanded consideration and compelled each different firm within the trade to scramble again to the drafting board.
As we glance towards September 2026, when John Ternus is ready to step into the function of Apple’s CEO, the drumbeat of change is echoing via Cupertino. Apple’s resolution to nominate John Ternus as its subsequent CEO may sign a serious shake-up and a renewed give attention to the daring product design that after outlined the corporate. This marks a pivotal juncture for the corporate, and truthfully, an essential one.
The Erosion of Apple’s Design Pedigree After Steve Jobs
The gradual decline of Apple’s design dominance didn’t occur in a single day; it was a gradual bleeding of expertise and affect that began shortly after Steve Jobs handed away. Jobs and Jony Ive operated in a symbiotic relationship, with design because the undisputed king of the boardroom. Engineering and operations had to determine learn how to make Ive’s visions a actuality, not the opposite manner round.
When Ive departed Apple in 2019 to kind his impartial agency, LoveFrom, it left a vacuum. However the greater drawback was how Apple managed that transition.
The corporate successfully changed one of the crucial influential industrial designers in historical past with its prime provide chain government, Jeff Williams. The studio that birthed the iPhone misplaced its seat on the government desk, finally devolving right into a service bureau the place different groups put in requests for shade palettes and minor tweaks.
Evans Hankey, who briefly led the crew post-Ive, additionally left in 2022, triggering an exodus of veteran designers who had outlined the Ive period.
I’ve seen this company lifecycle play out firsthand. Having began my profession as a monetary analyst, audit supervisor, and mission supervisor at Rolm Techniques and IBM, I witnessed what occurs when a big entity shifts from being product-led to operations-led.
Throughout my time carefully observing IBM earlier than and in the course of the Lou Gerstner period, it grew to become clear that in an operations-centric tradition, the spreadsheets dictate the product. Tim Cook dinner is a logistics genius, and he masterfully turned Apple right into a supply-chain juggernaut that printed cash. However operations executives prioritize effectivity, yield, and threat mitigation. They don’t prioritize taking huge, costly leaps of religion on unproven aesthetics.
The end result has been a decade of iteration. At this time’s iPhones and MacBooks are undeniably competent, however they’re additionally, for my part, profoundly boring. They not spark that visceral marvel. They’re protected and plain, relying extra on shopper inertia and ecosystem lock-in than on uncooked, eye-popping design enchantment.
Why a Massive, Sluggish-Shifting Firm Should Set the Tempo
One would possibly ask why an organization producing billions in revenue wants to fret about being cool once more. The reply lies in Apple’s elementary enterprise mannequin. Apple is a big however comparatively slow-moving firm that releases flagship merchandise on a inflexible annual cadence. It isn’t a “quick follower.”
A quick follower — consider abroad conglomerates that pump out dozens of handset fashions a 12 months — can afford to attend and see what the market likes, then rapidly iterate and launch a less expensive model. Apple can not do this.
Apple instructions a premium for its merchandise, the notorious “Apple Tax.” You can’t cost a premium value for a commodity expertise. To justify the fee, Apple should provide one thing that feels distinctly superior, and traditionally, that superiority was communicated at first via design.
I see a direct parallel with the automotive trade. As somebody who carefully follows the transition to electrical automobiles, I see lots of the identical forces at work there.
The EV market is at present wrestling with learn how to stand out. Once I take a look at a traditional Jaguar E-Kind — a automotive I’ve a deep curiosity in changing to an electrical powertrain (mine at present has a 569 HP LS3) — it evokes pure, visceral emotion. Its design is timeless and daring. In distinction, many fashionable EVs appear like aerodynamic jellybeans designed by a wind tunnel. They’re environment friendly, however they lack soul. Apple’s current merchandise have grow to be the jellybeans of the tech world.
When a slow-moving big fails to innovate, it turns into susceptible to agile rivals prepared to take dangers. If Apple’s {hardware} stays stagnant, rivals who leverage daring new kind elements will finally erode Apple’s market share. To keep up its apex predator standing, Apple have to be the one setting the tempo. It must create the developments that others scramble to repeat, somewhat than sharpening the identical aluminum chassis for a decade.
Forecasting the Subsequent Decade Underneath John Ternus
This brings us to John Ternus and what seems to be his mandate to raise the commercial design group again to its former glory.
Ternus is an attention-grabbing alternative to guide this cost. His background is deeply rooted in {hardware} engineering somewhat than pure industrial design, having overseen the transition to Apple Silicon and the event of the iPad Professional. Nonetheless, this engineering pedigree is perhaps precisely what the design crew must bridge the hole between radical aesthetics and practical actuality.
Over the following decade, underneath Ternus’s management, I anticipate a major pivot in Apple’s {hardware} technique. The period of plain competence will probably give strategy to bolder experiments. We’re already listening to rumors of a jammed 2027 roadmap, that includes a foldable iPhone, a dramatically redesigned MacBook Neo, and camera-equipped AirPods. These are kind elements that require a masterclass in design to execute correctly with out compromising sturdiness or consumer expertise.
I additionally keep a powerful skilled give attention to the event of agentic synthetic intelligence and the ethics of digital twins. As agentic AI begins to permeate our units — shifting past easy digital assistants to programs that proactively handle duties — the {hardware} itself might want to evolve.
Future units could function the bodily anchors for our digital proxies. I anticipate Ternus to push Apple towards units which can be extra contextually conscious, maybe integrating private security know-how and satellite-connected {hardware} seamlessly into the design.
We would see a return to extra natural, “huggable” supplies that soften the interface between human and machine, shifting away from chilly steel slabs. Apple’s future designs will probably give attention to the seamless bodily integration of those AI capabilities, requiring {hardware} that appears much less like a utilitarian instrument and extra like an intuitive, extremely customized companion.
Ternus has the assets to recruit one of the best design expertise globally. The true take a look at can be whether or not he has the company braveness to let that expertise take dangers which may often fail, since you can not obtain daring innovation with out a tolerance for disruption.
Wrapping Up: Can Apple Be Daring Once more?
It’s straightforward for a brand new CEO to say they may revitalize an organization’s design tradition; executing on that promise is solely one other matter. John Ternus is inheriting an organization that has optimized itself for provide chain effectivity on the expense of its inventive soul. Shifting that company momentum can be akin to turning a supertanker.
Nonetheless, recognizing the issue is the necessary first step. By acknowledging that Apple’s design has stagnated and shifting to revive the design crew’s authority, Ternus is displaying a degree of product-centric management that has been largely absent for the reason that Jobs period.
Whereas I stay a die-hard PC builder who prefers the open ecosystem of my customized AMD rigs, I’m genuinely rooting for Apple to succeed right here. The know-how trade thrives on competitors, and when Apple takes daring, disruptive swings, it forces everybody else to raise their sport. Allow us to hope Ternus can carry the marvel again to Cupertino.
Nothing Cellphone (3)
If my argument that Apple must revive its design language struck a chord, this week’s product gives a compelling various. Whereas Tim Cook dinner’s provide chain churns out one other iteration of the protected, predictable iPhone, Carl Pei’s firm Nothing has been busy constructing the precise reverse. The Nothing Phone (3) is the antithesis of contemporary smartphone stagnation and is well one of the crucial polarizing, unapologetically daring units in the marketplace.
The Nothing Cellphone (3) options the corporate’s signature clear rear design and customizable Glyph Matrix interface.
What instantly units the Nothing Cellphone (3) aside is its refusal to mix in. The commercial design continues Nothing’s signature clear aesthetic, exposing the meticulously organized inner structure beneath Gorilla Glass Victus. Nonetheless, the true showstopper is the newly advanced Glyph Matrix on the rear. Shifting past the straightforward gentle strips of the Nothing Cellphone (2), this new dot-matrix LED array gives dynamic, deeply customizable visible notifications.
In a world the place each different handset is a featureless slab of frosted glass, the Nothing Cellphone (3) appears to be like like a bit of high-end, retro-futuristic sci-fi {hardware}. Taking it out for images assessments instantly drew questions from onlookers — a response an iPhone has not elicited in a decade.
Past Daring Design
Past aesthetics, the machine leans closely into the period of agentic AI with its new Important House software program and devoted {hardware} button. I already depend on specialised digital productiveness instruments just like the Plaud NotePin for assembly transcription and automatic notetaking, so seeing a smartphone efficiently combine a devoted, hardware-level AI seize key appears like a obligatory evolution.
Urgent the Important key immediately logs voice reminders or screenshots into an remoted on-device AI bucket that contextualizes the information and prompts actionable calendar occasions. It makes use of localized processing to handle these duties, conserving the workflow clear and rapid.
Efficiency Matches Design
Underneath the hood, Nothing made the pragmatic option to make the most of the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset. Whereas benchmark purists would possibly lament the dearth of absolutely the highest-tier Qualcomm variant, the silicon is completely paired with the hyper-minimalist, black-and-white Nothing OS 4. The UI flies, utterly freed from the bloated skins you discover on competing Android units.
Nothing clearly outpaces Apple in battery capability and charging efficiency. The 5,150 mAh silicon-carbon battery simply powers via a full day of heavy use, and the 65W wired charging capabilities be certain that if you do want a top-up, you aren’t tethered to a wall for hours.
This smartphone is just not flawless — the AI Tremendous Zoom on the brand new 50MP periscope lens falls aside quickly previous its native optical limits, and the chassis is undeniably chunky. However perfection is commonly the enemy of innovation. Nothing is taking huge, disruptive swings at a stagnant market, delivering a tool that really makes utilizing a smartphone enjoyable once more.
The Nothing Cellphone (3) is a reminder that shopper know-how ought to nonetheless encourage a way of marvel, making it my Product of the Week.
