The news
Apple CEO John Ternus addressed the design of the upcoming iPhone Duo during an interview with Canal+ talk show Clique. He explained the choice of an iPad-like shape for the unfolded device rather than a square formed by joining two phone forms. The comments followed Apple's September event.
Context
The iPhone Duo represents Apple's first foldable handset. Prior foldables from other makers have typically combined two phone-shaped panels, producing a near-square screen when open. Ternus noted that Apple started instead from its experience building large-screen iPads and arrived at a new aspect ratio suited to that approach.
Details
Ternus said the team wanted something new and unique. He stated that Apple did not want to take two phone shapes and stick them together to create a weird square thing. The company instead built the device around a large-screen experience that felt right internally, drawing directly on years of iPad development. This produced the final aspect ratio now shown in the iPhone Duo.
The interview covered difficulties encountered during development, though Ternus did not list specific technical hurdles. He also touched on broader plans for Apple, without providing further public detail in the available remarks. The design discussion centered on how the unfolded form factor should feel in use rather than on hinge mechanics or material choices.
Ternus framed the decision explicitly around differentiation. The quote from the interview makes clear that the team rejected the pattern already visible in the market. Instead of defaulting to the two-phone rectangle that produces a square when opened, Apple treated the product as an extension of its tablet line. The result is an aspect ratio that aligns with iPad proportions rather than with existing foldable phones.
The Canal+ appearance came immediately after the September hardware event, giving Ternus an early platform to elaborate on choices that were only visible in product images and brief demos. While the interview touched on development challenges and future direction, the most concrete statements remained those about screen shape and the decision to start from iPad rather than from phone-pairing precedents.
Why it matters
The comments make clear that Apple treated the iPhone Duo as an extension of its tablet work rather than a simple pairing of two handsets. That starting point sets the product apart from existing foldables and signals how the company intends to differentiate on screen proportions and daily use. Engineers and designers at other firms will now have a concrete reference point for how one major player resolved the same layout question.
The approach also suggests Apple is willing to accept a taller or narrower unfolded shape if it aligns with existing tablet muscle memory. For developers, this means early consideration of apps that scale across an aspect ratio closer to current iPads than to competing foldables. The interview offers the first on-record rationale from the CEO level, giving outsiders a direct window into the internal priority that shaped the final hardware.
Because the source material is limited to Ternus's stated preference for a large-screen experience derived from iPad work, the practical effect is a narrower set of options for third-party software. Apps written for the square-ish unfolded screens common on other foldables will need adjustment if they are to feel native on the iPhone Duo. Apple’s choice reduces the chance that the device will be used in the same split-screen or dual-app modes that have become standard on square foldables, pushing usage toward single-app, full-screen workflows that already dominate iPad sessions.
The absence of detail on hinge durability, display crease visibility, or software features in the published remarks leaves those questions open. What the interview does supply is a clear boundary: the product was not built to match the form factor that competitors already ship. That boundary will shape both hardware revisions and the first wave of third-party apps that target the device.
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