00:00It's in my blood, like goosebumps is probably, you know, and excitement and just real, like really, really excited about
00:07the future.
00:12Beyond the Hardware announced at this year's iPhone event, there's a massive shift happening at the top of Apple.
00:19John Ternus officially stepped into the role of Apple CEO within the last week, and we sat down with him
00:24and Jaws for an interview at Apple Park.
00:27We asked him directly what having an engineer at the top of the company means for product design, innovation, and
00:33its strategy.
00:34And here's what John had to say about taking the helm.
00:37Shifting gears a little bit to sort of the AI question, I was super interested in what you call the
00:43intelligent personal hub.
00:44I actually sat there as you were going through this thing that does all this stuff.
00:49I'm like, is he talking about glasses?
00:50Are you talking about what you're talking about?
00:52And you basically said, this is your iPhone.
00:54And I thought that was really interesting and kind of on point, but also almost signaled like a shift away.
01:01Like everybody's talking about, oh my gosh, this AI wearable, that AI wearable, and you're shifting the attention back to
01:05the device you already have in your hand or your pocket.
01:07But does that also in any way indicate a shift in thinking at Apple about where the center of AI
01:13activity should be, as opposed to something that you might wear?
01:16I wouldn't say it's a shift in thinking.
01:19I think it was sort of a kind of presenting our vision of how we feel about it.
01:24And yeah, there's lots of talk about, you know, what comes next and wearables and things like that.
01:29And the reality is we make amazing wearables, right?
01:31Apple Watch is an incredible device, incredible device for AI.
01:34AirPods are as well.
01:35But I think the key is that the phone is kind of the perfect device, right?
01:41It's powerful, great battery life.
01:42It has a display.
01:43People want displays.
01:44You want to see information.
01:45But, you know, humans process information way more effectively visually than, you know, through audio.
01:50And so having a display is amazing.
01:51And it fits in your pocket.
01:53And so we don't see the phone, you know, losing significance in any way, shape, or form.
01:58And, in fact, because all of your personal information is on that device, that device that you hold, that you
02:03control, nobody else has access to it.
02:05Apple doesn't have access to it.
02:07We don't want access to it.
02:08That's your information.
02:09And so having that kind of in that personal hub is really powerful.
02:13And then you can take advantage of other devices and products and, you know, like Apple Watch and AirPods.
02:18But having that control and that privacy, we think, especially as AI becomes more capable and more powerful, it's both
02:24a huge enabler,
02:25which if you've been playing with Siri AI, you see, like, the value of it, but also really important from
02:31a privacy standpoint.
02:32Since you bring up privacy, I think that's something that's been in the news a lot lately, especially with meta
02:37and glasses and that sort of thing.
02:38I'd love to get your approach and your thinking around privacy, not only when it comes to this new category.
02:43I know you can't talk about unannounced products.
02:45But what do you think about the backlash around what people are calling, you know, pervert glasses to some?
02:52And, like, if you do.
02:54That's quite a marketing slogan.
02:55Yeah.
02:56If you do enter, let's just say, AI wearables in general, how do you make sure that people continue to
03:02trust your stance on privacy, even as you get into new markets?
03:07Yeah, I think, you know, whenever we do anything, we always do it with an eye towards privacy and security.
03:13It's something we take very seriously and approach very thoughtfully.
03:16And I think if you see the audio intelligence features that we just announced on Apple Watch, you know, it's
03:22been possible to record audio or create a transcript with apps on watches and phones for a long time.
03:28And we wanted to build something that was very privacy first, right?
03:32And so you look at Siri Recap and there is no transcript.
03:35There is no recording.
03:36Like, even the owner of the watch can't see the recording.
03:39It doesn't exist.
03:40There is no transcript.
03:41There is no speaker attribution.
03:43Like, we wanted to do this in a way that people feel comfortable using it and people around the user
03:47feel comfortable about its existence.
03:50Sure.
03:50And that's so important, right?
03:51I mean, I think a lot of people glanced over that, right, and thought, you know, it's recording you all
03:59day.
03:59It's not recording you at all, right?
04:01That's why we had to create a whole new chip for the watch that has this exclave on it that
04:07allows us to only keep that audio for the moment it needs to be processed, right?
04:13To create very high-level notes, right, of what's going on.
04:17As John said, no transcript, no recording at all.
04:19If we don't have a recording, it means no one else has a recording, right?
04:23It can't get hacked.
04:24It can't get, you know, commanded to be delivered for somebody.
04:27It is Apple doing this sort of feature, which there's clearly a need and a desire for so we can
04:32all kind of stay in the moment, right, as we're having meetings or discussions, right?
04:36But then kind of what was the, what did we talk about again?
04:38You know, it was just that higher-level notes to remind you of that without getting into all the stuff
04:44that really is privacy concerning, which a lot of other products are doing.
04:49So, we'd be remiss if we didn't sort of talk about the big change that happened, well, only a week
04:55ago.
04:56You know, John, you became CEO.
04:58I guess so, huh?
04:59Was that just this week?
05:02You're newly minted, as they would say.
05:05And by the way, look, he's still here.
05:07He's still here.
05:08You know, here doing our tech stuff.
05:10I would miss this chat.
05:11I love that.
05:12Very impressed and very happy about it.
05:14But so, look, there's some expectation that as an engineer, and I'm going to put this in quotes, you might
05:21reinvigorate innovation at Apple.
05:23I don't think we ever lost innovation.
05:24But I kind of think that it's, the question is how you view sort of innovation, like what your feelings
05:30are about what it means to you, and maybe how you think that will signify in some way the Ternus
05:39era.
05:39And because each CEO has sort of had their mark, and it has something to do with who they are,
05:45how they approach things.
05:46So, that's really what I'm looking to speak to, not trying to, like, look, you guys have innovated.
05:51I've seen it.
05:53Look, I love making product, right?
05:57And I love doing it with the people here at Apple, and I've been doing it for 25 years.
06:01And so, what I'm most excited about is to continue to build amazing things like that.
06:08And that's what we do.
06:09Yeah, right?
06:11How many times?
06:11You're going to get very tired.
06:12I'm going to just keep going.
06:14Would you like me to throw it to you?
06:15I was going to throw it to you.
06:19But, yeah, so I think for us, it's just focus on building amazing things.
06:23And I have to say, like, this is the most exciting time in my career to be building product because
06:30AI presents all these new opportunities and, you know, things we have to be really thoughtful about and deliberate about.
06:37But, you know, you can see what we're able to do now in our products that we were never able
06:41to do before.
06:42You know, you mentioned Smart Take.
06:43Like, how cool is that?
06:44You can set the phone up and it's just taking pictures when it's ready and when you're ready.
06:48Those are incredibly new, exciting capabilities for the kind of products we've made.
06:53But this also opens the door for new kinds of products.
06:55And so we're just really excited.
06:57Our roadmap is – I couldn't be more excited about our roadmap and what we have ahead of us.
07:02And, yeah, it's going to be fun.
07:04Yeah, yeah, not going to happen.
07:09Last question for me is just, like, as you look at the – not just, like, your own pipeline but
07:14the competitive landscape, how do you position yourself versus the competition, not only in terms of the foldable phone that
07:20you just introduced, but your entire product lineup?
07:22Because there's a lot that was announced this week.
07:24Like, how would you sum it up in terms of, like, here's what we're delivering now?
07:28Yeah, I think, you know, you look across our whole portfolio and it's – you know, the beauty of Apple
07:34is it's hardware, software services, right?
07:36And what I love is when all of these things kind of come together and interact and create an experience
07:42that is just bigger than the sum of its parts.
07:45And so that's what we're going to continue to do is to make sure that we're delivering core experiences that
07:51really help people in all aspects of their lives, from when they wake up in the morning to when they
07:56go to bed at night.
07:58So, last question.
08:00And I interviewed you probably, like, 12 years ago.
08:03I remember you – Phil Schiller and I –
08:05Macklick, right?
08:05Exactly.
08:06Wow, look at that.
08:07So I feel like I know you a little bit.
08:09And so this is a bit of a more personal question, but I'm just curious what it felt like the
08:12moment – I know you've probably known you were going to be CEO for a while – but the moment
08:16when you realized, oh, I'm about to become the CEO of one of the biggest and most important companies in
08:23the world.
08:24What did that feel like?
08:24Like, just – because people are very curious.
08:27You're a regular – you're a guy, a regular guy.
08:29Just – what does that feel like?
08:32I mean, it's amazing.
08:33What an extraordinary privilege, right?
08:35And, I mean, the reality is I just – I love this place, right?
08:39It's in my blood.
08:41Like, this is – I've been here for half of my life.
08:43I love the people I work with.
08:44I love to be able to build the products that we all build together.
08:47And so, goosebumps is probably, you know, and excitement.
08:52And, yeah, just real – like, really, really excited about the future.
08:57Awesome.
08:57Thanks a lot for the time, guys.
08:58Yeah, thank you.
08:59Thank you, guys.
09:00Having a 25-year engineering veteran run the company is going to be fascinating to see play out over the
09:05next few years.
09:06But stepping out with the iPhone duo is definitely a bold start.
09:09If you want to learn more from Jaws and John about what it took to make Apple's first foldable happen,
09:14click the video on your screen now to see the rest of our interview on Tom's Guide.
09:18Don't forget to like and subscribe, and we'll see you back here soon.
09:24The video – you would turn it – they threw a phone.
09:30Like, yes, that was me.
09:32Can I have a picture with you?
09:33Yes, you can.
09:34Oh, my gosh.
09:34It turned you into a star.
