[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-apple-ceo-ternus-says-whimsy-is-fair-game-if-it-helps-users":10,"sections":49},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":38,"tags":39,"sources":44,"feedback":48,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":48,"total_tokens":48},11986,"apple-ceo-ternus-says-whimsy-is-fair-game-if-it-helps-users","Apple CEO Ternus Says Whimsy Is Fair Game If It Helps Users","In a video interview, Apple's new CEO said a playful touch can earn its place if it improves the experience, and he described AI features by the same standard.","Apple CEO John Ternus says a design choice earns its place if it improves the user's experience, even when the improvement is as small as making a device more enjoyable to use.\n\nTernus made the case in a video interview released October 20, which added design discussion to an earlier written interview. Asked how Apple separates a choice that improves a product from one that only grabs attention, he said teams work together to decide what makes a product better for users, and rule out ideas that are frivolous or distracting.\n\nHis whimsy example was an element of the iPhone Duo's inner display. He said it serves no functional purpose but can make the experience more satisfying. \"Sometimes you just want a little whimsy,\" he said. Kids Cue was a different kind of example, one with a job to do. It shows Peanuts characters such as Snoopy on the outer screen to draw a child's attention toward the camera during a photo. Ternus said building a different kind of iPhone let Apple's teams explore ideas the new hardware made possible.\n\nHe applied the same test to AI. The technology opens ways to improve existing products and build new ones, he said, but users should be able to appreciate a feature without knowing AI is behind it. Personalized experiences, supported by access to information on the user's phone, are a particular focus.\n\nThe standard is flexible by design. \"Better for the user\" can justify a functional feature and an unexplained flourish alike, so it works as a judgment call rather than a rule. The examples he gave were ones that made it into a product, not ones that got cut.\n\nHe comes to the question as a mechanical engineer who says he has worked hand in hand with industrial designers since he started at Apple. A news report earlier this month said he has made design a major priority since becoming CEO in September, visiting the design studio several times a week.\n\nThe interview closed on what he wants to preserve. The opportunities in the products will change as new technologies arrive, he said, but the way Apple works should not. For a CEO a few weeks into the job, that defines continuity as a process rather than a product line.","[\"apple\",\"john-ternus\",\"product-design\",\"iphone-duo\"]","2026-10-21T07:03:00.000Z","2026-10-21T09:12:13.414Z","2026-10-21T09:12:13.588Z","published",null,[24,30,34],{"id":25,"reviewer":26,"round":27,"reason":28,"status":29},"editor-r1","editor",1,"Remove the unsupported specific date 'October 20' (the source only says the video was released 'on Tuesday'), name TIME as the interview's publisher and attribute the 'earlier this month' design-priority report, since the draft leaves both unattributed, and tighten the speculative closing line so the piece rests on what the source supports.","resolved",{"id":31,"reviewer":26,"round":32,"reason":33,"status":29},"editor-r2",2,"The draft still fails editor-r1 on the report about Ternus's design priority: 'Another outlet reported in October' leaves the outlet unnamed and adds an 'October' date the source never gives (it says only 'earlier this month'), so drop that sentence or attribute it without the invented month. The 'October 20' date is gone and TIME is now named as the interviewer, and the closing now rests on his quote.",{"id":35,"reviewer":26,"round":36,"reason":37,"status":29},"editor-r3",3,"The dek says Ternus used the Snoopy Kids Cue feature to explain where whimsy ends and distraction begins, but the body and source show the whimsy remark was about an inner-display element and Kids Cue was a separate, functional example, so fix the dek; also cut or support the unsourced claims that rivals push the AI label in marketing and that Apple 'has yet to show' its personalized AI in practice.","consumer-tech",[40,41,42,43],"apple","john-ternus","product-design","iphone-duo",[45],{"name":46,"url":47},"MacRumors","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.macrumors.com\u002F2026\u002F10\u002F21\u002Fjohn-ternus-explains-good-design\u002F",0,{"sections":50},[51,56,61,66,71,76,80,85,90,95,99,104,109,114],{"name":52,"slug":53,"count":54,"latest_published_at":55},"AI","ai",7049,"2026-10-21T13:00:00.000Z",{"name":57,"slug":58,"count":59,"latest_published_at":60},"Security","security",1024,"2026-10-21T13:56:45.000Z",{"name":62,"slug":63,"count":64,"latest_published_at":65},"Policy","policy",559,"2026-10-21T12:24:10.000Z",{"name":67,"slug":68,"count":69,"latest_published_at":70},"Deals","deals",544,"2026-10-21T11:57:35.000Z",{"name":72,"slug":73,"count":74,"latest_published_at":75},"Hardware","hardware",278,"2026-10-21T11:45:49.000Z",{"name":77,"slug":38,"count":78,"latest_published_at":79},"Consumer Tech",260,"2026-10-21T09:58:03.000Z",{"name":81,"slug":82,"count":83,"latest_published_at":84},"Science","science",211,"2026-10-21T09:00:00.000Z",{"name":86,"slug":87,"count":88,"latest_published_at":89},"Startups","startups",137,"2026-10-20T22:24:15.000Z",{"name":91,"slug":92,"count":93,"latest_published_at":94},"Software","software",134,"2026-10-20T14:57:15.000Z",{"name":96,"slug":97,"count":98,"latest_published_at":55},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",121,{"name":100,"slug":101,"count":102,"latest_published_at":103},"General","general",91,"2026-10-20T23:04:19.000Z",{"name":105,"slug":106,"count":107,"latest_published_at":108},"Gaming","gaming",84,"2026-10-21T02:56:30.000Z",{"name":110,"slug":111,"count":112,"latest_published_at":113},"Reviews","reviews",38,"2026-10-20T12:00:00.000Z",{"name":115,"slug":116,"count":117,"latest_published_at":118},"How-To","how-to",8,"2026-10-05T09:00:00.000Z"]