Apple's new CEO John Ternus used the opening of Apple's 'Surprise and Shine' event on Wednesday to lay out his strategic vision for the company in the AI era, describing the iPhone as the ideal intelligent personal hub and making privacy the sharpest edge of Apple's competitive pitch against rivals.

Ternus described what the ideal AI device would look like: something that has a broad understanding of a user's personal context, is always with them, runs AI models on device, has an internet connection for cloud access, offers a large display with high-quality cameras and microphones, delivers long battery life, is easy to use, and integrates seamlessly with other devices, apps, and services. He then made his conclusion explicit: such a device already exists.

"In other words, you would arrive at something remarkably familiar, because there's no product in the world better designed to be your intelligent personal hub than the iPhone," he said.

Ternus also used the moment to draw a sharp contrast with competitors on the question of data privacy, arguing that Apple's emphasis on on-device AI processing is not merely a technical decision but a philosophical one.

"Others see your personal data as something to collect and store," he said. "Honestly, trust only goes so far when your data is no longer yours to control; that's why Apple Intelligence runs on the device whenever it can."