Apple Unveils Redesigned Siri AI and A20 Pro Chip as CEO John Ternus Makes Debut

Apple opened its first fall keynote under new chief executive John Ternus with a broad AI and silicon push. Speaking eight days into his tenure, Ternus introduced a redesigned Siri that leans on Google's Gemini models, and unveiled the A20 Pro, the company’s first system‑on‑chip manufactured on TSMC’s 2‑nanometer process.

The new Siri is Apple’s largest overhaul of the assistant since 2011: it can hold multi‑turn conversations, reference what’s displayed on screen, and perform actions across hundreds of thousands of third‑party apps without repeated context. Apple described the assistant’s architecture as a mix of on‑device models and Private Cloud Compute for heavier requests; the Gemini backing was confirmed during the event and is reportedly part of a roughly $1 billion‑per‑year arrangement. Apple also said Siri AI will ship in beta this month but noted the feature will not be available in the European Union at launch.

On the silicon side, Apple positioned the A20 Pro as its most capable iPhone chip yet and the first smartphone SoC to ship on a 2‑nanometer node. The six‑core CPU (two high‑performance and four efficiency cores) is billed as up to 20% faster than the A19 Pro, while the seven‑core GPU is up to 40% faster. Memory bandwidth has increased by 50%, a gain Apple flagged as particularly important for running language models locally. The Neural Engine was expanded to a dual 32‑core design after three generations at 16 cores, and the company paired the chip with a larger vapor‑chamber cooling system to sustain heavier AI workloads.

Apple also refreshed its iPhone line and introduced its first foldable. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max retain roughly the same screen sizes as the previous generation and add new finishes and a smaller Dynamic Island. The foldable iPhone Duo has a 5.5‑inch external display and a 7.8‑inch inner screen, supports the Apple Pencil, and uses Touch ID rather than Face ID. Pricing starts at $1,999 for the 256GB model and rises to about $3,000 for 2TB; the Duo will arrive in stores in October, a month after the rest of the new lineup. Separately, iOS 27 — which carries the new Siri AI and Apple Intelligence features — is due September 14 and will run on iPhone 11 and later models (and the second‑generation iPhone SE), though the advanced Siri AI features are limited to iPhone 15 Pro and newer hardware.