Apple at 50: Why the iPhone Will Still Matter When the Company Hits 100

Apple's Next 50 Years: Bold Predictions From the Top

As Apple marked its 50th anniversary, the tech world was busy looking backward — celebrating iconic products, legendary keynotes, and the towering legacy of Steve Jobs. But rather than indulge in nostalgia, a more compelling question begged to be asked: What does Apple want the next 50 years to look like?

To find out, two of Apple's most senior executives sat down for a candid conversation about the road ahead. Greg Joswiak — known widely as "Joz" — serves as Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and has been with the company since 1986. Joining him was John Ternus, SVP of Hardware Engineering, a 25-year Apple veteran widely regarded as a leading candidate to eventually succeed Tim Cook as CEO. Cook himself briefly weighed in as well, just before singer Alicia Keys performed outside the Apple Store at Grand Central Station, kicking off the company's surprisingly lavish birthday festivities.

From Personal Computers to the Pocket Supercomputer

Apple's history is essentially a masterclass in knowing when to pivot. The Macintosh introduced the graphical user interface and made computing accessible to everyday people. The iMac helped the company ride the wave of the early internet era. And despite not being first to market, Apple completely redefined what a mobile device could be with the iPhone — a product that continues to dominate nearly two decades after its debut.

Just this month, Apple refreshed another long-standing franchise with the release of the MacBook Neo, the latest evolution of a product line now 42 years old. These are not relics — they are living, breathing platforms that continue to generate enormous relevance and revenue.

But the conversation has shifted. Artificial intelligence is now the defining technological force of our era, and critics have argued that Apple has stumbled in this race while competitors sprint ahead.

Apple Says It Was Doing AI Before AI Was Cool

Joswiak and Ternus push back firmly on the notion that Apple has fallen behind. "We were doing AI before we even called it AI," Joswiak said, arguing that Apple's deep integration of machine learning across its products has quietly laid a strong foundation. He also pointed out that every major AI chatbot and tool performs at its best on Apple hardware.

Ternus echoed that sentiment, making the case that even if Apple wasn't the one to develop the most cutting-edge AI models, its devices remain the premier platform for experiencing them. "Our products are the best place people will use the existing AI tools," he said.

But What About AI-Native Hardware?

It's a fair challenge: if the future of computing is being reimagined around artificial intelligence, shouldn't next-generation devices be purpose-built for that world? That's precisely the direction Apple's former design chief Jony Ive appears to be heading in his collaboration with OpenAI — and he's far from alone. A growing number of startups and tech giants are racing to develop AI-first hardware that could render today's smartphones obsolete.

When pressed on whether Apple plans to be part of that wave with a dedicated AI device, Joswiak's answer was telling. "Let's not lose sight of the fact that nothing you just said is incompatible with the iPhone," he said. "The iPhone is not going to go away. iPhone is going to serve a very central role in any of those things you're talking about."

Will People Still Use the iPhone in 2075?

The implication was clear — and striking. Apple appears to believe the iPhone will remain a cornerstone of personal technology well into the future. Asked directly whether people might still be using iPhones 50 years from now, Joswiak didn't hesitate.

"It's hard to imagine not," he said. "That's where everybody else struggles. They don't have an iPhone, and so they're scrambling for what to do. A lot of what they talk about ends up being accessories for an iPhone. We're not going to get into future road maps, but I will tell you, iPhones are not going anywhere."

That's a bold statement — though it's worth noting that Apple has surprised the market before, and a purpose-built AI device from the company in the coming years would surprise very few industry observers.

Tim Cook on What Makes Apple, Apple

Cook's take on Apple's future was characteristically philosophical. Rather than pointing to specific product categories or technologies, he focused on the company's culture, values, and the people who carry them forward.

"Yes, the technologies of the future will change," Cook acknowledged. "Yes, there will be more products and more categories. All of those things are true, but the things that made Apple Apple will be the same for the next 50 years, and the next 100 and the next 1,000."

It's an inspiring vision — though it raises a significant question. What happens if artificial superintelligence fundamentally disrupts not just industries, but the very nature of human society? OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has gone so far as to suggest that his own successor at the company may not be human at all, but an AI model.

Will an AI Ever Run Apple?

When Cook was asked whether an AI could conceivably lead Apple within the next 50 years, he laughed off the idea without missing a beat. "When you look at the leadership page," he said of Apple's future, "there will not be an agentic kind of model on there."

It was a confident, characteristically human answer. What remains an open question is what device the people of 2076 will use to pull up that leadership page — and whether it will have an Apple logo on it.