How We Chose the Best Inventions of 2026

—Photographs by Hugo Yu for TIME Known for its innovative and meticulously designed products, Apple is spending its 50th year getting back to its roots.

In October, a month after naming former hardware lead John Ternus as its new CEO, the company will debut its first foldable iPhone—using technology for which Ternus was named on the original patent filed some 15 years ago.

Ternus spoke with TIME for an exclusive first cover interview about the iPhone Duo , and how he plans to lead the iconic company into its next 50 years. —Photograph by Devin Oktar Yalkin for TIME Click here to see TIME's full 2026 Best Inventions and Special Mentions lists The story anchors TIME’s annual Best Inventions issue, which for more than a quarter century has highlighted the most impactful new products and ideas.

To compile this year's list, we solicited nominations from TIME’s editors and correspondents around the world as well as through an online application process, paying special attention to growing fields such as health care , AI , and green energy .

We then evaluated each contender on a number of key factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact.

The result is a list of 300 groundbreaking inventions (and 100 special mentions )—ranging from the Duo to AI software that lets non-coders build websites and a breakthrough treatment for pancreatic cancer .

These are creations changing how we live, work, play, and think about what’s possible.