Morgan Stanley IDEA: AAPL ($4.6T Mkt Cap) | Erik Woodring

10 September 2026 In MS Research Analyst Erik Woodring's view, yesterday's "Surprise and Shine" event felt different from past September product launch events. Not just because it marked the first public appearance of John Ternus as CEO, but also, he adds, because Apple's (OW, $360 PT) broader product, software, and AI strategy is becoming more exciting, differentiated, and real. In his view, yesterday's event previewed far more innovation than in past years, Apple's first-ever 2nm A20 SoC provides a significant performance leap, the iPhone Duo is likely to redefine premium smartphones, Apple's software/hardware integration and attention to detail are subtle but game-changing, and even Siri AI now shows it will play an important role in turning the iPhone into a consumer's centralized intelligence hub. Against a backdrop of 4+ year iPhone replacement cycles (PC replacement cycles are currently shorter), Erik explains that 57% of the iPhone installed base (or 690M devices) own a device older than iPhone 15 Pro, and 87% of the iPhone installed base cannot run the most complex Siri AI workloads. He believes that this pace of innovation, as well as price-point premiumization, is.