For decades, the smartphone has been the central gateway between humans and digital intelligence. Yet according to veteran venture capitalist Jon Callaghan, that era is entering its final chapter. The co-founder of True Ventures believes smartphones will look fundamentally obsolete within the next decade, not because of a single breakthrough device, but due to a broader shift in how people want to interact with technology.

Callaghan’s view carries weight. True Ventures has quietly built a reputation for identifying behavioral inflection points early, backing companies such as Fitbit, Ring, and Peloton well before their markets became obvious. Today, the firm is applying the same logic to human-computer interaction, betting that phones are increasingly misaligned with how intelligence, especially AI-driven intelligence, should integrate into daily life.

Why the Smartphone Is Becoming a Bottleneck

Callaghan’s critique of the smartphone is blunt: it is an inefficient interface for intelligence. Pulling out a phone to type, scroll, or tap through apps interrupts real-world behavior and introduces friction at precisely the moment technology is supposed to help. In an era where artificial intelligence can interpret voice, context, and intent in real time, the phone’s screen-centric model feels increasingly outdated.

This friction is not just ergonomic; it is cognitive. Smartphones demand attention, break focus, and impose structured workflows on spontaneous human thought. As AI becomes more conversational and anticipatory, the mismatch between intelligence and interface grows more visible. From this perspective, the smartphone is not evolving fast enough to keep pace with the intelligence it now hosts.

Betting on Behavior, Not Gadgets

True Ventures’ investment philosophy centers on behavior change rather than hardware novelty. This mindset guided its early bets on wearables and connected fitness, where skeptics once dismissed the products as niche or unnecessary. In each case, the eventual success came from enabling habits that users quickly found indispensable.

That same thesis now underpins True’s interest in alternative interfaces. Wearables, ambient computing, and voice-driven tools are not meant to replace phones overnight, but to gradually absorb their most common functions in ways that feel more natural. Market data supports the shift: smartphone sales are effectively saturated, growing at low single-digit rates, while wearables continue to expand at double-digit pace.

A Glimpse at Post-Phone Interfaces

One example of this emerging category is Sandbar, a voice-activated ring designed to capture thoughts the moment they occur. Rather than tracking health metrics or notifications, its sole function is to serve as a “thought companion,” organizing ideas through spoken input. The concept reflects a broader rethinking of how intelligence should meet users, not through screens, but through presence.

The founders behind Sandbar previously worked on neural interface technology, reinforcing the notion that the future interface may be closer to the body and voice than to glass and keyboards. For Callaghan, the appeal lies not in the ring itself, but in the behavior it enables: effortless interaction with intelligence without breaking immersion in the physical world.

Implications for Investors and the Tech Ecosystem

If the smartphone’s dominance fades, the implications extend far beyond consumer hardware. Entire ecosystems, from app stores to advertising models, would face structural disruption. Capital allocation may increasingly favor interface-layer innovation rather than incremental phone upgrades, shifting how value is created and captured.

The transition will not be sudden, but the direction appears increasingly clear. As intelligence becomes ambient and proactive, interfaces must recede rather than demand attention. Investors watching this space are less focused on predicting the winning device and more concerned with identifying the behaviors users will refuse to give up once experienced.

In that sense, the smartphone’s eventual decline may not feel like a loss at all, but a quiet relief.