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Apple iPhone Duo review: Two screens, two experiences, two thousand dollars

DevicesOctober 27, 20261 min read

Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, has arrived at $1,999 and up. This review says it is a surprisingly good small iPad but a weaker phone than a regular iPhone.

Apple finally makes a foldable

Apple has released the iPhone Duo, a phone with a screen that folds open. The reviewer says it is the biggest change to the iPhone in years. It changes both the hardware and the software, so the way you use it is different from a normal iPhone.

Key facts

Price: $1,999 and up
Compared with a typical iPhone, the Duo feels squat and cramped when used as a phone
The camera side is the only part of the outside that is not screen
The reviewer says the crease between the two screens is so faint that he rarely thought about it when the phone was open

Why foldables are hard

Foldable phones let a device open into a bigger screen but still fit in a pocket. Many older foldables have a visible seam or a bubbly look where the screen lifts from the surface. The reviewer says Apple has handled these problems better than most, though not perfectly.

Why it matters

The Duo shows Apple's first real move into foldable phones. Its strengths are big-screen tasks, like working like a small iPad. But the reviewer says it is harder to use as a phone and costs more than most people want to pay. The first version also has some rough edges. The reviewer says it is the first iPhone in a long time to need a learning curve, and the last time a hardware update changed the software this much was the iPhone X in 2018.

What to watch

Whether later versions fix the rough edges and the squat phone shape
Whether the price drops or more people choose to pay for it
Whether app makers build better tools for the bigger screen

Glossary

iPhone Duo: Apple's new foldable phone, with a screen that opens into a larger display.
foldable: A phone whose screen bends or folds so it can open into a bigger size.
crease: The line in the middle of a foldable screen where it bends.
iPhone X: Apple's 2017 iPhone, the last major change to how people used the phone, according to the reviewer.

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