// ARS TECHNICA — MOBILE & WEB
Apple's long-rumored foldable becomes reality with the $2,000 iPhone Duo
Apple ended today’s hardware event with one of its classic “One more thing” reveals. Some smartphone makers have been offering foldable phones for the better part of a decade, but Apple has now joined the fray with the iPhone Duo after years of speculation.
This device is undeniably the most capable iPhone ever, as well as the most expensive. It’s not as spendy as many expected, though, starting at $1,999. That’s in the same range as foldables from Google and Samsung.
The iPhone Duo would have looked like a totally fresh take on the foldable design a few months ago, but Samsung has made waves with the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Like that phone, the iPhone Duo has a wider, shorter chassis. Apple prefaced its reveal with a denunciation of foldables that open into a square aspect ratio. While that shape can accommodate two portrait apps side by side pretty well, it’s bad at almost everything else, stretching single apps awkwardly and leaving videos with gargantuan black bars.
So the iPhone Duo adopts a passport-like shape when closed. Apple says the device has a 1:1.4 aspect ratio when open and closed. The 5.4-inch outer screen has a quirky asymmetric design, with pointy corners on the hinge side and rounded ones on the other. Apple suggests this “invites you to open” the phone.
Inside, you get the 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR foldable panel, which is slightly wider than a classic 4:3 monitor. Apple also had a thing or two to say about the structural issues with past foldables. The Duo’s screen contains multiple layers of flexible glass and a titanium base, similar to Samsung’s latest foldable screen tech. The top layer is a custom polymer that is stiffer than other materials, featuring a nano-texture finish for added readability.
The result, allegedly, is a foldable screen that looks better in bright light and has no (or very little) visible crease down the middle. Samsung and other OEMs have only recently gotten to the point where display creases are less noticeable, but they’re still there. Apple also claims the multi-layer lamination process used in its display ensures the display won’t develop a crease over time.
Apple promises the phone, which has the same A20 Pro chip as the new flat phones, will still offer solid battery life. The inner display can play video for 31 hours, and the outer screen can do it for 44 hours. With mixed use of both screens, you can expect the iPhone Duo to last about 24 hours on a charge.
The device has a titanium frame, something Apple briefly experimented with for its flat flagship phones, but this time it has added internal ceramic fibers for even more resilience. The added strength helps with the durability of a device you’re going to be opening and closing all day, but it will also probably make the device pretty heavy. Apple also notes that it has reinforced the antenna lines in the frame to reduce the possibility of failure.
The titanium hinge contains more than 100 components to provide what Apple assures us is a smooth and reliable opening experience with “custom variable torque.” There are also magnets in the frame so the two halves snap together in a satisfying fashion when closed. The device is also IP68 rated for water and dust-resistance.
Interestingly, the iPhone Duo will have a few features that Samsung supported and then abandoned in its foldables. There’s a selfie camera under the foldable screen, which is only visible when in use. Apple also says that the inner and outer screen will support the Apple Pencil later this year. Samsung dropped both those features starting in its 2025 foldable lineup.