Apple introduced the iPhone Duo, its first folding smartphone, at the company's annual September event held at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, according to a Wired report. The device features a 5.4-inch external screen and a 7.6-inch internal display when opened, comparable to the iPad Mini's screen dimensions. Preorders begin October 16, with the phone officially launching October 23 at a starting price of $1,999 for 256 GB of storage.
The iPhone Duo arrives with a titanium frame sporting a mirror finish, Apple's Ceramic Shield glass on the rear, and the upgraded Ceramic Shield 2 glass up front, the report notes. It carries an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, matching Google's folding Pixels and exceeding Samsung's current offering. The device weighs 254 grams and measures 11.3 mm thick when folded and 5.2 mm when unfolded—heavier and thicker than Samsung's new Fold8, which comes in at 201 grams, 9.7 mm folded, and 4.5 mm unfolded. Notably absent is Face ID; instead, the phone revives Touch ID integrated into the side power button, and it'll support the USB-C Apple Pencil later this year. The camera system includes just two rear sensors—a 48-megapixel main camera and a 48-megapixel ultrawide—sacrificing the telephoto lens, plus a 12-megapixel camera on the outer screen and an under-display FaceTime camera inside. Battery life reaches up to 31 hours of video playback on the inner display and 44 hours on the outer screen, powered by Apple's A20 Pro chip and new C2 modem.
Apple says it maintained consistent aspect ratios across both screens for optimal content viewing quality, and the hinge uses a "custom variable torque profile" that opens and closes the phone smoothly. The company uses a carbon fiber metal plate beneath the display to manage bending stress, combined with a nano-texture finish that keeps the display flat and "minimizes crease visibility," topped with an Apple-designed scratch-resistance coating. The software adapts to the larger screen with essential controls moved to the side and stacked vertically, maximizing screen space with a vertical dock orientation, and apps transition gracefully as you open the phone to show more information and enable split-screen functionality.
Apple enters the foldable market five years after Samsung launched the first Galaxy Fold in 2019, according to the report, joining manufacturers like Honor, Google, Motorola, and Oppo. The folding phone category has declined for five consecutive quarters by 13 percent year over year and represents roughly 2 percent of the global smartphone market by year's end. However, IDC senior research director Nabila Popal told Wired that Apple could capture up to 30 percent of the foldable market share by the end of 2026. A recent IDC survey found that 60 percent of consumers aren't likely to buy a foldable when upgrading, but nearly 33 percent said they "absolutely" would if Apple released one. Popal calls the iPhone Duo "guaranteed to be a blockbuster," noting that "Apple defied all odds and broke the $1,000 barrier when they first launched the $1,000 smartphone." The report also highlights durability and repairability concerns, with iFixit's Elizabeth Chamberlain stating her team has never taken apart a foldable they'd consider truly repairable, noting that "the gains in durability haven't come with gains in repairability." Apple's new iPhone leasing program launched over the summer may ease the financial burden for consumers, though it requires devices to be returned in their original condition. The device represents a calculated bet that Apple's brand power can revive a struggling category where most shoppers remain skeptical. Whether that wager pays off depends less on hardware specs than on whether the company can convince loyalists that a folding screen solves a problem they actually have.