Would you believe it? Apple finally has an actual foldable phone in its lineup: the iPhone Duo.
As is customary, following the grand unveiling on Wednesday Sept. 9, the company let journalists into a space where we could experience the new devices, and you can guess which one drew the biggest crowd.
Fortunately, Apple brought more than one, so after some elbowing, persuading, and begging (mostly begging), we got a few minutes alone with the iPhone Duo. Here’s what it’s really like, at first glance.
It’s surprisingly smooth
Fold it halfway, and the iPhone Duo becomes a very expensive clock and photo frame.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
The iPhone Duo works amazingly well. Starting with that mesmerizing animation that blends one display into the other when you fold or unfold the phone, everything on the iPhone Duo looks and feels as if Apple has been doing foldables for years. It’s early days (hours), I know, but everything I tried to do on the phone felt natural and happened very quickly.
The larger display is glorious to look at, and it immediately makes your old iPhone feel very cramped in comparison, especially if you launch something like Photos, which makes it so much more enjoyable to browse through your photo collection.
Position the iPhone Duo this way, and apps will split to make the best use of the space.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
Flip it vertically (while unfolded), and it feels like, well, a very big iPhone, but I can totally see myself reading books, or magazines, or browsing the web this way. Netflix, in particular, has been upgraded to work with the foldable display, and I was happy to see that whichever way I turned the phone, and whether I folded, unfolded, or half-folded the display, the app knew what to do, and playback continued.
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I’ll need a lot more time to see how other apps (especially third-party apps) behave on the iPhone Duo. But I’m pretty certain already that Apple has done a great job adapting iOS to work with a foldable display.
A foldable phone has more than two states — folded and unfolded — with several in-between positions, and Apple thought of that, too. If you fold it halfway and place it on a desk, the iPhone Duo will become a (very expensive) digital clock and calendar. You can also have two apps working side by side, or one above the other, depending on the orientation. Again, and to my surprise, I never experienced a moment when the phone didn’t know what to do with an app, or when things became slow, weird, or jittery.
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The design gets almost everything right
The iPhone Duo’s crease is there, but it’s easy to miss.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
The crease didn’t bother me. It exists, but I could barely see it. For practical purposes, I didn’t notice it, and the display looks gorgeous from all angles. The laminated display has multiple layers designed to keep it functional and durable through repeated folding and unfolding. It also has a matte finish that I prefer to the glossy finish on a regular iPhone’s display.
As for the design and its somewhat unusual form factor, I think Apple got it right. When folded, it’s a bit more square than a regular phone, but I could get used to it. Unfold it, and it’s basically a thinner, more elegant iPad mini. It’s the sweet spot, and I could easily see this being my primary phone. Holding it fully unfolded feels a bit odd, as you’re probably smearing greasy fingerprints across the outer display, but I don’t really see how that could be avoided.
When unfolded, it’s the thinnest iPhone ever.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
For the first time, Apple is using an under-the-display camera on the iPhone Duo. The way it works is pretty sleek; it’s nearly (but not completely) invisible until you need it, and it appears and disappears with a cool little animation. Its slightly off-center position can look a little odd when the display is unfolded, but I don’t think it’ll matter much in actual use.
One thing that makes me worry, though, is how slippery the iPhone Duo’s edges are, which makes it a bit harder to unfold, even with two hands. I’ve yet to try it with a case, but I think a grippy case will be a must-have. With a phone that costs $2,000, you’ll probably want a case anyway.
The wait begins
The iPhone Duo may be here in the demo room, but the rest of us will have to wait until Oct. 23.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
The iPhone Duo is launching in October, roughly one month after the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, which will be available in just over a week. This means our review will come a little later. That’s fine, as it will give developers time to adapt their apps for the Duuo. As far as I could tell, the only third-party app that’s been fully overhauled to work nicely on the Duo is Netflix.
For now, it’s definitely the most interesting iPhone Apple has launched in years, and I’m looking forward to spending more time with it.
