iPhone Duo Users Are Already Seeing a Big Old Crease in the Middle of Their $2,000 Foldable iPhone

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Cite

Cole, S. (2026, October 26). iPhone Duo Users Are Already Seeing a Big Old Crease in the Middle of Their $2,000 Foldable iPhone. 404 Media. https://www.404media.co/iphone-duo-crackgate-crease-folding-phone/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

404 Media · collected 2026-10-26 · by Samantha Cole

Quick Summary

The newly released $2,000 iPhone Duo is experiencing widespread issues with creases and cracks along its folding hinge within just two days of release. Social media posts reveal users finding bright white lines or cracked screens after minimal use. iFixit’s teardown suggests that internal components might be causing these issues by putting excessive pressure on the display during folding. Apple has not yet commented on whether it will replace devices showing the crease, though 9to5 Mac reports that those with a full screen crack have received replacements so far.
Written by AI on 2026-10-29, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Apple's £2,000 iPhone Duo, launched on October 23, is facing widespread issues with screen cracks and dead pixels just days after its release. Dozens of customers have reported seeing large cracks running down the central crease and bright lines of stuck pixels across their screens, often accompanied by an audible "pop" sound upon unfolding the device. Some users experienced these problems within hours of purchase. Apple acknowledged the issue on October 26, stating that it is aware of a problem impacting the inner display on a small number of Duo units and advising affected users to contact AppleCare for replacements. The company also noted that most Duos are unaffected by this defect, which typically manifests quickly after initial use. Despite these issues, some customers have been able to get replacements or full refunds from Apple Stores. However, with the iPhone Duo out of stock until January 2027, many frustrated buyers might face long waits for a replacement device.

Written for “Apple iPhone Duo Screen Issues” on 2026-10-29, grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Apple iPhone Duo Screen Issues
Technology · 6 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Guardian
Hedges 2 of 23 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 2 of 56 claims Outlet record 61/100
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 5 claims Outlet record 69/100
CBS News
Hedges 2 of 38 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
Hedges 2 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss issues with Apple's new iPhone Duo, they describe different aspects of its release and user experiences.”
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss the release of the foldable iPhone Duo, Article A covers its initial market launch and features, while Article B focuses on a specific issue with creasing and cracking that affected users shortly after the release.”
The Straits Times
Hedges 5 of 25 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A reports on the launch of sales for iPhone Duo, while Article B discusses user experiences and issues with the device days after its release.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 12 of 72 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A discusses the unveiling and upcoming release of the iPhone Duo, while Article B reports on issues with the device after its release.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
2 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
95/100
404 Media's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
6
Technology
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-29 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

404 Media · 167 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Samantha Cole
22 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 In Sunday’s edition of the New York Times, Marissa Mayer, former president and CEO of Yahoo, told her interviewer something so absurd it’s since gone viral.
🔮 iFixit wrote a teardown analysis of the Duo, and speculated that the components around the hinge could be causing this particular white line issue:
🔮 What developed over the next few days, and has now stretched across six months, is a Kafkaesque situation in which Smith, in her telling, is being asked to prove her innocence in an ongoing criminal case, while CashApp refuses to provide her any information about the account because she couldn’t prove that she was the owner.
2026-10-22 · assertive framing · This Woman's Living a CashApp Scam Nightmare
🔮 THE BIG STORY A man convicted of manslaughter in Arizona will be resentenced because an AI-generated video of his victim speaking from beyond the grave was ruled to have carried “undue emotional weight” as an impact statement.
2026-10-07 · assertive framing · 'Undue emotional weight'
🔮 THE BIG STORY In the immediate weeks before Muse’s launch, Meta engineers found several security vulnerabilities in the company’s viral AI agent product, at least one of which could have allowed malicious users to break outside of Muse’s intended environment and access Meta’s own sensitive databases and services, 404 Media has learned.
2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Muse escapes containment
🔮 I can tell this because the AI responses seem to keep using the same or similar words that it believes would apply to journalists, or are how journalists speak, but as a real, human journalist for more than ten years, I know that journalists don’t actually speak like that.
2026-10-02 · assertive framing · Behind the Blog: Freaking Out
🔮 Student journalists, their advisors, and legal advocates say colleagues and administrators are attempting to undermine student reporting on Jeffrey Epstein, Gaza, and other issues that public institutions would rather not have their reputations connected to.
2026-10-01 · assertive framing · 'Everything but censorship'
🔮 He “assumed” ChatGPT would generate a “bulletproof summary of proceedings.”
🔮 And in May 2025, the massive deepfakes hosting site and forum MrDeepfakes.com shut down following an investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting Company, Der Spiegel, and Bellingcat.
2026-09-14 · mixed framing · New York Seizes 12 Celebrity Deepfake Websites
🔮 Mark Davies, Automattic’s CFO who was set to act as interim CEO according to a statement from Automattic, had his Slack account deactivated as of at least Friday, sources told 404 Media and TechCrunch similarly reported.
Also by Samantha Cole
'Undue emotional weight'
2026-10-07 · 404 Media
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 22 articles by Samantha Cole →

Topics

Apple Duo Duos iPhone Duo the iPhone Duo

Subjects

Apple ORG · 6× 9to5 Mac ORG · 1× CNET ORG · 1× Joanna Stern PERSON · 1× Reddit ORG · 1× Samsung ORG · 1× Tim Pan PERSON · 1× iFixit ORG · 1× r/iPhoneDuo ORG · 1×

Narrative

Apple’s $2,000 folding phone, the iPhone Duo, came out just two days ago and people are already seeing big fat creases down the middle of the folding screen, and some devices are cracked in the same specific spot too. People waited in line overnight at Apple stores to get this thing, and now we’re seeing photos of heinous cracked and creased-up Duos all over social media.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-29
🔮 iFixit wrote a teardown analysis of the Duo, and speculated that the components around the hinge could be causing this particular white line issue:

Claims (22 extracted, 2 hedged)

Apple’s $2,000 folding phone, the iPhone Duo, came out just two days ago and people are already seeing big fat creases down the middle of the folding screen, and some devices are cracked in the same specific spot too. People waited in line overnight at Apple stores to get this thing, and now we’re seeing photos of heinous cracked and creased-up Duos all over social media. asserted
we → fold → media
In some cases, the phone screens have cracked along the crease, causing a crashout people are now calling “crackgate.” asserted
people → crack → crashout
“Had my iPhone Duo for about six hours and had probably opened it fewer than 20 times,” one person wrote on Reddit’s r/iPhoneDuo. asserted
person → have → iPhoneDuo
“I was showing it to a friend, and as I opened it, I felt something around the internal hinge, underneath the screen. asserted
I → show → screen
As I continued opening it, I heard an audible crack, and the screen broke right along the hinge. asserted
screen → continue → hinge
” “How long before I join crack gang?” someone else wrote, posting a photo of their iPhone Duo with a wide, uneven gully down the center of the screen. asserted
someone → join → screen
Other users report not just a fold, but a bright white line of stuck pixels extending from the center to the outer edge of the screen. asserted
users → report → screen
iFixit wrote a teardown analysis of the Duo, and speculated that the components around the hinge could be causing this particular white line issue: uncertain
components → write → issue
“One possibility is that a central support bar isn’t retracting properly as the phone closes, potentially putting excessive pressure on the display. asserted
phone → retract → display
Another involves the curved rails that guide the hinge’s movement, which rise above the surrounding components during folding and could, in theory, interfere with the screen if they fail to move as intended,” they wrote. uncertain
they → involve → screen
Plenty of people seem happy with their creased-up new phone that only cost them two stacks. asserted
that → seem → stacks
“Folks, it’s a foldable device. asserted
it → ’ → ?
Just enjoy the fact that you have one,” someone commented on another happy customer’s crease pic. asserted
someone → enjoy → pic
9to5 Mac reported that most buyers seeing the white line screen glitch have been able to get a device replacement from Apple. asserted
buyers → report → Apple
Whether Apple will replace a phone that’s showing the center line crease everyone else is complaining about is yet to be seen. asserted
everyone → replace → crease
Apple did not immediately respond to my request for comment about the crease. asserted
Apple → respond → crease
Apple released the Duo seven years after Samsung’s Galaxy Fold hit the market. asserted
Apple → release → market
That line of phones also gets a crease down the middle after using it for long enough that users say gets more noticeable with time. asserted
users → get → time
But the wait and hype around the Duo has meant gadget YouTubers and journalists have put this thing through extreme paces. asserted
YouTubers → mean → paces
TheCaseTester tested it with 1,000 folds and saw the crease by the end; Tim Pan folded his 11,500 times and saw a similar result. asserted
Pan → test → result
CNET’s test with a folding machine they custom-built to test the Duo just passed 55,000 folds. asserted
they → fold → folds
Journalist Joanna Stern found that after 32,000 folds, it felt “pretty much the same.” asserted
it → find → folds
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