I've spent weeks testing the Apple folding iPhone Duo – it's a joy to use
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journalism → spend → readers
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we → purchase → commission
Apple’s first foldable phone – and its most expensive – has almost sold out at every retailer, with delivery dates now stretching into 2027.
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dates → sell → 2027
Even ahead of its official launch, it was causing a stir, not just because online pre-orders sold out in minutes.
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orders → cause → minutes
The phone is almost like an iPad mini that you can fold in half (don’t try that with a regular iPad mini).
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you → fold → mini
When it’s open, the display measures 7.6 inches and has such thin bezels that it looks bigger than it feels.
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it → ’ → bezels
Folded, it’s about the size and shape of a passport, which means that it fits happily in a pocket, and it’s almost exactly the same weight as the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
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it → fold → Max
In use, it’s unmistakably an iPhone, but there’s still a bit of a learning curve compared to other phones: it uses Touch ID, not Face ID, for a start.
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it → ’ → start
And although it’s pricier than the iPhone 18 Pro Max, it has two rear cameras, rather than the three the Pro boasts – though there are two front-facing cameras as well, one of which is hidden under the inner display.
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one → ’ → display
How I tested
The iPhone Duo is an innovative phone, so I looked into how easy it was to set up, whether there were extra steps because of the two-screen design and if there was a learning curve compared to other times (spoiler: there was, but it wasn’t steep).
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it → test → times
Some early foldable phones lacked durability, so I checked out how solid it looked and felt.
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it → lack → durability
I looked at as many apps as I could to see how they functioned with a two-display experience.
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they → look → experience
Of course, I checked how fast and effective the phone was and, finally, I looked at how long the battery lasts.
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battery → check → ?
★★★★☆
What we love: Stunning design, great matte-finish inner screen, and exceptional software
Take note: No Face ID, and two rear cameras
Design
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love → love → ID
The size of a passport, it fits nicely in hand: the enlarged curved corners mean you can cradle it comfortably.
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you → fit → it
The dock of four icons, which is constant on every home page, now sits vertically on the right edge, not at the bottom – that’s down to the wider, shorter display.
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that → sit → display
Though unbalancing at first, I quickly got used to the new arrangement.
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I → get → arrangement
Unlocking the phone is also a surprise, and something of a throwback: unlike current iPhones which use Face ID, this uses Touch ID.
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this → unlock → ID
Where older iPhones had this fingerprint sensor on the phone’s front, below the screen, it’s now been mounted in the side button – similar to the iPad Air.
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it → have → Air
Apple used Touch ID to give consistency to the unlocking process – whether it’s lying on the table open or closed, you unlock using the same technique.
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you → use → technique
I missed Face ID a lot, but if you have an Apple Watch, you can set this to unlock the phone when it’s on your wrist and nearby.
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it → miss → wrist
Open the foldable, and the inner screen reformats its content so everything you were just looking at on the outside is in the same place on the inside.
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you → open → inside
The build quality of the Duo is also immaculate: there’s a titanium frame, tough and scratch-resistant Ceramic Shield 2 on the front, and the original, drop-resistant Ceramic Shield on the rear.
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quality → ’ → rear
The cleverly designed hinge is easy to open (unlike many earlier foldables) and, unlike many current ones, it can be adjusted to stay in multiple different positions.
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it → design → positions
You can lay it flat, sit it with one half vertical, the other horizontal, or stand it like a tent.
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other → lay → tent
This is particularly useful as it offers the StandBy view found on other iPhones, which display a clock while the phone is charging.
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phone → offer → clock
The difference here is you can set it in this position, and StandBy will activate, even if the phone is unplugged.
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phone → set → position
The outer screen matches the pixel density of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max (460 pixels per inch), which, in short, looks fantastic.
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which → match → inch
The inner screen isn’t quite as high-resolution (430ppi), but you’d be hard-pressed to see a difference.
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you → press → difference
This means there are no annoying reflections on the inner display, and fingerprints don’t show up.
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fingerprints → mean → display
The nanotexture means the crease is completely invisible, too.
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crease → mean → ?
That’s not just because of the nanotexture – Apple has built supporting plates and other materials which make the crease vanish.
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crease → ’ → plates
In fact, even if you run your finger across the join, it’s hard to
Another subtle benefit to the display design is the aspect ratio.
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benefit → run → design
This exact size is like a piece of paper that, every time you fold it in half has the same shape.
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you → fold → shape
It means that when you open or close the phone, the aspect ratio is consistent, so everything looks the same inside or out.
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everything → mean → phone
The camera on the inner display is hidden under the screen – you can just see it if you squint.
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you → hide → it
It’s a lower-resolution camera than the front camera, and it’s designed for video calling.
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it → ’ → calling
This means that if you’re watching video, there’s nothing to interrupt your view.
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you → mean → view
There’s no telephoto, though, as both cameras have 48-megapixel resolution; you can use the main camera to achieve a 2x optical zoom equivalent by cropping in to the central portion of the sensor, though this drops the resolution to 12 megapixels.
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this → ’ → megapixels
In practice, I rarely noticed the absence of the telephoto camera, and I found the other lenses delivered similar quality to the iPhone 18 Pro, with one exception: there’s no adjustable aperture here.
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lenses → notice → exception
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
