Apple has entered the foldable phone market. The company introduced the iPhone Duo on 9 September, calling it the first foldable iPhone, and is putting it on sale in late October at a starting price of $1,999. Two weeks after the announcement, its everyday iPhone 18 Pro models are already in customers’ hands.
- 7.6 inInner display, opened
- 5.4 inOuter display, closed
- $1,999US starting price (256GB)
- 23 OctAvailability in 70+ countries
The design: two displays, one phone
According to Apple, opened the iPhone Duo is the thinnest iPhone ever. Its 7.6-inch inner display is 50% larger than the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s screen, with a nano-texture finish to reduce glare and make the crease less visible. Closed, it becomes a passport-sized phone with a 5.4-inch outer display that offers 90% of the screen area of the iPhone 18 Pro. Both screens share the same aspect ratio, so apps scale the same way whether the phone is open or shut, and both offer ProMotion, Always On and up to 3,000 nits of peak outdoor brightness.
The body is grade 5 titanium with a mirror-polished finish, a hinge built from more than 100 components, and an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. Ceramic Shield protects the back and Ceramic Shield 2 the outer screen, which Apple says has three times better scratch resistance than the previous generation. A hidden FaceTime camera sits beneath the inner display, Touch ID is built into the side button, and support for Apple Pencil with USB-C is promised later this year.
What is inside
The Duo runs on the new A20 Pro chip. Apple says a custom vapor chamber and a dual-battery design provide sustained performance and all-day battery life. The folding design also enables new camera features. Smart Take uses on-device AI to capture photos automatically when subjects are posing, Duo Preview shows a live preview on the outer screen so people in front of the camera can check their framing, Kid Cue plays Peanuts animations to get children to look at the lens, and Duo FaceTime lets people standing with you join a call on the outer display. Software is iOS 27, and the Duo ships with iOS 27.1. The Siri AI assistant and Apple Intelligence features began rolling out with iOS 27 on 14 September, with Siri AI in beta at first.
Price, colours and dates
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | From $1,999 (256GB); also 512GB, 1TB and 2TB |
| Monthly option | $83.29 a month for 24 months; leasing from $57.99 a month via Apple Upgrade |
| Colours | Star white, night sky |
| Pre-order | Friday 16 October, 5 a.m. PT |
| On sale | Friday 23 October in 70+ countries and regions; 30 October in 28 more |
| Accessories | Duo Case $79; Duo Folio with Kickstand $129 |
Apple chief executive John Ternus described the phone as the most transformational change to iPhone since the original.
Meanwhile, iPhone 18 Pro is already in stores
On Friday 18 September, Apple put the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4 and AirPods 5 on sale at Apple Stores around the world.
A talking point for the 18 Pro is its new variable-aperture main camera. iFixit’s teardown found a mechanical iris with six overlapping blades, each about as thin as a human hair, that opens and closes magnetically, all fitted into the same camera space as the iPhone 17 Pro. iFixit called it “a feat of precision engineering” but said repairing it is about as close to impossible as it gets, and that owners will probably have to replace the whole camera module. The Verge noted that in its review the aperture made only a “generally marginal” difference to photos for most people, and that the iPhone 17 Pro camera assembly costs $249, so the new module could cost more. Engadget added that Samsung tried adjustable apertures on the 2018 Galaxy S9 but later dropped the idea.
Should you wait?
That depends on what you value. The Duo’s $1,999 starting price is far above the regular iPhone range, and it will not be in stores for another month. If you want a phone now, the 18 Pro is available today. If you want the largest screen Apple has ever put in an iPhone in a pocketable size, the Duo is worth watching, especially once independent reviews arrive closer to the October release.
