Apple made its long awaited entry into the foldable smartphone market on Wednesday with the launch of the iPhone Duo. The foldable phone will go on sale October 23, with a starting price of $1,999.
The Duo will be available in two colors: Star White and Night Sky.
The device is the size of a passport, and opens and closes like a book. There’s a 5.4-inch screen on the exterior cover that you use just like a standard smartphone. Open the device up, and you get a wide 7.6-inch display.
Apple is late to the foldable game. Samsung launched its first Galaxy Fold back in 2019.
“Others have created foldables that just feel like two phones stuck together,” said Apple CEO John Ternus as he unveiled the device. That’s not entirely true. The latest Samsung Z Fold 8 and Z Ultra 8 have earned rave reviews for a virtually crease-free foldable screen and the product build.
But hey, all’s fair in the marketing game.
When opened, Apple says the Duo is the thinnest phone it has ever made.
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Here’s a close up look at the special hinge, built with carbon fiber support plates, that allows the Duo to fold.
Apple uses a titanium bottom layer, and multi-layer lamination design that it says glide over the OLED screen like pages of a book to prevent the panel from showing signs of wear or distortion over time. Of course, we’ll have to see how that claim holds up once the phone has been available in the real world.
Apple is bringing back its Touch ID for the Duo. A sensor on the right side of the phone scans your thumbprint to unlock the phone. Also note the repositioned task bar, now on the right rail of the home screen.
When opened, the Duo’s screen is 50% larger than iPhone Pro Max.
That makes it ideal for productivity and entertainment.
Here’s what reading your email looks like when the screen is opened and in landscape mode:
The extra screen real estate seems like it will be great for cooking recipes and other instructional applications.
You can also have different apps open on each side of the screen.
And you can hold it with the screens only partially opened, like a book, to reduce glare or evesdroppers.
You can also use the opened display in vertical mode. Apple showed off the example of watching a video at the top of the screen while having a conversation with friends on the bottom.
Watching sports this way could be fun.
When taking pictures, you can show your subject a preview of how they look through the exterior screen. You can also use the exterior screen during FaceTime video calls, letting other people in the room see the person you’re having a conversation with.
And the foldable design means you can position the phone to stand on its own for video calls or just watching movies.
Apple said the Duo will work with the Apple Pencil later this year.
The iPhone Duo is Apple’s first foldable phone. And first generation devices often come with some unexpected wrinkles that need to be ironed out and flaws that don’t become apparent until the product has been used by real customers in the real world.
Many of the other smartphone companies with foldables, like Samsung, Motorola, and Google, have spent years evolving and refining the technology. But of course, those are all Android devices.
If you’re an iOS user, and you’re OK with being an early adopter, the iPhone Duo goes on sales October 23, with pre-orders starting October 16.
