Hands-On With the iPhone Duo: The Crease is Still There, But Barely

After today's iPhone event, Apple invited members of the media to test out the new iPhone Duo. We were able to take a look, and we have some initial thoughts to share.

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Apple used a nano-texture polymer for the inside display, and the material cuts glare but also reduces the visibility of the crease. The display layer has a micro lens texture written pixel by pixel using maskless laser lithography for a perceptually flat, matte surface. It does indeed minimize the look and feel of the fold in the middle of the ‌iPhone Duo‌.

You can still see the crease and it's visible in certain lighting, but Apple did a better job than Samsung at hiding it. Of course, foldable creases can become more visible as a device folds and unfolds, so it will be interesting to see how the ‌iPhone Duo‌ holds up over time. Apple says there are viscoelastic adhesives that let the layers glide over each other, so that might help.

There's no visible camera cutout on the inner display of the ‌iPhone Duo‌, because Apple put it under the screen. It's invisible on a lighter screen, but when the display is darker, you can see the camera area somewhat.

Apple knew software would be important, and apps adapt well to the new form factor. The main controls are on the side of the displays and there's a new vertical dock. The status bar tucks in the corner, which makes sense for a foldable, and everything is where you want it for one-handed use.

You can run two apps side by side, or two instances of the same app (like two Safari pages), but there's no option to resize them. They each take up one half of the display. Two apps can be locked together as a pair so they launch together in the future and you can swipe over to other apps.

Apps work when the ‌iPhone Duo‌ is open, closed, and half-folded too. You can prop the ‌iPhone Duo‌ up and controls will move to the bottom of the display. iOS can adapt to the orientation and angle of the device, and it slides content away from the crease to make sure everything is easy to tap regardless of position. Audio also tunes automatically based on position.

StandBy works even when the ‌iPhone Duo‌ isn't charging. You just need to fold the Duo in half in a tent orientation and you'll see widgets, music, calendar, weather, and more. It works as a bedside clock too, and there's even a new glow alarm clock feature.

There are only two cameras in the ‌iPhone Duo‌. It has a 48MP Fusion Main camera and a 48MP Ultra Wide camera, but no Telephoto camera. There is 2x zoom, but that's just a cropped-in view from the Main camera. The outer display front camera is 12MP.

You can do some unique things with the ‌iPhone Duo‌'s camera setup. Apple added 4K Dolby Vision time lapses, a feature that works well with the ‌iPhone Duo‌ since it can prop itself up for longer shots. A Smart Take option uses AI to capture a shot when everyone is in frame, so you can set it up, run over to get in a group photo, and have the iPhone automatically take a picture. The outer display can show Peanuts animations to get children to smile (Kid Cue), and when you're taking a photo of someone, they can see themselves on the outer display and give you feedback on the shot setup (Duo Preview). FaceTime can also use both displays and someone can join a ‌FaceTime‌ call with you using the outer display camera, so you don't have to crowd together in one camera (‌FaceTime‌ Duo).

The ‌iPhone Duo‌ has the same A20 Pro chip as the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌, and Apple's new C2 modem that's faster and more efficient than the C1X. The C2 supports mmWave 5G speeds in the United States.

The $1,999 starting price is for 256GB storage. You can get up to 2TB, but that option will cost you $3,199. ‌iPhone Duo‌ pre-orders start on Friday, October 16, with a launch to follow on October 23.