Apple’s foldable iPhone is finally here, after nearly 10 years of rumors. Given the company’s delay to the foldable party, many expected a failure or at least something that failed to excite. I think the iPhone Duo hits (for the most part) all the right notes.
With foldables, the idea all along was a tablet-sized screen that fits in your pocket. The best tablets are iPads, which is why the iPhone Duo is important – and not just for Apple. For the first time, the company that makes the best tablet is making a foldable tablet.
At least with iOS 27, it’s still primarily an iPhone experience, not an iPad experience. Many of the features are ones we’ve already come to expect from a foldable: app multitasking, more interface elements on the 7.6-inch interior screen, and multi-camera FaceTime calling. The Duo also works with the Apple Pencil, a first for the iPhone.
But there’s also that Apple touch: it does the obvious thing, and you wonder why no one else thought of it. With the iPhone Duo, Apple moved the app dock to the side of the screen when opened and did the same for the menus. Although the Galaxy Fold series has similar functionality, the Edge panel is hidden most of the time, housing tools and shortcuts like Now Brief and AI Select – things I use far less than main apps like Gmail or Messages.
Like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8, the iPhone Duo’s screens have a more unified aspect ratio, otherwise precisely identical, as the company claimed in the announcement. And while it doesn’t magically solve the interface’s complexities and design issues, early hands-on videos and what Apple has shown so far suggest that it all seems to be that the UI “fits” better: it looks tidier, with more visual continuity. I like how unfolding the iPhone Duo transplants the front display screen to the right side of the foldable screen, as well as the brilliant transition animation that brings the other screen into focus when you unfold.
Other Apple touches are present throughout the hardware. The iPhone Duo’s volume buttons are on the top edge, so they’re always in the same place no matter what screen you’re using on the iPhone Duo. On the screens themselves, a nano-coating gives a matte finish that not only reduces glare in bright light, but also helps hide that bendable crease that companies and some die-hard phone fans are obsessed with. Why is Apple the first to do this?
I think the asymmetrical design of the front screen is also charming. With two curved corners and two square corners, it looks like a notepad or a book and looks cute either way. Has Apple introduced a return to skeuomorphism? (Xiaomi beat Apple by a day, but its 18 Fold smartphone is not launching globally.)
Perhaps the biggest surprise was that, despite the typical “Apple premium” and skyrocketing component prices, the company’s first foldable will hit $2,000. I thought it would be several hundred dollars more. That price places it between foldable rivals like the Pixel 11 Pro Fold ($1,899) and Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra ($2,100), and is $100 more than the launch price of the Galaxy Fold 8. This isn’t the Apple I’m used to. (Historical note: Samsung’s first Galaxy Fold cost $1,980 in 2019.)
Apple
Many of my favorite parts of the iPhone Duo are little things that add up to a better overall experience. But aside from the matte nano-coating and Apple Pencil support, there’s nothing more significant than, say, when the company ditched the iPhone X’s home button and introduced Face ID. (Oddly enough, the iPhone Duo reverts to Touch ID.)
Existing foldables already do some things better. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 can open and run up to five apps in total: three in split-screen and two in floating windows. Although the iPhone Duo’s two-app feature may seem underwhelming, it’s likely a deliberate choice by Apple and not a technical limitation. I’ve never used more than three apps out of the 10+ foldables I’ve tested and reviewed over the years, because it gets complicated. Plus, you can just swipe to the other apps and relax.
Like Samsung’s Fold 8, it’s still an expensive smartphone. $2,000 is a lot for an iPhone, especially one without a telephoto lens and the iPhone 18 Pro’s variable aperture main camera. It’s a strange look when the most expensive iPhone ever doesn’t have the best camera ever.
Despite these drawbacks, I’m very excited about how Apple is approaching the problems (and potential) of the foldable. Conventional knowledge (and experience) suggests staying away from an Apple device, the first of its kind, but it’s not your first smartphone. For those looking for a foldable that doesn’t run Android, here it is, and it looks like it will deliver.
