iPhone Duo

That looks... horrible... I like the "calendar" mode, that's quite fun, but it looks way too wide when it's folded up, and a weird aspect ratio when it's open. Also they show putting the phone down on concrete half-open to take pictures, but that will scratch the outer screen, surely?

What about left-handed people? Will the controls line up on the left?

The real trick is waiting to see if they make a iPhone Duo 3 or 4. Knowing they are committed to the form factor and it’s not another Mini would be nice to know.

Also time to work out the hardware and software issues. Not trying to spend serious money on beta testing like a Vision Pro.

I'll be curious to see how the hinge holds up against wear, tear and small particle intrusion over time. If people get to 2 years and it's still going great. Then I may pick up a Duo 3. But my adoption really comes down to the problems around the hinge.

Oh thanks but I need less screen in my life, not more.

It looks quite well done, though I'm definitely not in the target demographic for this. I'm happy with my high-end desktop devices and shittier mobile devices. The last thing I want is for my phone to be more capable and incentivize me to use it more lol. I use mine to call, text, listen to music, check email, use the map, track workouts, and basic web browsing. I don't need more than that.

Looking forward to the first broken screens, and Apple's official reply:

"You're folding it wrong."

It's so close to the "her" wallet thing that the main character pulls out to look at photos.

It's just too big, and too metal.

The form factor is good. I hope things move this direction.

More broadly, it's interesting that the movie has a beautiful future aesthetic that influenced tech most in the recent years. The muted colors with natural materials mixed with ubiquitous tech that was in the background of a human in a humane world where people mostly walk places. I feel like the AI company aesthetic barrowed a lot from that movie. Right down to their office furniture.

Now we just need to make a phone OS to put something like that on that isn't locked down. Forget the year of desktop linux. I am waiting for the year of phone linux. Android doesn't count.

Apple: Every one else does folding wrong!

Also Apple: We've done it the exact way Samsung and Microsoft did it! We even used the same Duo name as Microsoft!

The folding/unfolding animation is one of the coolest I've seen from a foldable. So slick.

I you can fit an iPad Mini in your pocket, you don't need a foldable display.

I’m not the target market for this phone at all, but I have to wonder how many people are going to take the 256 GB option for $1,999. It feels like that option only exists so they could show a starting price under $2,000.

The 512 GB version for $2,199 seems like option you’d really want as a minimum, and then you’d need to add AppleCare on top of that. Pricey!

$1999 is ridiculous.

Edit: Wow, I didn’t know Samsung foldable was priced similarly. It’s a lot of money to pay for something inherently fragile.

I really hope that in the coming years we will be able to get smaller phones back into the market. Apple compared this to the size of a passport. A passport seems even bigger than a normal iPhone, even when folded. A number of people (especially women with smaller hands) I know are holding onto their iPhone Minis for as long as possible. I’d love a phone that was roughly normal iphone sized when unfolded but was a flip phone à la Motorola razrs in years gone by. I wouldn’t even need a screen on the outside. I know it’s hard for a company like Apple to be able to market “less phone” as a good thing, and I know the iPhone mini didn’t do great commercially but there’s a small cohort of users clamoring to have something for them.

The video they have showing off taking photos has one scene where they open the phone like a laptop to hold the phone to take a photo. That means the front screen was face down on the concrete. Has the durability of the displays gone way up or is this just a scenario no one would ever do?

Somewhat related, Apple snuck in a $100 price increase on the regular iPhone 17.

"Seated. Set iPhone Duo down and watch a show or follow a workout at the perfect viewing angle — with easy access to the controls on the bottom." -- Is the outside screen REALLY that strong? Is it okay to put it on a rough surface like gravel?

I’m in a weird spot because my iPad is old and my iPhone old.

So I’m in the market to buy new ones of each.

So I’m now having to decide if I just buy the Duo … instead of a new phone and new iPad.

But seems like a worse phone and worse iPad - than standalone.

(it does look like the best foldable I’ve seen though)

The lack of faceid is very surprising - it’s by and large one of my favorite features esp in winter.

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I've been out of the loop on foldable phones, and this is question is not related to specifically the iPhone Duo. How does it work that it doesn't show a crease in the middle? What's the breakthrough technology there? Or is there a visible crease?

I'm surprised they weren't able to figure out face id and had to go back to touch id.

I guess we'll find out of there's much of a market for $2k phones. For the price one could get a regular iPhone and a decent iPad.

Lately I leave my MacBook Pro at home and Codex remote for everything. It’s a dream.

But what’s missing is manual in-browser testing, on the go.

This solves that.

I wonder if they will ever see the wobble as a problem or if it is something people like about the iPhone somehow.

My iPhone 15 pro survives another generation.

I wonder if there's a practical way to protect the phone with a case, given that it folds and the dual screen is a big selling point. It feels like one accidental drop on concrete or a ceramic floor would cause a lot of damage.

Give me a single-screen phone the size of this thing closed, and use the extra space inside for more battery and not more displays.

Aside: I'd also love it if it could be plugged into an external display and have a "desktop mode" (like a macos VM) that gets suspended/resumed on connect/disconnect instead of just expanding the "mobile mode" across the new screen. I realize this is probably a dream too far for most companies though, as it doesn't allow them to segment the market as much as requiring people to buy multiple devices.

After watching some reviews of the Duo, I'm convinced that Steve Jobs would have never let the inner panel be matte while the outer panel was glossy. It's too inconsistent and inelegant.

https://www.apple.com/iphone-duo/specs/

It took me a while to figure out I had to click "Explore" to get to the specs, so I'm saving you the trouble.

As long as I'm griping about the web site... Apple, when you introduce a phone with a new and different form factor, please just tell me the dimensions straightaway. This one is shorter and wider than most phones. Is it too wide to fit in my pocket? I need the dimensions to answer that question.

I'd like to have one of these devices once the prices get a bit more normal. I remember paying 400€ for an iPhone 4 when it came out, a flagship phone at the time by all metrics. Adjusted for inflation, that's about 600€.

Flagship prices have now reached the 1000€ mark, with marginal upgrades, and in many cases actual downgrades.

There is no world in which I can justify paying 2x-4x the flagship price for a device fulfilling a fundamentally similar purpose.

For a different comparison, a 14" MacBook Pro costs that much.

RIP iPad mini?

I’m curious to see how using Windows Remote Desktop iOS App will feel at this size if I can be productive or not.

My previous thought was to use XReal glasses with my existing iPhone but that’s not realistic in an office environment.

That starting $2000 price tag.. is this going to be another Vision Pro?

Put MacOS on it and then we'll talk

It was interesting to see no shots of the iPhone Duo being used as an actual phone and I think because it probably will look silly.

That being said, this is the device I always wanted. Something between an iPad and iPhone.

I see apple keeps copying Microsoft. Can't they come up with any original ideas of their own?

To be honest, I'm still having a hard time believing that Apple would release a device that you can completely ruin with just your fingernail...

Despite what the marketing material would have you believe you can always see the fold. Even when it's fully open. Folding screens have been a solution in search of problem for like a decade now

Really want information about if there is a left-handed software setting for the new side-oriented buttons

Duo screen: 7.6" vs iPad mini: 8.3". Duo will support Apple Pencil later. I wonder if many people with iPhone+iPad combination can now replace it with one device.

Competitors may have copied most of the form factor, but as usual, it’s Apple’s Special sauce that makes this thing amazing. In this case it’s how well integrated all of the screens are into the OS and its default apps and actions. SO slick and smooth. Great camera tricks, and the Pencil is a welcome addition, too.

Panos Panay must be so vindicated right now. The Surface Duo truly was ahead of its time.

I might be a minority but I never had interested in this foldable phone trend where you get just a bigger screen. I can't even consider dual display smartphone as a foldable phone. The benchmark for a foldable phone was Motorola Razr V3. I am not sure where they are going they really need some new people with some fresh ideas and vision. Sooner or later someone is going to start eating their lunch.

Virtually no crease. Foldables are undoubtedly the future of phones; the price is the only real dealbreaker.

They were very evasive on what the inner screen was made of. I'm going to assume its the same plastic all the other folding phones are made of.

Apple users: We won't leave apple ecosystem but those android fold phones looks cool, wish apple had something similar.

Apple: There you go.

This is the reason this exist.

I love my iPhone SE 3rd gen. Perfect form factor. Neither too big nor too small to be able to do useful things on it. My hands and arms hurt using large phones. I am so used to using one hand to operate phones. My previous was iPhone SE 1st gen. Why do people need such a large phone in day to day life usage? Carry an iPad/tablet if you really need one.

Had the fold 8 for a while and.. People as usual focus on what they're told (the crease).

They're basically selling you a phone without 1 camera, face id, probably shitty battery to make margins enough to justify the risk. It's placed as duo because there would be not much "ultra" about it. Zf8 is def worse than my fold 8 ultra for productivity and Apple is trying to see if they can make people buy it by selling you the nerfed version first while making you think the crease it's the point. Same for Samsung, but they can afford to just "cover the position".

Here's the Tech Specs page, which is slightly more hidden: https://www.apple.com/iphone-duo/specs/

Notably, the inner screen has a nano‑texture finish (which Apple normally upcharges significantly for), which implies it is glass.

It’s marked ip68, I wonder how they made the hinge water and dust proof

"Because it’s an iPhone, it holds its value longer than other smartphones." Never expected this to be called out explicitly in marketing material