Apple has officially entered the foldable smartphone market with the iPhone Duo, its first iPhone with a flexible display and one of the company’s biggest hardware redesigns in years. Unveiled Wednesday at Apple’s fall event in Cupertino, California, the device was introduced by CEO John Ternus in his first major product launch since succeeding Tim Cook. The launch puts Apple directly into a foldable market already populated by companies including Samsung and Huawei.
Constructed with a polished grade 5 titanium chassis, the book-style device features a 5.4-inch outer cover display alongside an expansive 7.6-inch folding internal screen. The unit relies on a multi-layer lamination method using viscoelastic adhesives, allowing screen layers to move smoothly “like pages in a book” to reduce display stress over extended use. Engineered with a custom 100-component hinge structure, the smartphone folds down to passport-like dimensions while maintaining an ultra-thin profile when fully extended. “iPhone Duo is the most transformational change to iPhone since the original. With an entirely new design and intuitive experiences, it shows what’s possible when hardware and software are engineered together and redefines what it means to use a foldable phone,” said Ternus. The internal screen incorporates a laser-patterned microlens finish designed to flatten the visible seam along the central crease, while a nano-texture coating minimizes surface reflection.
The phone is powered by Apple’s A20 Pro chip and features a titanium frame, precision hinge and dual-battery system. Apple said the inner display is its largest iPhone screen to date and uses a nano-texture finish designed to reduce glare. The device also incorporates an under-display front camera and a pair of 48-megapixel cameras, while its foldable design enables features such as split-screen multitasking and new ways to take photos and videos. Touch ID is built into the side button, rather than Face ID.
Apple has redesigned iOS 27 to accommodate the Duo’s different orientations and screen configurations, allowing users to run apps side by side and transition between the inner and outer displays. The company is also emphasizing Apple Intelligence and its updated Siri AI features as part of the device’s software experience. Apple says the Duo is the thinnest iPhone when opened and is available in Star White and Night Sky.
The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 in the United States for 256GB of storage, making it Apple’s most expensive iPhone. Higher-capacity versions will be offered up to 2TB, with the top configuration priced at $3,199. Preorders begin Oct. 16, with the phone scheduled to reach stores and customers Oct. 23 in the United States and more than 70 other countries and regions.
You can view the Apple iPhone Duo introduction video HERE.
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