Apple Debuts the iPhone Duo, Its First Folding iPhone
The iPhone Duo is Apple’s first folding smartphone. The company announced the device at its annual September event at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, alongside new iPhone 18 Pro models.
Apple is a late entrant to the foldable phone market, which has been around since Samsung debuted the first Galaxy Fold in 2019. Since then, phone makers like Honor, Google, Motorola, and Oppo have all made folding phones. In recent years, devices have rapidly gotten slimmer, lighter, and more durable.
The iPhone Duo has a book-like shape and is similar in size to Samsung’s recent Galaxy Z Fold8, reminiscent of Google’s original Pixel Fold. This “passport-style” fold—which stands shorter and unfolds wider than many of the first wave of foldable designs—is better suited for media consumption since it eliminates the severe letterboxing that places thick black bars around the TV show or movie you’re watching.
Apple is expected to help grow a category that has been declining for five straight quarters by 13 percent year over year—potentially capturing up to 30 percent of the foldable market share by the end of 2026, according to IDC’s Nabila Popal, a senior research director. But the folding phone market is still niche, “around 2 percent by the end of this year of the global smartphone market.”
Popal says a recent IDC survey asked consumers whether they were interested in buying a foldable smartphone when it was time to upgrade, and 60 percent said they are not likely to buy one. However, when asked if Apple released a folding smartphone, almost 33 percent said they “absolutely” would.
“Apple has such a strong market pull,” Popal tells WIRED. “The average consumer didn’t know about [memory price increases] until Apple made an announcement that they’re going to increase prices. “Coming into foldables, it’s going to create overall excitement for the category. And it’s good for the consumer too. It’s always good to have more competition and more choice.”
One area of concern is the device’s durability and repairability, as folding phones are notoriously more prone to damage and are tough to fix. Elizabeth Chamberlain, director of Sustainability at iFixit, tells WIRED her team has never taken apart a foldable they’d call truly repairable.
“Manufacturers have come a long way since the Galaxy Fold first dropped,” she says. “But the gains in durability haven’t come with gains in repairability.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.