Apple entered the foldable phone market with the introduction of the iPhone Duo; a product that, with a base price of $1999, two displays, and a different design, marks the biggest change in the iPhone family in recent years. The phone's 5.4-inch external display, when closed, provides users with about 90 percent of the area of the iPhone 18 Pro's display, and the 7.6-inch internal display, when opened, is 50 percent larger than the iPhone 18 Pro Max's display.
The iPhone Duo is set to be available from October 23 (1 Aban) and its preorders begin on October 16. Below, we examine five important features of this phone that distinguish it from other iPhone models.
1. The first foldable iPhone with a low-crease design
The most important feature of the Duo is, naturally, its foldable design. This phone can be used like a regular iPhone when closed and, when opened, becomes a larger display for watching content, running apps simultaneously, and gaming.
Apple has used a titanium frame and a proprietary hinge that controls the phone's open-and-close movement. The internal display also uses a matte nanotexture coating; a technology that reduces light reflection while also helping the crease to be less visible. This device also has an IP68 rating.
2. Under-display FaceTime camera
The Duo is Apple's first iPhone to place the FaceTime camera under the display. This camera is almost invisible when not in use, and therefore the internal display is available to the user without a notch or hole.
The main camera system includes a 48-megapixel Fusion camera and a 48-megapixel Fusion Ultra Wide camera, and alongside them, a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera is placed on the external display. The Center Stage camera can adjust the frame according to people's movements during video calls or when taking photos.
3. Large matte internal display
The Duo has a 7.6-inch display with a matte nanotexture coating; a feature that, in addition to reducing reflections, creates a different touch experience and makes the crease less noticeable. Both displays support ProMotion, Always-On capability, and a maximum outdoor brightness of 3000 nits.
Apple has also announced that later in the year the iPhone Duo will support the Apple Pencil with USB-C; a feature that enables note-taking, drawing, and annotating documents on both displays.
4. Completely new methods for photography
The dual-display design creates camera capabilities that do not exist on other iPhones. One of the most important is Smart Take; a feature that, using on-device AI models, detects when people are ready to be photographed and captures the image without the need for a timer.
In Duo Preview, the person in front of the camera can see a live preview of the image on the external display and adjust their pose and framing. Kid Cue also attempts to draw children's attention to the camera by displaying animations of Peanuts characters on the external display.
5. Duo FaceTime and a different iOS experience
Duo FaceTime is also one of the phone's exclusive features. In this mode, people sitting next to the user can join the video call via the external display; therefore, several people can participate in the conversation without crowding around a single display.
On the other hand, iOS on the Duo has been redesigned for different states: open, closed, half-open, and open horizontally. The ability to run multiple apps side by side, use the phone hands-free, and place it at various angles are part of the experience that the foldable design provides.
In this way, Apple has not simply introduced the iPhone Duo as an iPhone with a foldable display, and has developed an important part of the camera and software features based on this new design. The high price of $1999 and Apple's entry into a market that has been in the hands of foldable phone makers for years have made the Duo one of the company's most distinctive products.