This is the first and last time I’ll say this: Apple has unveiled its first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo. It took ten years of ideation, multiple engineering prototypes, and months of price finalization to get here, but Apple finally has an iPhone that folds in half, and the competition just got fierce in this category.
Before I get into the details, here’s one thing you should know, because it could throw you off otherwise. The iPhone Duo follows a passport-like form factor, making it slightly smaller than the traditional tall, narrow-cover-screen foldables on the market. Its most direct rival is the Galaxy Z Fold 8.
Here’s what Apple’s first foldable iPhone offers
Apple’s first foldable feels more like a shorter, regular smartphone at first, especially in the cover screen’s width. However, unfold it, and you’ll realize how big a screen the foldable is hiding. The inner screen’s aspect ratio suits horizontal video better than any Ultra or Pro Fold on the market, something we’ve already seen with the Galaxy Z Fold 8.
Beyond the short-and-wide form factor, the iPhone Duo also features a magnetic hinge system and a magnetic connector on the back to enable MagSafe charging. While the foldable iPhone doesn’t get Face ID, it comes with Touch ID for biometric authentication, integrated straight into the side button.
The 5.4-inch cover screen and the 7.6-inch inner display share Super Retina XDR panels with ProMotion, Always On, and up to 3,000 nits of peak outdoor brightness. Apple Pencil support is coming too, though contrary to some rumors, it won’t be there on day one: Apple says USB-C Apple Pencil compatibility arrives as a software update later this year.
Under the hood, the foldable iPhone gets the same A20 Pro chip as the iPhone 18 Pro, with no binning, delivering up to 35 percent better sustained performance than the iPhone 17 Pro thanks to a custom vapor chamber and M-series-style chip packaging (via Apple Newsroom). It’s paired with Apple’s new C2 modem, which brings AI-powered improvements to cellular quality and reliability, plus mmWave support in the U.S. Storage starts at 256GB and tops out at 2TB.
Apple hasn’t officially disclosed RAM, though rumors still point to 12GB.
Does iPhone Duo get any specific iOS 27 features?
Yes, indeed. The iPhone Duo gets Split View, Apple’s first true side-by-side app support on iPhone, plus the ability to run two windows of the same app and hold a Siri AI conversation while working in another app. iOS also reacts directly to how you’re holding the phone: content adjusts as you fold it, reorients when you turn it sideways, and switches to whichever display is actually facing you.
It will also get new Apple Intelligence features, including Siri AI. On the optics side, the rear setup pairs a 48MP Fusion Main camera, complete with a built-in optical-quality 2x Telephoto crop, with a 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide lens that’s identical to the one on the iPhone 18 Pro, not the iPhone 17 as earlier rumors suggested. Up front, a Center Stage camera sits on the cover screen, with a separate FaceTime camera hidden beneath the inner display.
Battery life may be where the iPhone Duo best beats the competition. Apple hasn’t disclosed the exact mAh figure, but the Duo runs on two batteries, one on each side of the hinge, working together as a single pack. Apple rates that setup for up to 31 hours of video playback on the inner display, up to 44 hours on the outer display alone, and up to 24 hours of general use split evenly between the two.
Charging is fast too, up to 50% in around 20 minutes wired, or 30 minutes wirelessly with a MagSafe or Qi2 charger. Given those numbers and the tighter hardware-software optimization, the foldable might genuinely outlast the Galaxy Z Fold 8 between charges.
Pricing and availability
The iPhone Duo (256GB) starts at $1,999, exactly $100 more than its most direct competitor, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 ($1,899).
However, the phone still undercuts the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra’s launch price of $2,099. Pre-orders open Friday, October 16, with the iPhone Duo hitting shelves Friday, October 23, in India, among the first wave of more than 70 launch countries.
