Phones

iPhone Duo explained: Apple's first folding iPhone in plain language

It opens like a book into a 7.6-inch screen, uses Touch ID instead of Face ID and costs $1,999. What it is, what it gives up and when you can buy it.

By the How To, Simply team · 1 October 2026 · 3 min read

Pre-orders

16 October 2026

In shops

23 October 2026

Price (US)

From $1,999

Screens

5.4-inch outside, 7.6-inch inside

Storage

256 GB up to 2 TB

Colours

Star White, Night Sky

The iPhone Duo is the first iPhone that folds. Apple showed it on 9 September 2026 with the iPhone 18 Pro. Closed, it is a small phone with a 5.4-inch screen. Open, it becomes a 7.6-inch screen, close to a small tablet. This article is based on Apple's announcement and launch reporting. Nobody outside Apple has used one for long yet, so treat durability and battery claims as the maker's own.

How it works

The Duo folds along the long side, like a book. You use the outside screen for quick things such as messages, calls and maps, and open it for reading, video, two apps side by side or editing photos. Apple says the inner screen has a nano-texture finish to cut reflections. Both screens refresh at up to 120 times a second and can stay always on.

What is inside

• Chip: A20 Pro, the same as the iPhone 18 Pro.
• Cameras: two 48-megapixel cameras on the back, a main and an ultra-wide. There is no separate telephoto lens. A front camera sits on the outside screen and another under the inner screen.
• Battery: two batteries, one in each half. Apple quotes up to 44 hours of video on the outer screen, 31 hours on the inner screen and about 24 hours of mixed use, with a charge to 50% in about 20 minutes by cable.
• Body: titanium, rated IP68 against water and dust.
• Software: it ships with iOS 27.1.

What you give up compared with an iPhone 18 Pro

• No Face ID. You unlock with Touch ID in the side button, or with an Apple Watch.
• No telephoto camera. Zoom beyond 2x is digital.
• No SIM tray. The Duo is eSIM-only in every country. Check that your network offers eSIM before you order.
• $800 more. The Duo starts at $1,999 in the United States; the 18 Pro starts at $1,199.

Apple says Apple Pencil support for the inner screen will come in a later update.

Is a folding phone durable?

This is the honest unknown. Folding phones from other makers have improved a lot, but the inner screen is still covered by a softer layer than normal glass, and the fold can show a crease. Apple describes a hinge with more than 100 parts and tougher glass on the outside. How it holds up over two or three years of opening and closing can only be judged with time. If you keep phones for five years, waiting for long-term reports is reasonable.

Who it is for

The Duo makes sense if you often carry both a phone and a small tablet, read or watch a lot on the move, or work in two apps at once. If you mostly use one app at a time and care about the camera, an iPhone 18 Pro does more for much less money.