We got hands on with Apple’s new iPhone Duo, so is it worth it?

Apple is very good at making headlines. No matter what product they launch, the world looks on while fans gasp in awe and critics find something to mock. This week, Apple created peak hype at both ends of that scale with the announcement of its first-ever foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo.

I was fortunate to be invited to Apple Park in California as a guest of Apple for the announcement. I was able to get hands-on with what is – without question – the most exciting iPhone since the original was launched nearly 20 years ago.

NOTE: Prices are accurate at time of publishing.

iPhone Duo

Pre-order from $3499

Unfortunately for the haters, the iPhone Duo is spectacular at first look and first touch. While its passport-sized form factor is not unique (Samsung launched this a month ago with its Galaxy Z Fold8), for more than 50 per cent of Australians who’ve never used anything but an iPhone, it will be something very, very different.

Closed, the iPhone Duo does not feel unusual to hold, especially if you’ve used a larger screen device like the iPhone Pro Max of any generation, it’s about the same width. What makes it jarring at first is the fact it’s nowhere near as tall as you would be used to given that passport shape.

It feels light, it doesn’t feel thick, and with the camera lenses on the back running across the top there’s no risk of your hand getting in the way of your camera.

Premium. That’s the word that comes to mind when you hold this device.  But then, your world is turned on its head as you open it up like a book.  Not only is it a satisfying feeling that comes from the remarkable internal mechanism that makes up the hinge, but if the iPhone Duo is on when you open it, there’s some wizardry that happens with the iOS software, which makes you feel like the outer screen is transporting itself to the inside as the outer icons blur and the inner icons appear on one side, yet blurred on the other until fully opened.

Once opened, the number one criticism of all foldables is gone. The crease. This is a folding screen, so frankly you have to expect a crease. Apple thought about this, and I think it simply went, ‘Well, there’s going to be a crease; how do we make it hard to see?’

In the same way TV companies are acknowledging the presence of light in our living rooms and creating glare-free TVs, Apple has added its Nano Texture display coating to the screen. This means you get no glare, no reflection and thus can’t see any crease.

It’s still there – you can feel it to the touch – but I would say it’s the least noticeable crease to touch on a foldable phone, and the least visible. That’s a true achievement, given Samsung’s been at this for seven years and Apple has beaten them right out of the gate.

What really starts to impress here is when someone who knows better – like an Apple Genius – takes you through just a few features. For example, the selfie camera, which Apple calls a FaceTime camera. You can’t see it on the larger inner screen because it’s hidden under the pixels of the screen. Once you know where it is, you can barely see it, but the magic of it just appearing in a video or camera app is a feature that doesn’t wear off.

And yes, they are not the first to put a camera under screen, but again, as with so many things before it, Apple simply does it better; theirs is far less visible.  So much so that it’s a technology Samsung walked back on and opted to simply reintroduce the ‘hole-punch’ cutout for their inner camera.

Another glaring comparative problem for Samsung is the fact they stopped supporting the S-Pen stylus on their foldable range. Apple’s iPhone Duo works with Apple Pencil – no other iPhone does.

Then there’s the software integration. The way the screen blurs as you open it is stunning.  The quirks of the camera’s outer screen are not new, but iPhone users will love it. Even third-party apps like Netflix have a whole new interface to support the outer screen for scrolling previews, and the laptop-like inner screen, when sitting on a bench, not only shows playback controls on the flat, half-folded lower surface while the video plays up top, but it also creates a fake reflection on the lower screen.

Apple has a way of twisting the arms of developers to create great things, it’s clear they’ve done that already and that the developer community at large will follow with many more apps.

Perhaps the most impressive, but simple thing is just how fast the iPhone Duo reacts to all the changes in the state of its fold. Half open, fully open, closed, and twisted in any direction – it just re-aligns to a new profile quickly without any thinking time.

One could easily criticise the cameras on iPhone Duo, limited to just two lenses for Wide and Ultra-wide, but if you want Zoom and all the pro-level features, buy an iPhone 18 Pro.

And then, the biggest catch – the price.

Ranging from $3499 to $5899, the iPhone Duo is the most expensive iPhone ever and by some margin.

Critical to that is that the same sized Samsung Z Fold8 is $800 cheaper.  

Head to head while I think the iPhone Duo is the most impressive of the two, it’s hard to look past that price differential and I’m not sure all the features justify it.

The fact is, there aren’t a lot of people who switch brands on phones. Apple will cater to their users, while Samsung will to theirs. I’ve got very little doubt about the likely success of the iPhone Duo.

Pre-sales start October 16, the phone goes on-sale October 23.

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