GoKawiilFirst look: Following years of fervent speculation, Apple finally unveiled its first folding phone, the iPhone Duo, at its 'Surprise and Shine' event in Cupertino, California. The company is betting big on its first foldable, with new CEO John Ternus calling it "the most transformational change to iPhone since the original."
The iPhone Duo arrives with two "Super Retina XDR" ProMotion displays, including a large 7.6-inch folding panel on the inside and a smaller 5.4-inch screen on the outside. Both are protected by Ceramic Shield 2 and offer 3000 nits of peak outdoor brightness. They will both support the updated USB-C Apple Pencil with a future software update.
On the hardware side, the Duo is powered by the A20 Pro SoC, which comprises a 6-core CPU, a 7-core GPU, and a dual 16-core Neural Engine. Apple claims that compared to the A19 Pro, the new CPU and GPU are up to 20% and 40% faster, respectively, while being more power efficient. The Neural Engine reportedly offers 2x the compute power as the A19 Pro to run on-device AI models.
Built by TSMC on its 2nm node, the new chip incorporates a custom vapor chamber for improved thermal management.
Apple says that the new cooling solution makes the A20 Pro better than its competition at multitasking, gaming, and complex AI workloads. The company also claims that the new chip offers 35% better sustained performance than the iPhone 17 Pro.
The Duo sports a 48MP Fusion ultra-wide main camera on the outside, paired with a secondary 12MP 2x optical telephoto camera. The main sensor supports 4K 120fps recording and 4K time lapse in Dolby Vision HDR. Additionally, there's a Center Stage camera on the front and an under-screen FaceTime camera on the inside for video calls.
The iPhone Duo is built out of Grade-5 titanium that adds structural rigidity and keeps the weight down. It also uses a 3D-printed hinge cover with a micro-blasted finish, offering a stark contrast to the mirror polish of the main frame. Apple also added antenna splits with ceramic fiber inserts to enhance the frame's rigidity.
The foldable brings back Touch ID with an old-school fingerprint scanner integrated into the power button. It can also be unlocked using Face ID and with the Apple Watch. The device uses Apple's in-house N1 networking chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread connectivity, while the C2 cellular modem adds 5G mmWave support.
The Duo ships with iOS 27, but with several features designed specifically for the folding screen. One of the custom features is the Today View, which shows two Home Screens, including one with a vertically scrolling list of customizable widgets. Other changes include a redesigned Dynamic Island and a circular module on the status bar to show Wi-Fi, cellular strength, and battery information.
The iPhone Duo is available in Star White and Night Sky colorways, starting at $1,999 for the base $256GB model. Pre-orders begin October 16, with general availability from October 23.