Apple has entered the foldable phone market with the iPhone Duo, a $1,999 handset with a 5.4-inch outer screen and a 7.6-inch inner display.
The Duo swaps Face ID for Touch ID built into the power button, ships with two rear cameras, and uses a nano-texture finish on its inner screen to cut glare. Apple rebuilt iOS 27 around the hinge, moving the dock to the side of the phone and adding a new unfold animation. The base 256GB model starts at $1,999, with pricier storage tiers above that. Apple says preorder demand has been extraordinary, and some orders are already pushed into 2027.
The timing is the real story here. Samsung and Google have sold folding phones since 2019, which means Apple is shipping a category rival, not inventing one. What Apple is betting on instead is software polish: a redesigned interface built specifically for the fold, rather than a stretched version of a flat-phone OS.
That bet might work. Apple has a habit of arriving late to a hardware category and still cashing in once it nails the software layer, as it did with smartwatches and wireless earbuds.