The iPhone Duo's biggest early problem is software, not hardware: some apps fill its screen properly, and others do not.
Dan Barbera, a videographer at the outlet that ran the hands-on, got his Duo a day early and spent a day answering reader questions. He found three tiers of apps. Some scale up to fit the screen. Others have been rebuilt for the Duo's form factor, with features for each physical position; Netflix, for example, has a mode for a half-fold. A third group has not been updated and runs with thick black bars on the sides. Those apps work, the outlet said, but the experience is not good. Updates are expected to start arriving October 23.
Two apps side by side worked well, including watching a video while scrolling a website.
The compromises sit elsewhere. The main camera is the iPhone 17 camera, which the outlet rated as not terrible but behind the iPhone 18 Pro's variable-aperture camera. There is no telephoto lens. The under-display Face ID camera is fine for casual FaceTime calls and weak for anything else.
Unlocking is also different. Touch ID is slower than Face ID because Apple built in a deliberate pause, so you touch and hold. Pairing with an Apple Watch gets closer to the Face ID experience. The display picks up fingerprints but does not feel fragile. The Duo is heavier and bulkier than other iPhones. It can be used one-handed depending on hand size, though less easily in the left hand, since the Touch ID button and navigation bars sit on the right.
The app gap is a familiar story. Foldable and large-screen devices have long depended on developers to adapt, and the first weeks tend to look rough. What is less usual is pairing that wait with a $1,999 starting price and a camera setup that trims the telephoto. The outlet's conclusion is that the verdict depends on whether major apps get updated. If the Duo's own screen is the selling point, how quickly that happens matters more than any spec.