Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, went on sale October 23 with shipping estimates already pushed to January 2027, after what the company called "extraordinary" demand on pre-order day.
That demand brought back something Apple had mostly engineered away: long lines outside its stores. In recent years the company steered buyers toward online orders with pickup appointments instead of first-come, first-served sales. This time, Apple said it would have "limited" Duo stock in stores in most countries, and in-store pickup ordering was quickly pulled during the pre-order rush.
The software is still catching up to the hardware. App Store screenshots showed how more of Apple's own apps have been adapted to the new shape. Early reviews noted that third-party apps default to a traditional iPhone aspect ratio and layout, surrounded by black bars, until developers update them. Buyers of a new form factor often take on that kind of gap, and for now it is the cost of being first in line.
The carrier math is less forgiving. iOS 27 added iPhone Handoff, which lets two iPhones share one phone number and swap between them. It needs carrier support. T-Mobile charges $5 a month for it, and Verizon has now said it will charge $10. For someone carrying a Duo alongside a conventional iPhone, that works out to $60 to $120 a year for a feature Apple built into the software.
Apple is not slowing down while the Duo queue grows. It is holding a media event in Los Angeles on October 28 under the tagline "Pro and tell." The expected lineup includes a touchscreen MacBook Pro, an OLED iPad mini 8, and iMac and 14-inch MacBook Pro models with the M6 chip.
The open question is how long a supply-limited foldable can stay the center of attention when a wave of Macs lands within days, and whether Verizon's higher price pushes other carriers to follow it or undercut it.