Apple’s first foldable iPhone is drawing praise for its sleek engineering and nearly invisible screen crease — but critics say its hefty design, camera compromises and uneven app support make the $1,999 gadget a tough sell for most consumers.
On top of that, early reports indicate the pricey device may be prone to crack.
The iPhone Duo hits stores Friday after drawing an 8.8 out of 10 from Engadget and 7 out of 10 from both The Verge and WIRED.
Engadget called Apple’s long-awaited entry into the foldable market “worth the wait,” while The Verge described it as a “messy, expensive, good time.”
Meanwhile, Wired called it an “astonishingly good first foldable.”
The device unfolds to reveal a 7.6-inch matte display that dramatically reduces glare, while its innovative hinge operates smoothly and holds the screen at different angles.
However, a handful of Reddit posts indicated severe disappointment for some buyers as of Friday afternoon.
“iPhone Duo screen cracked within 6 hours of ownership,” one user complained.
The person said they had taken out the device to show it off to a friend when they “felt something around the internal hinge, underneath the screen.”
“As I continued opening it, I heard an audible crack, and the screen broke right along the hinge,” the post continued. “There were no marks or damage on the inner screenâs surface or the external hinge to suggest anything had been caught or damaged.”
The person zoomed back to an Apple store, where staff gave the customer a new Duo.
Another Reddit user posted a video of a cracked device, commenting: “Looks like some of them are cracking in the exact same area.”
Yet another image of a cracked Duo had the caption, “Iâve seen several iPhone Duos with damage in this exact same spot.”
Still, reviewers sung praises of the device’s titanium construction and smooth folding mechanism.
The crease hasn’t disappeared entirely, however. Several critics noted that it remains visible at certain angles and can still be felt when running a finger across the screen.
Apple’s anti-reflective finish also comes with a trade-off: Colors can appear less vibrant and blacks less deep than on the company’s non-folding premium iPhones.
At 254 grams and 11.3 millimeters thick when folded, the Duo’s bulk emerged as one of the most frequent complaints.
Its relatively small 5.4-inch outer display also drew mixed reactions, with some reviewers praising its compact footprint and others complaining that websites and apps feel cramped on the device.
The Wall Street Journal delivered one of the harshest assessments, describing the device as “Too Much iPhone, Too Little iPad.”
Despite its expansive inner display, the Duo falls short of an iPad when it comes to productivity, with more limited multitasking and keyboard capabilities, according to the Journal.
Software emerged as another major sticking point.
While Apple’s own apps generally make a seamless transition between the folded and unfolded screens, reviewers found that many third-party offerings weren’t properly optimized for the device.
Wired’s Julian Chokkattu described the problem: “Thick, black bars on the sides, with a phone-sized app in the middle of this tablet-like display.”
Engadget’s Sam Rutherford called the gap between optimized and unoptimized apps “the biggest growing pain you’ll face on Apple’s first foldable.”
Even the Duo’s multitasking capabilities have limitations.
Users can run two apps side by side, but Apple’s software restricts them to a fixed 50-50 split, without the freedom to open a third floating window.
“If you have two apps split-screen on the Duo, Apple wonât let you resize one app to be slightly bigger than the other like you can on Android,” Chokkattu wrote in Wired.
“Here, a 50-50 split is always enforced. You canât add a floating third app when in split-screen either, even though Apple has offered a similar capability on iPads for years.”
Those complaints could ease as developers adapt their apps to the new format.
Wired reported that several popular apps received updates during the device’s testing period, while Creative Strategies said the share of its installed apps optimized for the Duo increased dramatically over roughly six days.
Other shortcomings won’t be fixed with software updates.
“Despite being Appleâs most expensive iPhone, the iPhone Duo does not have its most powerful camera system,” Chance Miller of 9to5Mac wrote.
Its main and ultrawide cameras generally earned favorable marks, but several reviewers found their performance inferior to the iPhone 18 Pro, particularly in low light.
The hidden 4-megapixel camera beneath the inner display also disappointed, with Gizmodo reporting washed-out image quality.
“I hear you: it feels absurd that a $2,000 phoneâthe most expensive iPhone everâdoes not have the most versatile camera system that Apple has to offer,” Gizmodo’s Raymond Wong wrote, adding that he “noticed more lens flares coming off streetlights and more smeared details.”
Still, the folding design offers some novel photographic advantages, including the ability to use the higher-quality rear cameras for selfies while viewing the shot on the outer screen.
Battery life, meanwhile, exceeded the expectations of several reviewers, even if it couldn’t match Apple’s top conventional iPhone.
Tom’s Guide found that the Duo lasted 13 hours and 20 minutes in a continuous 5G web-browsing test using its larger display.
That handily beat the 10 hours and six minutes recorded by Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8, but fell well short of the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s 17 hours and 31 minutes.
Other reviewers reported getting through a typical day without needing to recharge, although intensive use of the larger screen could drain the battery considerably faster.
The divergent ratings reflected less disagreement over the Duo’s strengths and weaknesses than differing views about whether its folding design justifies the compromises.
Tom’s Guide called it the “best designed foldable yet,” while 9to5Mac concluded that a conventional iPhone remains the more practical choice for most consumers.
The Post has sought comment from Apple.
