Apple's foldable iPhone Duo wins over a skeptical reviewer

The reviewer packed an iPhone 17 Pro Max as a backup before the trip, wary of giving up a refined slab phone for Apple’s first foldable. By the end of five days, the Duo had become the preferred device, despite broken apps, unfamiliar Touch ID gestures, and camera limits that at first meant carrying two phones at once.

Durability proved to be a strength rather than a worry. The reviewer sat on the folded phone repeatedly and dropped it at least three times onto concrete, tile and wood floors without cracking the screen. Apple rates the Duo IP68, a tougher dust-resistance rating than the IP48 Samsung gave its Galaxy Z Fold 8 — a gap that mattered after a former Galaxy Fold owner recalled beach sand ruining that device’s hinge.

Software readiness was the main source of friction. Google’s Search app, especially its AI Mode, repeatedly froze and needed a force-close to recover, which the reviewer called the trip’s biggest annoyance. Several other apps have yet to be redesigned for the Duo’s folded screen, leaving a black bar along the display, though the reviewer still found most of them usable, including Google Maps, which was not yet Duo-optimized.

The camera is the clearest step down: two rear lenses against the Pro Max’s three, no telephoto lens, and digital zoom that reaches only 10x where the Pro Max reaches 40x; the Pro Max’s hardware also supports more advanced low-light photography, ProRAW and ProRes. The bigger drawback, in the reviewer’s view, is the missing Face ID — Touch ID alone made tap-to-pay and one-handed unlocking harder, particularly while juggling bags or a leash. Apple is said to be adding Face ID in a future version.

Strangers stopped the reviewer for roughly half a dozen conversations about the device, drawn in by its nearly invisible hinge and matte inner screen; one asked to see its Kid Cue feature, which animates the outer display to get children looking at the camera. The reviewer unfolded the Duo less often than expected day to day, reserving it mainly for video and split-screen multitasking.

Why it matters

Apple’s entry turns foldables from a niche format into a mainstream one, and the reviewer expects holdout apps to catch up to the new screen shape as adoption grows.