Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images
Based on early reactions, Apple’s first foldable phone, released in limited supply today, seems like your initial attempt at a new recipe: exciting, fit for consumption, but not totally satisfying.
The $1,999 Duo is being called “one of Apple’s messiest first-generation products in a long time,” per The Verge (which gave it a 7/10); the “most interesting iPhone since the first one,” per Mashable; and an expensive, inconvenient “freaky little thing” that the Strategist’s reviewer still loved.
According to tech critics…
Display and battery life are standouts
The crease: Foldable phones usually have an annoying center wrinkle, but the Duo looks like a Botoxed forehead (though mere weeks of use could change that). Its crease is borderline invisible because of a matte-finish inner screen that reduces glare, making reading “a delight,” per CNET, which gave the device an 8.7/10.
The juice: The Duo often had 30%–40% of charge left by bedtime. It also outperformed its competitors—the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Pixel 11 Pro Fold—in CNET’s 45-minute stress test of streaming, scrolling, and other activities.
Other good stuff: Split-screen multitasking is reportedly easy. Wired said the phone is “a viable emergency workstation” when paired with a portable keyboard, and the camera is almost as good as that of the iPhone 18 Pro—though there’s no telephoto camera for extra-sharp zooms.
What weighs the Duo down
For starters, its weight. Apple’s bouncing baby phone is 254 grams—slightly more than the iPhone 18 Pro Max and about a golf ball heavier than the Galaxy Z Fold 8. It can tip over when attached to MagSafe Stands unfolded.
Other cons: It lacks Face ID, it can get physically hot, the front screen is too small to comfortably doomscroll (which could also be considered a positive), and it has some newbie quirks (e.g., MagSafe wallets hang over the phone’s edge).
But the biggest issue of all: Many apps appear with black bars because they’re not yet optimized for the Duo, so some reviewers recommend waiting to buy it. Amid tight supply, you may not have a choice.—ML
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