It’s official - Apple has just unveiled its first-ever foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo. The device features a titanium frame, a dual camera system and a foldable form-factor similar to a passport and its competitor Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8.

Unveiled as CEO John Ternus' first one more thing moment, the iPhone Duo is the biggest change to the iPhone since the original was unveiled by Steve Jobs in 2007.

Design

The Duo features two separate displays, an outer 5.4-inch glossy display, which can be unfolded to reveal a nano-textured 7.6-inch inner display that resembles an iPad mini.

Apple says the nano-texture inner display helps reduce the appearance of a crease, and that the finish is "premium to touch", which they say is unlike other foldables on the market. This layer also has an Apple-designed coating to make it more scratch-resistant, though Apple has also confirmed that AppleCare customers can replace this layer for £19.

The shiny titanium frame wraps around the iPhone, which features a Ceramic Shield glass back and is available in two colours: Star White and Night Sky.

Another bonus is that iPhone Duo is the thinnest iPhone ever when unfolded at 5.2mm, but is also the thickest available when closed, at 11.3mm.

Display Technology

Both the inner and outer displays are Apple Retina displays, with ProMotion which means they can reach a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The screens are OLED, which provides great colour contrast and true-blacks when viewing darker content.

Performance

Apple's latest A-series chip, the A20 Pro, powers the iPhone Duo. It is the same chip available in the iPhone 18 Pro, and features a 6-core CPU and 7-core GPU with a dual 16-core neural engine for on-device AI performance.

Authentication

Every iPhone model since the 2022 iPhone SE (3rd generation) has featured Face ID authentication to unlock the iPhone, confirm your password in apps, download content from the App Store and pay for things with Apple Pay.

iPhone Duo breaks this trend, opting for Touch ID in the side power button. Apple says this is so that users can always use their authentication method no matter which orientation the iPhone is in, or whether it is folded or unfolded.

Cameras

iPhone Duo has a dual camera system on the back, with a 48MP main and 48MP fusion ultra wide.

This is similar to the iPhone 17 camera system, and is a step up from the iPhone Air. The main cameras enable 12MP 2x Telephoto photos, but due to the horizontal alignment of the cameras, iPhone Duo does not support Spatial Photos.

Other Camera Highlights

  • 10x digital zoom
  • Night Mode
  • 48MP macro photos
  • Portrait Mode
  • Dual Capture

Exclusive to iPhone Duo

Whilst there are some downsides to the camera system compared to Apple's iPhone 18 Pro offerings, and even the iPhone 17, the iPhone Duo has additional capabilities exclusive to this device.

Smart Take is a new feature where you can sit the iPhone down in a laptop-like form to take a hands-free group photo. Smart Take can detect when everyone is in position before it takes a photo, so you don't have to rely on a countdown, your Apple Watch controls or have someone miss out of the photo.

Additionally, Kid Cue is a new feature which displays Snoopy animations on the outer display, to get your children's attention when taking a photo.

Finally, Duo Preview is a new option where someone can take a photo of you using the inner display, with the output previewed to you on the outer display. This allows the person being photographed to make suggestions before a photo is taken, to try and get the perfect take.

Video

iPhone Duo supports 4K video recording at 120fps, like the Pro iPhone lineup. The cameras also support dual capture in FaceTime, and iPhone Duo has a hidden under-display FaceTime camera when unfolded, that appears only when you open the camera app, or take a video call.

This inner camera is only 1080p, and is not great for photo taking, but Duo users can instead use the outer display 12MP centre stage camera, or the dual cameras on the back.

Reimagined iOS

iOS 27 has been adapted for this new form factor, with controls moved from the bottom and top of the display to the right side of the device. Additionally, the iPhone dock also appears on the right rather than the bottom, allowing the Home Screen app layout to remain almost uninterrupted when compared to the standard iPhone form factor.

iPhone Duo brings multitasking to iOS for the first time, with support for two apps open side-by-side. This is exclusive to iPhone Duo, and does not appear to be extending to the standard iPhone models.

In addition to these headline changes, Apple has made even more changes, such as Apple Pencil support on iPhone for the first time ever.

New iOS features

  • Vertical controls on iOS
  • Vertical Home Screen dock
  • 2 apps side-by-side
  • Can be used landscape and vertically
  • Apple Pencil (USB-C) compatible with iPhone Duo
  • Speaker on top and bottom with spatial audio
  • Reimagined StandBy mode

Pricing and Availability

iPhone Duo will be available to pre-order from Friday, 16th October at 1PM BST.

It will then be available in stores and to customers a week later, from Friday, 23rd October.

The device starts at £2,000, but can be configured to over £3,000.

  • 256GB, £1,999
  • 512GB, £2,199
  • 1TB, £2,599
  • 2TB, £3,199