When Apple announced the iPhone Duo, it conveniently left out one piece of information that every other major foldable phone maker has disclosed: how many folds the iPhone Duo can handle. Now we know thanks to real-life testing from owners.
YouTuber Kuba Klawiter had an iPhone Duo folded and unfolded by hand on a live stream until its screen cracked. On fold 75,001, a line formed down the middle of the inner screen.
For those keeping track, Samsung officially rates its latest Galaxy Z Flip and Z Fold devices for 500,000 folds before the screen should break. That’s more than double the 200,000 folds its foldable phones were previously rated for.
Other reviewers have also put the iPhone Duo’s folding durability to the test. Independent tech journalist Joanna Stern had a robot made to fold her iPhone Duo, and it lasted over 32,000 folds, though she didn’t keep going until it broke.
Tech YouTuber Tim Pan of MediaStorm also repeatedly folded the iPhone Duo. He also used an industrial folding machine to perform the task. His review unit lasted over 10,000 folds. Similarly, the YouTube channel HTX Studio also stress-tested the iPhone Duo with a folding machine and was able to get more than 3,000 folds. Neither YouTuber folded their devices until they broke. (They’re loaners from Apple, so it’s against the reviewer’s agreement to purposely break a device that must be returned.)
I can’t definitively say that the iPhone Duo is considerably less durable than Samsung’s latest foldables, because testing conditions vary across these user tests. In Klawiter’s case, the iPhone Duo was still fine after 50,000 folds. At that point, he put the iPhone Duo in a bag with dirt and dust to simulate pocket lint. There was some crunchiness on the first few folds, but then it “was back to normal.” At 60,000 folds, a deepened crease appeared. Then, at 75,000 folds, he put the iPhone Duo in a bowl filled with ice to simulate cold temperatures. Well, we all know what happened on the fold after the ice bath.
Klawiter also mentions that in similar testing he’s done on Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Samsung Z Flip 5, both phones survived more than 400,000 folds.
It’s entirely possible that the iPhone Duo might have survived and continued folding for who-knows-how-many-more folds if the YouTuber hadn’t put it into a bowl of ice and, perhaps, didn’t do so with the screen open.
One thing that I do know is that now is the best time for transparency from Apple. It can share how many folds the iPhone Duo is rated for based on its own testing methodology. Consumers deserve to know just how durable the iPhone Duo’s hinge really is on a phone that costs $2,000. Secrecy is not what we need or want; it’ll only make it seem like Apple is hiding something.
Apple shared this statement with Gizmodo yesterday after reports of iPhone Duo screens cracking and breaking post-launch: “We are aware of an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units. If users experience issues with their iPhone Duo display, they should contact AppleCare for a replacement.”
You can read my review of the iPhone Duo here. As of today, the inner screen is still working perfectly.
