iPhone Duo: Apple's First Foldable Costs $1,999 — Everything You Need to Know
Apple has finally entered the foldable race. Here's what the iPhone Duo offers, how much it costs, and when you can get one.
For years, Apple watched Samsung, Google and others experiment with folding phones while it waited on the sidelines. That wait is over. The iPhone Duo is Apple's first foldable iPhone — and with pre-orders opening next week, it's about to become the most talked-about phone of the season.
Design: a phone that opens into a mini tablet
Closed, the iPhone Duo is a compact phone with a 5.4-inch outer display. Open it, and you get a 7.6-inch inner screen — and, according to Apple, the thinnest iPhone it has ever made. It comes in two colours, star white and night sky.
One detail worth knowing before you buy: the iPhone Duo is eSIM-only. There's no physical SIM tray, so check that your carrier supports eSIM.
Performance and battery life
Inside is Apple's new A20 Pro chip. To keep it cool in such a thin body, Apple uses a custom vapor chamber, and a dual-battery design spreads the battery across both halves of the phone.
Apple quotes up to 31 hours of video playback on the inner display and up to 44 hours on the outer display. As always, real-world results will depend on how you use it.
iOS 27, rebuilt for folding
The software has been reworked for the bigger screen. Lock Screen controls and the Dock move to the side, making better use of the wide inner display. The iPhone Duo also gets the brand-new version of Siri, which Apple is rolling out in beta with iOS 27.
Cameras
The main camera is a 48MP Fusion camera, and there's a FaceTime camera hidden under the inner display. A neat new trick called Duo FaceTime lets a second person join a call through the outer screen — so two people can face each other with the phone between them.
Price and storage options
| Storage | U.S. price |
|---|---|
| 256GB | $1,999 |
| 512GB | $2,199 |
| 1TB | $2,599 |
| 2TB | $3,199 |
That's expensive, but less than many expected: before the announcement, analysts widely predicted a starting price between $2,300 and $2,550.
Release date: when can you get it?
- October 12–15: you can pick your colour and accessories in advance, ready for pre-order day.
- October 16: pre-orders open at 5 a.m. Pacific Time.
- October 23: on sale in the U.S. and more than 70 other countries and regions.
- October 30: launches in 28 more countries and regions.
Should you buy one?
The iPhone Duo is a first-generation product, and first versions of new device categories often have rough edges. At $1,999, it makes sense to wait for real-world reviews — especially on how the fold and hinge hold up over time, and how well apps adapt to the inner screen. If you love the idea of a phone that becomes a tablet and you live inside Apple's ecosystem, though, this is the moment many people have been waiting for.
Would you pay $1,999 for a foldable iPhone, or wait for the second generation?
Also see: every major phone launching in October 2026.
Sources: Apple Newsroom, MacRumors, Channel Insider. Images: Apple.
