The iPhone Duo itself is not necessary. You can buy perfectly capable, affordable phones that do what you already need a phone to do. But that’s not the point. It shows us and other companies that a foldable phone doesn’t have to just be the same phone experience with a bigger screen.

Apple acknowledges an issue affecting the interior, folding screen on a ‘small number of iPhone Duo units.’

In its promo materials, Apple mostly highlighted StandBy in tent mode, in which you fold the iPhone Duo halfway, then position it on a flat surface like a little tent. When the phone goes to sleep, it will launch a beautiful StandBy screen, with several customizable views.

It’s now been around three days since an iPhone Duo owner complained on the MacRumors forums that something was “a little off” during their FaceTime calls. The note prompted a bit of an investigation,

We’re using our in-house robot to open and close the iPhone Duo hundreds of thousands of times. Watch along and get your questions answered by CNET editors live.

One extra you probably shouldn't dodge, though, is AppleCare+ or AppleCare One. While it adds hundreds of dollars to your phone's lifetime price, the penalty if something goes wrong could be even more severe. It's inherent to the nature of foldable phones, at least as they are in 2026.