Apple’s $2,000 iPhone Duo Faces an Early Hinge Test
Apple’s $2,000 iPhone Duo Faces an Early Hinge Test
The warning signs emerged almost as soon as Apple’s first foldable reached customers. After the iPhone Duo went on sale Friday, owners began posting similar accounts: resistance near the hinge, an audible crack while opening the phone, then bright lines and a broken inner display. One Australian buyer said the phone failed after fewer than 20 openings and was replaced at an Apple Store “on the spot.”
The visual pattern quickly sharpened the concern. Reports described bright bands spreading from roughly the same point along the hinge, sometimes within hours of use. For buyers of a handset starting at $1,999, the stakes are especially stark: an out-of-warranty inner-screen repair is listed at $999.
Apple acknowledged the problem on Monday, calling it an issue affecting a “small number of iPhone Duo units” and directing customers with display trouble to AppleCare for replacements. The company paired that concession with a defense of the broader launch, saying early-user response had been “incredibly positive” and developers were updating apps for the new form factor.
Independent teardowns offer a more cautionary interpretation. iFixit found that damage appears close to a section where the hinge support changes shape, raising the possibility that a component can bind and place damaging pressure on the folding OLED. Its technician Shahram Mokhtari said many reports involved users hearing “a crunch” while folding or unfolding the device.
YouTuber CuriousHagi reached a similar conclusion after durability testing and disassembly: a thinner middle hinge link appeared to snap at a notch, with marks suggesting contact against the support plate. Neither finding proves the cause across every failed device. But the overlap between customer accounts and the teardown theories puts Apple’s most complicated new mechanism at the center of its first foldable controversy.
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