Apple launches its first foldable iPhone – plus other key reveals from the launch

Apple launches foldable iPhone Duo - I got a first look up close Jump to content

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I got a first look at Apple’s new £2k iPhone – it’s not just the price that makes it stand out

After years of holding out, Apple has learnt from its rivals with its first folding model, the iPhone Duo. These are my first impressions

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Britta O'BoyleTechnology journalist, in Cupertino, California.

Nathan SpendelowCommissioning Editor, Tech

Updated

10 September 2026 1:19am BST

Published

09 September 2026 7:29pm BST

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Britta O'BoyleTechnology journalist, in Cupertino, California.

Nathan SpendelowCommissioning Editor, Tech

Updated

10 September 2026 1:19am BST

Published

09 September 2026 7:29pm BST

: disclaimer

: The products or services listed have been independently tested by our journalists. We earn a commission from the affiliate links in this article.Read more >

Apple has entered the foldable phone race with the iPhone Duo, following years of speculation about whether the company would ever bend its famously rigid design philosophy.

Barely a month after Samsung dropped its latest Galaxy Z Fold 8, this is the moment Apple stakes its claim in a category it has notoriously avoided for the last decade. I was at the launch event at Apple’s HQ in Cupertino, California for a first look.

Similar in size to a British passport, the new smartphone unfolds like a miniature book to reveal a large 7.6-inch inner screen. When closed, it’s shorter and wider than a traditional iPhone, and when opened, it resembles a small iPad.

What makes the iPhone Duo worth your attention isn’t just that it’s the first hinged phone with an Apple logo, but that it addresses some of the biggest frustrations currently plaguing folding mobiles.

You can barely see the crease on the inner display, and it doesn’t look like a cheap plastic sheet. It’s intuitive to use, and fully waterproof, which is rare among rivals. Whether all that justifies a £2,000 price tag, however, is another question entirely.

A foldable smartphone that actually works

The iPhone Duo switches seamlessly between the outside and inside displays, which isn’t something you can say for current foldables. Open Netflix on the front screen, for example, and you can watch trailers as you would on a normal phone. Then open the Duo, and the internal screen immediately fills with the content you were watching. Fold it into a right angle, prop it on the table, and playback controls will appear in the bottom section of the screen, with the video transitioning to the top half.

This happens with other elements of usability, such as the keyboard moving to whatever position you’re holding the phone in, and even splitting across the left and right sides when half open. Multi-tasking is simple, with the ability to drag and drop between apps side by side, and the option to fuse two apps together with a simple tap.

I would have preferred a smaller keyboard on the external screen, as it takes up a lot of the space. There’s also a new icon in the corner that shows your mobile signal, Wi-Fi connection and battery in one, but strangely, you can’t press it to open those controls – perhaps this will change in the future.

Best-looking folding screen I’ve seen

The outside screen on the iPhone Duo looks a lot like any other smartphone display. It’s bright and vibrant, with rich, punchy colours. At 5.4 inches, it’s slightly smaller than most phone screens, many of which now push past six inches, but its wider and shorter size makes it easier to use one-handed, with access to apps positioned under the natural resting place of your thumb on the side. Open it up, however, and you get a 7.8-inch display, which is only slightly smaller than an iPad mini’s 8.1-inch screen.

!The folding screen is bright and vibrant, with rich, punchy colours

*The folding screen is bright and vibrant, with rich, punchy colours

Credit

: Britta O'Boyle*

Unlike many folding phones, where the internal screen can feel cheap, the iPhone Duo opts for a matte finish. This significantly minimises reflections, reduces crease visibility (it’s barely noticeable here), and prevents fingerprints from showing. It also avoids looking like it has a cheap plastic screen protector overlaid on top, with no visible lip at the edge of the internal display.

Both the internal and external displays support the Apple Pencil (though I’ve been told not at launch), allowing you to take notes or draw on the go. For context, Samsung quietly dropped support for its stylus last year, so this is somewhat of a novelty feature these days.

Folding design boosts the cameras

Sadly, there are some compromises in the photography department with the iPhone Duo compared to the iPhone 18 Pro. It has only two rear camera lenses instead of three, with a 48-megapixel ultrawide sensor accompanying the main camera, but no dedicated zoom lens. It has some clever camera tricks up its sleeves, though.

One of these is the ability to see what you’re taking a photo of on the outer display, so you don’t have to beat the countdown timer to get a shot from afar. There’s also a feature called ‘Kids Cue’, which puts Snoopy on the outer display to capture your children’s attention and help you get a smile from them before you take your shot. Finally, ‘Smart Take’ uses artificial intelligence to automatically take up to 20 photos, analysing the scene in real time and capturing photos when subjects are posing.

!The 'Kids Cue' feature helps capture the attention of young ones

*The ‘Kids Cue’ feature helps capture the attention of young ones

Credit

: Britta O'Boyle*

Excellent (and dust-resistant) design

Folding phones have improved considerably in quality over the years. The latest Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is a far cry from the original hazard-prone Fold launched in 2019, but the iPhone Duo’s design is a step above. At just 5.2mm when open, it’s slim and well-weighted, feeling substantial rather than flimsy. This phone costs at least £2,000, so the last thing you want is for it to feel like it’s going to snap under pressure.

!The iPhone Duo's design is a step above

*The iPhone Duo’s design is a step above

Credit

: Britta O'Boyle*

It also has IP68 water and dust resistance, which is something only the rival Google Pixel Pro Fold has previously offered. This means you can take the iPhone Duo to the beach and not worry too much about sand or water getting inside.

Controversially, the iPhone Duo doesn’t use the facial recognition ‘Face ID’ unlocking system as the company’s other iPhones. Instead, it only offers fingerprint unlocking via ‘Touch ID’ on the side-mounted power button, but this method still worked well when I tried it out.

My early verdict

There’s no getting away from that £2,000 starting price. Despite fitting in a pocket, the iPhone Duo is far from pocket change. You could also buy an iPhone 18 Pro and an iPad mini for less, so yo