Apple has introduced the iPhone Duo, its first foldable phone, with a starting price of $1,999. Gen X has officially reached the point where a telephone costs more than the first automobile many of us drove—and the automobile at least included an ashtray full of mysterious coins.
Two screens and one premium price
The Duo uses a 5.4-inch outer display and opens to reveal a 7.6-inch inner screen. It supports split-screen multitasking and the Apple Pencil, includes the new A20 Pro chip and is expected to reach buyers in October after preorders begin in September.
Apple also unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, starting at $1,199 and $1,299. Those models bring camera, battery and artificial-intelligence improvements without asking owners to unfold their phones like a tiny laminated restaurant menu.
Apple arrives late and polished
Samsung and other manufacturers have sold foldable phones for years. Apple’s familiar strategy is to wait until a category exists, refine the design, connect it tightly to its ecosystem and then behave as though civilization had been waiting for Cupertino to approve the hinge.
The foldable market remains a small portion of smartphone sales, so the Duo is both a product and a test of whether Apple can make the format feel normal. Durability, battery life, repair cost and the long-term behavior of the folding display will matter more than launch-day applause.
There is genuine engineering behind a thin screen that repeatedly bends. There is also genuine comedy in paying two grand to recreate the satisfying snap of the flip phone we abandoned twenty years ago. Technology is a circle, and apparently the circle accepts financing.
Facts first. Side-eye included.
DJF separates what is confirmed from what is claimed—and tells you why this particular mess is worth your time.
Wade Crowley
Strange News & Small-Town WeirdWade collects stories that begin with “You are not going to believe what happened at the Walmart.” He covers odd crime, local legends, UFOs, and reality losing the plot.
“Somewhere, a police report is already getting weirder.”