Apple’s first folding phone is no longer a rumor or a keynote slide. The iPhone Duo went on sale in stores around the world on Friday, October 23, and by Saturday the conversation had already moved from “Can I get one?” to “How tough is it?” Here is a look at the launch, the early verdicts and the durability test everyone is talking about.

A launch with scarce supply

The Duo costs about $2,000, and getting one has been the hard part. Reuters reported that Apple’s estimated delivery dates slipped to late January within minutes of pre-orders opening a week earlier, and the company called the response “nothing short of extraordinary.”

Apple capped pre-orders at two handsets per customer. In several markets, including China, France, Hong Kong, India and Japan, in-store sales on launch day were limited to people who had ordered online. Reuters noted there were fewer of the round-the-block queues of past iPhone launches, partly because sales were rationed, though some fans still lined up overnight in cities like London and New York.

The launch is also an early test for Apple CEO John Ternus, the former hardware chief who took over in September. According to Reuters, he greeted customers at a store in Austin, Texas, on launch day.

What the reviews say

Early reviews have been genuinely mixed. Reuters summarized the praise: reviewers liked the design and the sturdy, barely visible hinge, a big deal for a category where a visible crease in the screen has long been a drawback.

The criticisms were just as clear:

  • There is no telephoto camera lens, a compromise for a phone at this price.
  • Many third-party apps still need to be reworked for the new display size.
  • Folded up, the Duo is less handy for quick everyday tasks than a regular iPhone.
  • The phone lacks facial identification, which some reviewers flagged as a learning curve.

Longtime Apple commentator John Gruber wrote that using the Duo felt like using “an extraordinarily polished prototype,” not a finished product he would want to buy and carry. Several prominent reviewers recommended against it for many Apple customers, while others enjoyed having a phone and a tablet-sized screen in one device.

The dust test that went wrong

On Saturday, attention turned to durability. MacRumors reported that the Duo failed the latest test from YouTuber Zack Nelson of JerryRigEverything.

Despite the phone’s IP68 rating, which covers dust resistance, dust worked its way into the hinge through several entry points and overwhelmed the magnets that hold the phone shut, so it would no longer close properly. A bend test then left a permanent green line across the inner display before the screen stopped responding.

The scratch results were split. The outer screen, protected by Ceramic Shield 2, showed scratches at level 7 on the Mohs hardness scale, while the softer inner folding screen marked at level 2. Nelson did credit the inner screen’s matte nano-texture coating for hiding marks well. MacRumors quoted him saying that most of the folding phones he has tested since the first generation survive, and “the iPhone Duo did not.”

It is worth keeping perspective. Tests like this are deliberately extreme, and they don’t necessarily reflect normal use. Still, they highlight a real weakness that all foldables share: moving parts and flexible screens are more delicate than a solid slab of glass.

Repair help arrived fast

In a sign of how quickly the ecosystem is moving, Apple’s official iPhone Duo repair manual was already available by Saturday, as noted by The Verge. That’s useful for repair shops and for owners who want to understand their options if something goes wrong.

Why the Duo matters

Samsung, Huawei and others have sold premium foldables for years, so Apple is late to this party. But Reuters cited market researcher IDC, which expects Apple to take 44% of the foldable market by value in 2026 on 31% of units, and to become the market leader in both value and units shipped in 2027. If those forecasts hold, the Duo could do for folding phones what the original iPhone did for smartphones: take a niche product mainstream.

Should you buy one?

If you are tempted, a little patience may pay off:

  • Consider whether you actually need a tablet-sized screen in your pocket or would mostly use it folded.
  • Look at protection plans and repair costs before you buy, since folding screens and hinges are expensive to fix.
  • Be careful with pockets, bags and beaches where sand and grit can get into the hinge.
  • Wait for app updates if the apps you rely on haven’t been optimized for the new screen yet.

The bottom line

The iPhone Duo had a strong but supply-limited launch, reviews that admire the hardware while questioning the everyday experience, and a tough first durability test. For early adopters it is an exciting new kind of iPhone. For everyone else, the smart move may be to watch how the first months of real-world use play out.

Image: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 by Matabalt via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0