Tried iPhone Duo: The first Apple foldable in hands-on

This is what Apple fans have been waiting for: The iPhone Duo is finally here. Or rather, not quite here yet, as the foldable won’t go on sale until October 23rd. We were able to get a brief impression of what’s coming to the world of foldables.

When you hold the iPhone Duo in your hand, the weight is immediately noticeable. The phone, which is built wider than it is tall, weighs over 250 grams, which is far from light, even for a foldable. For comparison: The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 in a similar format weighs only 201 grams. With its glossy frame and matte Ceramic Shield back, the foldable iPhone looks very high-quality, and the craftsmanship is, as is typical for Apple, flawless. It is unlocked not by facial recognition with Face ID, but by a fingerprint sensor on the side, which Apple calls Touch ID.

The 5.4-inch front display has exactly the same aspect ratio as the 7.6-inch inner screen, just half the size. This makes switching from the small to the large screen feel very natural. Both displays have OLED panels with a variable refresh rate of up to 120 Hz and are very bright. The matte surface of the large display not only absorbs reflections and repels fingerprints, but also cleverly conceals the crease in the middle of the screen. Apple has only left one small area glossy: the small round area above the selfie camera.

It is hidden under the visible layer of the display when not in use. Only when the camera is active does Apple make the pixels above it transparent. Samsung also did this with its foldables at one point, with mixed success: Because the camera has to shoot through the OLED, the photos were always slightly milky and of significantly lower quality than with a hole in the panel. Whether Apple can do better remains to be seen in testing.

The hinge of the iPhone Duo makes an excellent impression. Apple has crafted the rear cover from a single piece of titanium. It looks stable, holds the foldable in position at all possible angles, and snaps shut satisfyingly. The hinge allows the iPhone Duo to be propped up in tent mode to display photos, movies, or a clock on the small screen, or positioned like a tiny notebook. In this mode, the upper half of the large display shows content, while the lower half displays the keyboard or controls for apps, for example.

Speaking of apps: Apple has, unsurprisingly, already adapted its own applications well for the foldable. But some third-party applications are also ready. The Netflix app, for example, makes good use of the two displays and switches between them effortlessly.

Still potential in handling multiple apps

There are fewer options than with Android foldables when working with multiple apps simultaneously. The iPhone Duo only allows 50/50 screen sharing, no flexible arrangement, and no apps in floating windows. Apps also cannot be launched in pairs or placed on one of the two display halves from the multitasking view. However, if you are using two apps simultaneously and want to keep them together in memory, you can briefly tap the dividing line between them. They are then linked and appear as a single element in multitasking.

The Apple iPhone Duo will launch in Germany at the end of October, at a high price. Apple is asking at least 2,299 euros for its first foldable phone. It will have to prove what it can do in the upcoming full review.

(sht)