Apple's foldable iPhone Duo goes on sale, with limited stock and early hinge crack reports

Launch and pricing

Apple released the iPhone Duo, its first foldable smartphone, in Japan on Friday, 23 October. The inner screen measures 7.6 inches, which Jiji Press reports is the largest ever on an iPhone and 1.5 times that of the iPhone 18 Pro Max, which reached stores last month. Folded, the phone is about the size of a passport, and prices start at 364,800 yen. Two apps can be shown side by side on the open screen, and the phone can stand on its own when opened halfway, allowing hands-free calls. In Tokyo, about a dozen people were waiting outside an Apple store when its doors opened at 8 a.m. Apple also reopened its SouthGate store in Bath, England, after more than three months of renovations, adding a dedicated Apple Pickup area and a Genius Bar with varied table and seat heights.

Masayuki Iwai, a 52-year-old engineer who was first in line in Tokyo, commented on the split-screen feature.

I can play games while viewing social media.

Pickup, walk-in supply and queues

Demand has outpaced supply. Apple said demand was nothing short of extraordinary, and delivery estimates for pre-orders now stretch into late January. Pre-orders opened on 16 October, when Apple Store pickup was offered for a few minutes before disappearing. A MacRumors spot check on 23 October found only one pickup unit, in Australia, and it was gone before the story was published. Apple's online store in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Singapore told customers to check back on Saturday, 24 October, so the reservation system is expected to return country by country. Walk-in sales were limited to the U.S. and select other countries, and some locations sold through their walk-in stock on launch day. CEO John Ternus and retail chief Deirdre O'Brien visited Apple Domain NORTHSIDE in Austin, Texas, while marketing chief Greg Joswiak and vice president of retail stores Vanessa Trigub greeted customers at Apple Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Early hardware impressions

La Vanguardia's first impressions praised the handling of the device while noting areas to improve. The phone weighs 254 grams, against 201 grams for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8, and its titanium frame and hinge are built for solidity. The hinge is made of more than 100 micro-parts that hold the screen at any angle and use magnets to guide the final opening and closing. The inner 7.6-inch screen is nanotextured to soften the visible crease, and it peaks at 3,000 nits of brightness.

Hinge cracks and warranty

Owners have posted photos on Reddit and the MacRumors forums showing display faults along the hinge, most of them a line of bright pixels down one side of the screen. An Australian owner said the display cracked after fewer than 20 openings and about six hours of ownership, with no visible damage beforehand, and Apple replaced the device right away. Images of broken demo units from China are circulating, but their backgrounds are unknown and user damage is possible. Some reviewers who tested early units did not report screen problems, though that sample is small. It is not known how widespread the problem is. Hinge failures from normal use should fall under the one-year warranty, and buyers have two weeks to return the phone.

Software and jailbreak

Apple released the full version of iOS 27.1 only for the iPhone Duo, which ships with it preinstalled. A newer build became available as an IPSW file on Thursday, 22 October, with unspecified bug fixes and no security fixes. The iOS 27.2 release candidate also runs on the Duo, and iOS 27.2 is expected in the week of 26 October 2026. Hacker group Calif said it jailbroke an iPhone Duo running iOS 27.1 within hours of release, showing icons and widgets moving and an anime character added to the screen. Esser said the group's earlier iOS 27.0.1 jailbreak used bugs that were disclosed or will be disclosed to Apple, and that most of them are fixed in iOS 27.2. Esser also said AI helped develop the exploit, without explaining how.