Apple introduced the foldable iPhone Duo! Here's everything you need to know, including Czech prices

Nine years. That’s how long it took for Apple, after the iPhone X, to come up with a phone that looks different from a rectangle with rounded corners. The foldable iPhone is called iPhone Duo — not iPhone Ultra, as was expected just a few days ago — and with it, Apple enters a category that Samsung occupied back in 2019.

Wide and short, not tall and narrow

Apple chose a book format, but with its own proportion. When unfolded, the device is wider than it is tall, which is a different philosophy than most competitors, with the exception of the latest Fold8 or the foldable Pixel. Imagine an iPad mini folded in half. The inner display has a diagonal of 7.6 inches with ProMotion up to 120 Hz, the outer approximately 5.4 inches.

Ten formát dává smysl u videa a u dvou aplikací vedle sebe. Méně už u čtení na výšku, kde je krátký a široký tvar spíš na obtíž. Apple tedy udělal spíš přenosné promítací plátno než kapesní knihu.

Unfolded, the phone is 4.5 millimeters thin, which makes it about nine millimeters thick when folded — thus, it’s only slightly thicker than the iPhone 18 Pro Max. The hinge is magnetic, and Apple, according to its own words, primarily focused on its durability. The crease in the middle of the display could not be removed, only minimized.

Touch ID returns because Face ID didn’t fit

Here’s the first major compromise. The TrueDepth module didn’t fit into such a thin body, so the iPhone Duo doesn’t have Face ID. Unlocking is handled by a fingerprint reader in the side button, just like on the iPad Air and iPad mini. There are two front cameras — one for the inner, the other for the outer display. For users who have grown accustomed over eight years to their phone unlocking with a glance, this will be unusual.

Two cameras instead of three, Apple Pencil as a consolation

The second compromise concerns the camera. On the back, you’ll find two 48Mpx sensors — main and ultrawide — and the telephoto lens is missing. For over sixty thousand crowns, you’ll get worse photographic equipment than a phone that costs twenty thousand less. The front cameras have 12 megapixels.

Conversely, Apple Pencil support has been added, a feature Apple previously reserved for iPads. On a seven-and-a-half-inch surface, handwriting finally makes sense. MagSafe is also present, which was long doubted because leaked mockups didn’t have the magnetic ring.

Inside is the A20 Pro chipset, C2 modem, and 12 GB RAM. The battery capacity is split between both halves of the body and generally ranges from 5,400 to 5,800 mAh, at least according to leaks; Apple traditionally didn’t mention battery capacity at the keynote. Storage starts at 256 GB and goes up to two terabytes.

A price Apple itself didn’t expect

The basic version costs 2,000 dollars. In the Czech Republic, the base model costs 54,990 CZK and has 256 GB, the 512GB version costs 60,990 CZK, the 1TB variant 72,990 CZK, and the 2TB an incredible 90,990 CZK.

There are two colors, white and dark blue. Sales do not begin simultaneously with the Pro models — the iPhone Duo will arrive in October, so here too we see a similarity to the scenario Apple chose in 2017 with the iPhone X. The manufacturing complications are primarily due to the hinge and the flexible panel.

Would you pay 59 thousand for a foldable iPhone that lacks Face ID and a telephoto lens?