Apple introduced its first folding phone, the iPhone Duo, at its annual September product launch, marking the company's long-awaited entry into a category dominated by Samsung and other Android makers for more than seven years. The device, priced at $1,999 for the 256 GB model, was unveiled at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino alongside the first public appearance of Apple's new chief executive, John Ternus.
The Duo arrives late to the folding-screen market, but Apple used that time to address problems that plagued earlier foldables. The company settled on a passport-like form factor with a squat outer screen and a larger inner display optimized for full-screen video. Its screen aspect ratios strike a balance that other makers have struggled to reach, and Apple repositioned the dock and toolbars to the right edge of the screens to prevent apps from simply stretching to fill space.
For multitasking on the inner screen, Apple revived the split-view interface that the iPad used until last year, when the company replaced it with a more Mac-like system. The Duo also tackles the visible crease at the fold with a nano-texture matte finish on the inner screen that reduces glare and the telltale reflections that draw attention to the hinge.
At $1,999, the Duo is less expensive than many analysts expected, but it remains a significant splurge for most buyers. Apple is positioning it as a device that could replace both a new iPhone and an iPad Mini, which together would cost at least $1,298. The phone can be propped up like a tent for watching video, opened into a clamshell for hands-free calls, or unfolded fully so the smaller outer screen can show photo subjects themselves, include a nearby friend in a FaceTime session, or display Snoopy animations to hold a child's attention during a photo.
Folding phones currently account for just 2 percent of the market, and the Duo's appeal may be constrained more by its price than by its design. Even so, a successful Apple entry could meaningfully boost the category's sales on its own.
Ternus, who appeared briefly in person and at length in the prerecorded keynote, used his remarks to explain the iPhone's role in an era reshaped by artificial intelligence. He described the phone as an «intelligent personal hub» that brings together a user's life with the apps, services, and products they use daily. He listed the features such a hub requires: a powerful processor, pervasive networking, a beautiful display, cameras, microphones, long battery life, and more.
The framing signals a shift from the approach of predecessor Tim Cook, whose keynote comments rarely went beyond saying Apple wanted to make great products people love. Ternus, by contrast, immediately began explaining the iPhone's place in people's lives, a task that would not have been necessary before AI upended the tech industry.
The launch will be remembered for two debuts: the folding phone itself and the first public glimpse of Apple's new leadership. Judged on what it does and how it does it, the Duo appears to validate Apple's decision to wait until it had good answers to the form factor's many questions. Its potential is limited more by its price than by its appeal, but it may still reshape the folding phone market.