Crackgate? iPhone Duo Owners Report Screens Breaking Along the Hinge

Some iPhone Duos are already experiencing hinge issues that cause display cracks, based on photos shared on Reddit and the MacRumors forums. Almost all of the display faults are right along the hinge, and most result in a line of bright pixels across one side of the screen.

An iPhone Duo owner in Australia said his device cracked after being opened fewer than 20 times, and there was no visible damage beforehand.

Had my iPhone Duo for about six hours and had probably opened it fewer than 20 times. I was showing it to a friend, and as I opened it, I felt something around the internal hinge, underneath the screen.

As I continued opening it, I heard an audible crack, and the screen broke right along the hinge. There were no marks or damage on the inner screen's surface or the external hinge to suggest anything had been caught or damaged.

The user visited an Apple Store, and Apple replaced the broken device right away. Apple is likely collecting defective iPhone Duos to research points of failure, and that research could lead to manufacturing improvements to reduce future issues.

There are several images of broken displays from demo devices in China, where the ‌iPhone Duo‌ launched hours ahead of the U.S. The backstory for most of the images is unknown, and it's possible user damage is a factor. Some reviewers who got an ‌iPhone Duo‌ early subjected it to folding tests and didn't experience screen issues, but that's a small sample.

With so many people getting iPhone Duos today, some failures are expected. It isn't known how widespread the issue is or whether we'll see an uptick in complaints over time. Hinge failures from normal use should be covered under the one-year warranty, and customers receiving an ‌iPhone Duo‌ today will also have two weeks to make a return.