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iPhone Duo Review: One Week Later

It's been a week since the iPhone Duo was released, and MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera wanted to revisit his review since he's been able to use the Duo for a longer stretch of time.


You've probably seen images of iPhone Duos with a bright white line running across one side of the inner display. There is a defect affecting some users, but Apple says it's a problem limited to a small number of units.

None of us at MacRumors have had a display crack, and we've seen some AI photos floating around, so it's hard to tell just how many people are actually having problems. iPhone Duos with the hinge issue that causes the display to crack seem to get damaged shortly after purchase, so if you've had an ‌iPhone Duo‌ for the last week and it's still fine, it's not likely to have this defect.

The outer display is small, but Dan finds it useful for checking notifications, replying to messages, and scrolling through apps and websites. He unfolds it for multitasking or longer messages, and is a fan of using the ‌iPhone Duo‌ unfolded in portrait mode for watching videos and using an app at the same time.

He finds the Touch ID fingerprint sensor easy to find, and says Apple Watch unlock is similar to Face ID. The cameras are just okay, and someone who zooms in a lot is probably going to miss having a telephoto lens.

Battery life is between an iPhone 18 Pro and a Pro Max, and for most people, it's likely going to last a full day. Not all apps have been updated for the Duo layout yet, but it's getting better. There's an extension called Wider that extends the Safari window to the edges of the ‌iPhone Duo‌'s outer display, and it's a big improvement. We may see other accommodations in the coming months as developers and users get used to the new layout.

Dan says the ‌iPhone Duo‌ is the most excited he's been about an iPhone in a long time, and he plans to keep using it even though he misses having a telephoto lens.

Did you get an ‌iPhone Duo‌? What do you think now that you're a week into using it? Let us know in the comments below.

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Top Rated Comments

budfoot Avatar
1 week ago
Dropped mine at fedex this morning and it’s on its way back.

Too heavy. Too bulky in pants pockets. Outer screen is pretty much useless.

It’s an iPad that happens to fold. That’s it.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
1 week ago
I’ll wait for the two-week review. Only then will we have conclusive scientific evidence.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
1 week ago
It’s definitely not for everyone. It’s heavier, has more moving parts that could potentially break (I’ll never leave mine unattended around my 4-year-old lol), and a lot of apps still aren’t optimized, so I end up staring at huge black bars.

But am I happy with it? Absolutely.

* Taking photos: It’s easier to take pictures of my toddler thanks to Snoopy on the outer screen.
* Bigger screen: Pretty much everything I do on my phone benefits from the larger screen, whether it’s emails, news, books, or YouTube.
* Touch ID: Surprisingly good, though my muscle memory still makes me stare at the phone expecting Face ID to kick in lol.
* Camera: Photo quality is good enough for quick snapshots. I have $8K+ worth of mirrorless camera gear for serious photography anyway.
* Apple ecosystem: Still works seamlessly with everything else in the Apple ecosystem.

It still has its annoyances, like being a fingerprint magnet and a few other quirks, but overall, I’m pretty happy with it. No regrets so far!
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
1 week ago
Shipped off the old Phone on Monday. The Duo is a keeper for me and my favorite phone thus far.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TravelsInBlue Avatar
1 week ago
We've been through this same song and dance before with the Butterly keyboard. Everybody is going to claim it works well and is reliable until the hardware failure happens to them.


I for one am okay with this because any temptation I would have had to buy one has evaporated. I'll sit out until Gen 2 or 3.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
1 week ago
iPhone Duo, creating Sith Lords out of little girls

"That little girl will become more powerful than either of us"

--Darth Cookius, to Darth Ternius




Attachment Image
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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