'I Felt Blind Panic.' They Opened Their New $2k iPhone Duo–and It Broke

It took about five minutes for Jesse Dalton’s iPhone Duo dream to shift into nightmare mode.

Last Friday, the Dallas-area resident unboxed Apple’s just-released $2,000 folding phone. He transferred cell service and apps from his old iPhone, then showed the novel device to his wife. He had only opened and closed the Duo four or five times when the hinge got stuck at a 45-degree angle. Dalton tried to pry it open and heard a loud pop.

“I felt blind panic,” he says.

Immediately, bright lines appeared on screen, one along the crease and another multicolor strip shooting across one side of the screen. The whole interior display also appeared “wavy,” he says.

Shane Basinski’s new iPhone Duo broke after about six hours. “I was babying it, like fine china,” says the Melbourne, Australia, resident. “I put on a case right away.”

While opening the phone to show it to a friend, he heard a “loud audible crack” and felt a small bump on the display where lines suddenly appeared.

Both Dalton and Basinski were able to get replacements at their local Apple Stores. Basinski says opening and closing his replacement Duo feels much smoother.

An Apple AAPL 0.96%increase; green up pointing triangle spokesman said, “We are aware of an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units. If users experience issues with their iPhone Duo display, they should contact AppleCare for a replacement.” He didn’t specify how many units are affected, and says Apple isn’t recalling the product.

While the larger concern for would-be iPhone Duo buyers has been getting their hands on one, some who succeeded have encountered this fatal flaw. And this isn’t Apple’s only hardware headache during its high season: Earlier this month, the company offered to replace some iPhone 18 Pro Max models which were unable to connect to AT&T’s network for calls, text and data.

There are reports of similarly damaged Duos on social media, all with bright lines across the same parts of the screen. Are these units just lemons—or are they part of a systemic issue?

“The consistency points to a possible sensitivity in the hinge tolerances or in how the display is supported during the fold,” says Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of worldwide devices at research firm IDC.

I’ve been testing the new foldable for nearly two weeks and, while I’ve had my own Duo issues, I haven’t experienced sticky hinges or faulty displays. I have, however, seen this sort of bright white line on other displays using similar OLED technology, including on a TV my family had to send to e-waste.

“It’s an indicator that the whole screen is about to die,” says Shahram Mokhtari, a lead tech at iFixit, a site specializing in electronics repairs.

After studying the iPhone Duo’s internal workings, Mokhtari has a theory on why the screens might be breaking: a weak point in the hinge that could damage the “microscopically small” electronics beneath the screen. (He hasn’t yet inspected a faulty device himself.)

There is a unique hinge that sits near the spot where the bright lines are appearing, which you can see in iFixit’s teardown pictures just off center. If this mechanism breaks, it could sever critical circuits, Mokhtari says.

Mokhtari also says trapped debris or a manufacturing defect in the hinge could damage the flexible display. In other words, bendy screens are delicate. Samsung’s first foldable came with so many issues in 2019—including similar broken OLED lines running across the display—that the company delayed the phone’s launch.

Mokhtari did say the Duo is the most repairable foldable he’s inspected. The back cover can be removed with screws and the batteries are secured with an adhesive that doesn’t require prying or alcohol. “The entry process was straightforward,” he says. “It’s a great design.”

As for Dalton, he says he’s “90% sure” he’ll keep the Duo.

“I haven’t had an issue with an iPhone breaking for 10 years,” he adds. “Maybe it’s just a bad batch of initial ones. But I am concerned that it’s an actual design flaw.”