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Apple's First Foldable iPhone Duo Opens for Pre-Order at $1,999, Shipping Slips to 2027

Apple's foldable iPhone Duo went on pre-order at $1,999 with shipping slipping into 2027, while the iPhone 18 Pro sells for $1,199 with better cameras.

AI News Feed · 2026-10-17 05:52

The most visible difference is the shape. The Duo is a folding phone, while the iPhone 18 Pro is a conventional iPhone. Closed, the Duo measures 4.64 inches tall (117.8 mm), 3.31 inches wide (84.1 mm) and 0.44 inch deep (11.3 mm); opened, it keeps the same height but stretches to 6.48 inches wide (164.6 mm) and 0.21 inch thick (5.2 mm). It weighs 8.96 ounces (254 grams), against 7.44 ounces (211 grams) for the iPhone 18 Pro and 8.78 ounces (249 grams) for the Pro Max, which stand 5.91 inches (150.0 mm) and 6.43 inches (163.4 mm) tall respectively. The Duo is thinner than the Pro Max when open but slightly heavier.

On displays, the Duo carries two panels: a 5.4-inch outer screen and a 7.6-inch folding display with a nano-texture finish that 9to5Mac describes as a first for an iPhone. The iPhone 18 Pro comes in 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch sizes, so the Duo offers both a smaller cover screen and a larger inner screen than the Pro Max.

Cameras favor the Pro line. The iPhone 18 Pro has a new 48MP main camera with variable aperture and a telephoto camera, and the Duo includes neither the variable aperture on its main camera nor a telephoto lens. Software features are split as well: the Duo adds Smart Take, Kid Cue and Duo Preview, while the Pro models add smart focus tracking, Pro controls and Apple Reference Image. Only the iPhone 18 Pro supports ProRes recording up to 4K at 60 fps with external recording, a four-microphone array Apple calls studio quality, spatial video at 1080p and 30 fps, spatial photos, ProRes RAW and Genlock.

Quoted battery life varies by which Duo screen is in use: up to 44 hours on the outer display and up to 31 hours on the folding display, against up to 36 hours for the iPhone 18 Pro and up to 45 hours for the Pro Max. Splitting the two Duo figures puts average video playback at roughly 38 hours.

The Duo uses Touch ID where the iPhone 18 Pro uses Face ID. It drops the Action button but keeps Camera Control, and gains multitasking features in iOS 27 including Split View, additional landscape views and a partially folded StandBy mode. Support for the USB-C Apple Pencil arrives on the Duo later this year. Both the Duo and the iPhone 18 Pro use Apple's new C2 modem, while the Pro Max uses a Qualcomm modem. The Pro models come in Burgundy, Glacier, Black and Silver with an aluminum unibody; the Duo comes in Star White and Night Sky with a titanium body.

The iPhone 18 Pro has been available for nearly a month, while the Duo's pre-order window opened on October 16 and delivery dates already reach into 2027. Buyers who need a new iPhone sooner are pointed toward the iPhone 18 Pro.