Apple's iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro Event: What Apple Didn't Say

Shaoshu reported that the Duo name, rather than the long-rumored iPhone Ultra, signals that Apple does not place the foldable above the Pro line. The outlet described it as closer to the iPhone Air: a new series that keeps the core iPhone and folding-screen experience while compromising on imaging and peak performance. Compared with the iPhone 18 Pro, the Duo has the same 48-megapixel Fusion main camera but loses the variable aperture, uses first-generation sensor-shift optical stabilization and omits the telephoto camera, LiDAR, ProRAW and ProRes RAW, ACES and Apple Log 2, and spatial photo and video. Its front camera is a 12-megapixel Center Stage unit, down from the 18-megapixel Center Stage camera on the 18 Pro. Its only imaging feature on par with the Pro is time-lapse video with stabilization up to 4K Dolby Vision, the review said. The Duo also lacks the Action button.

In design, the iPhone Duo is 5.2 millimeters thick when unfolded, thinner than the 5.64-millimeter iPhone Air and the thinnest iPhone yet, according to Shaoshu. It is also the heaviest iPhone at 254 grams, 5 grams more than the iPhone 18 Pro Max and 89 grams more than the iPhone Air. When unfolded, its USB-C port sits on the left side, unlike most folding phones. The outlet said this helps a thicker cable fit when the phone is folded but means the cable must swing around when the screen opens. The port supports USB 3 at 10Gb/s and DisplayPort output at 4K HDR.

Like the iPhone Air, the Duo is eSIM-only, so users in China will need to visit carrier stores to activate it. On charging, Shaoshu said the iPhone 18 Pro can reach up to 60 watts and charge to 50 percent in 15 minutes, but only with an AVS-capable 60-watt or higher charger. The iPhone Duo charges to about 50 percent in 20 minutes and requires a 60-watt or higher charger without AVS. Because the Duo contains two batteries that charge together, the outlet called the speed acceptable, especially compared with the iPhone Air, which needs 30 minutes to reach 50 percent.

For apps that have not been updated for the Duo, Apple outlined three compatibility modes in a post-event developer video, according to the review. Apps using older SDKs and not adapted for iOS 27 are confined to a safe area with black bars. Apps adapted for iOS 27 automatically use most of the screen but leave a blank edge along the right status bar. Only apps built with the iOS 27.1 SDK fill the inner display. Apple required new app submissions to use the iOS 26 SDK in April, and the review expects the requirement to move to iOS 27.1 for the new screen format.

The global slogan for the iPhone Duo is 'Hello, hello.' with no translation, the review said. Japanese materials use the word Hello in katakana, and the only variation is punctuation between English and Chinese pages. Shaoshu traced the slogan to Apple's 2007 iPhone 'Hello' advertisement, noting that the first iPhone had one screen while the Duo has two.

For the iPhone 18 Pro, Shaoshu said the A20 Pro is built on a 2-nanometer process. It has a six-core CPU, 50 percent more memory bandwidth than the A19 Pro, a new seven-core GPU with up to 40 percent better graphics performance, and a neural engine doubled to two clusters of 16 cores. The chip borrows packaging from Apple's M-series chips, placing memory next to the CPU and attaching it to a larger vapor chamber. In the United States, the iPhone 18 Pro uses Apple's C2 modem while the iPhone 18 Pro Max still uses Qualcomm, the review said; in China, the entire iPhone 18 Pro series uses the C2. Battery life also differs: the iPhone 18 Pro Max reaches 43 hours of video playback, and the eSIM-only U.S. model reaches 45 hours, while the Chinese model with a SIM tray is two hours shorter. Chinese buyers can choose two physical SIM cards, one physical SIM plus one eSIM, or two eSIMs.

The review also covered the Apple Watch's S11 chip, saying its CPU, GPU and NPU designs are derived from the A20 Pro. If the A20 Pro is 2nm, the S11 is likely 2nm as well, making it the first 2nm chip worn on the wrist. Memory has doubled from 2GB to 4GB. Apple's privacy white paper describes Live Rewind as activating only when the Digital Crown is double-clicked; it shows the previous 15 seconds of speech as text, does not continuously transcribe in the background, does not save the text by default and does not attribute speech to specific speakers. It emits a warning tone from the Apple Watch speaker even when the watch is muted or connected to headphones, along with a full-screen animation and microphone indicator. Siri Recap is described as a major update intended to make the Apple Watch a companion AI device that operates at times and places the user permits.