iFixit Points to iPhone Duo Hinge in Inner-Screen Cracks

People began posting photos on social media soon after the launch last Friday. The damage looked similar across many images: a crack or other problem appeared in the middle of the screen above the hinge, with lines on the right side of the display. On Monday, Apple acknowledged an “issue” and said it was replacing damaged units, without giving details on how many broken phones had been reported.

Shahram Mokhtari, lead teardown technician at iFixit, took apart the iPhone Duo and told The Verge the likely cause is along the hinge. A series of gears, springs and joints lets the device close flat while giving the screen room to bend more gently inside and avoid a deeper crease. At the trouble spot, the flexible inner screen appears to push up against part of the hinge. Mokhtari said the inner screen is already “extremely sensitive”; poking its edges with a pick or sharp tool would break it. In social-media photos of damaged Duos, a black spot often marks where the damage is concentrated on the display, which Mokhtari said is where metal hits the screen.

iFixit’s written and video teardowns show where the hinge transitions, with the center hinge support making space for a crossing flex cable and creating several edges that could be the culprit. The damage iFixit has seen is at a point where the center support bar may not always drop far enough while the screen folds. That can create a stress “hot spot” between the flat bar and the bent screen inside a closed iPhone Duo.

At least one user with a broken Duo screen said they “felt something around the internal hinge” while showing it to a friend, kept opening it and heard an “audible crack” as the screen broke. YouTuber CuriousHagi, who covered a Duo with dirt during a strenuous durability test, captured a similar break in the same area on video. In a teardown video, CuriousHagi found that a part of the hinge connecting to the central bar had snapped.

Apple says the issue affects a “small number” of Duo units. Mokhtari said the number is unknown and Apple has all the data. “I suspect they know more than they’re telling us as well,” he said. He added that foldable screens are so delicate that a “certain number” will fail, as will some hinges because they are also “extremely complicated and delicate.” Apple is not recalling the Duos. Mokhtari said that if the same kind of failure is still appearing three months from now, it would point to a more widespread problem and might lead to a recall.

Mokhtari said this is the first generation of the iPhone Duo and the first time Apple’s engineers are getting data on the hinge. He said he was certain Apple would redesign the faulty part for its next-generation foldable. He also said that, generally, “the phones do seem to be in people’s hands and people are using them, and they’re not running into any issues whatsoever.”