First buyers of Apple's foldable iPhone Duo have begun complaining about damage to the inner displays. On several devices, cracks appeared in almost the same place, and some phones broke within hours of purchase. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
One owner from Australia said on Reddit that his new iPhone Duo cracked six hours after purchase. According to the man, he unfolded the smartphone fewer than 20 times during that time. When the buyer was showing the phone to a friend, he felt something unusual near the hinge and then heard a crack. The screen split along the fold line. At an Apple Store, he received a free replacement device.
Other owners also published photos of damaged smartphones. The images show cracks along the screen's fold, and in some cases bright horizontal and vertical lines appeared.
According to MacRumors, similar damage was noticed on demonstration devices in Chinese stores. However, it is unknown under what circumstances they appeared.
It is too early to speak of a mass defect. AppleInsider journalists contacted service staff at seven Apple stores. They said they had not encountered complaints about cracked iPhone Duo screens.
The causes of the damage are still unknown. Apple has not publicly explained the situation.
Foldable iPhone Duo devices are reportedly breaking in large numbers, with displays failing along the hinge crease. Buyers in Japan, China, Australia, and other countries have reported the same issue. In some cases, the display reportedly fails while the phone is still on display in stores. The symptoms are identical: after just a few days of use, a black line appears across the screen.
Apple unveiled its first foldable iPhone Duo on September 9, 2026, alongside the iPhone 18 lineup. The smartphone is made in a book format: it has an external screen with a diagonal of 5.4 inches and an internal one of 7.6 inches.
Global sales of the new product started on October 23. On the same day, pre-orders opened in Kazakhstan. The base version with 256 GB of memory costs almost 1.4 million tenge, while the most expensive model with 2 TB will cost 2.27 million tenge. The smartphone will go on free sale on October 30.
Earlier, Kursiv also reported that replacing the inner screen of the iPhone Duo without warranty coverage costs $999, and repairs for other serious damage can reach $1,499. If the crack appeared due to a manufacturing defect, the repair may be covered by warranty.