When Apple announced the iPhone Duo, it conveniently left out a piece of information that every other major foldable phone maker typically reveals: how many folds the iPhone Duo can handle. Now we know thanks to real tests carried out by the owners. YouTuber Kuba Klawiter had an iPhone Duo folded and unfolded by hand on a live stream until its screen broke. At fold 75,001, a line formed in the center of the inner screen. For those keeping track, Samsung officially rates its latest Galaxy Z Flip and Z Fold devices at 500,000 folds before the screen breaks. That’s more than double the 200,000 folds its foldable phones were previously rated for. Check out iPhone Duo at Apple.com. Other reviewers have also put the iPhone Duo’s foldable durability to the test. Freelance tech journalist Joanna Stern had a robot built to fold her iPhone Duo and it lasted more than 32,000 folds, although it didn’t continue until it broke. Tech YouTuber Tim Pan of MediaStorm also repeatedly dubbed the iPhone Duo. He also used an industrial folding machine to accomplish the task. His review unit lasted more than 10,000 folds. Similarly, YouTube channel HTX Studio also tested the iPhone Duo with a folding machine and was able to get over 3,000 folds. None of the YouTubers bent their devices until they broke. (These are loans from Apple, so it is against the reviewer’s agreement to intentionally break a device that must be returned.) CNET has been folding an iPhone Duo with an industrial folding machine since its launch day on October 23. As of October 30 at 12:40 pm ET, the iPhone Duo surpassed 121,000 folds. CNET is streaming the entire process live until it’s cut off, I guess? I can’t definitively say that the iPhone Duo is considerably less durable than Samsung’s latest foldable devices, because testing conditions vary between these user tests. In Klawiter’s case, the iPhone Duo was still fine after 50,000 folds. At that time, he put the iPhone Duo in a bag with dirt and dust to simulate pocket lint. There was some creaking in the first few folds, but then it was “back to normal.” After 60,000 folds, a deeper fold appeared. Then, with 75,000 folds, he put the iPhone Duo in a container filled with ice to simulate cold temperatures. Well, we all know what happened at the crease after the ice bath. Klawiter also mentions that in similar tests he performed on Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Samsung Z Flip 5, both phones survived more than 400,000 folds. It’s entirely possible that the iPhone Duo would have survived and continued to fold who knows how many more folds if the YouTuber hadn’t put it in a container of ice and, perhaps, hadn’t done so with the screen open. One thing I do know is that now is the best time for transparency from Apple. You can share how many folds the iPhone Duo is rated for based on your own testing methodology. Consumers deserve to know how durable the iPhone Duo hinge really is on a phone that costs $2,000. The secret is not what we need or want; it will just make it look like Apple is hiding something. Apple shared this statement with Gizmodo yesterday following reports of iPhone Duo screens cracking and breaking after launch: “We are aware of an issue affecting the internal screen on a small number of iPhone Duo units. If users are experiencing issues with their iPhone Duo screen, they should contact AppleCare for a replacement.” You can read my review of the iPhone Duo here. To this day the interior screen still works perfectly. Check out iPhone Duo at Apple.com. This article has been updated with information from CNET’s live stream, where an iPhone Duo has been folding since October 13. CNET’s iPhone Duo surpassed 120,000 folds as of October 30.
