I love Apple’s iPhone Duo. But here’s why you shouldn’t buy one

October 21, 2026 — 11:00pm

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Apple’s iPhone Duo is the most exciting iPhone in nearly a decade, but most people shouldn’t buy one. Not yet, anyway.

I’ve spent the past week with Apple’s first folding phone, which hits shelves on Friday, and it’s a genuine “oh wow” device.

My mother-in-law wanted to hold it. So did friends who usually couldn’t care less about a new phone. After years of upgrades built on faster chips and slightly better cameras, it’s refreshing to see Apple try something different, even if Samsung and Motorola have been selling folding phones for years.

Buyers are keen, too. Within hours of pre-orders opening on October 16, delivery dates on Apple’s online store had slipped to January, and Apple said demand had been “extraordinary”.

Apple’s latest launch will help you stay off your phone at home

Demand isn’t the only reason for the wait. Bloomberg’s tech columnist Mark Gurman reported that Apple knew supply would be constrained, and went global anyway. Technology site TechSpot put production yields - the percentage of good, usable phones that pass Apple’s quality checks – at about 60 per cent, meaning four in 10 Duos coming off the line didn’t make the grade.

That makes for an awkward start for Apple chief executive John Ternus, whose first big product launch comes with a three-month........

© The Age