(Image credit: Apple)

There was a lot of pressure on Apple to get things right with the iPhone Duo. It's been seven years since the first Samsung Galaxy Fold came out in 2019, and three years since Google released the first Pixel Fold. The refrain is that Apple does things late, but it does them better, learning from rivals' mistakes to put out something that feels more functional, more premium and 'just works'.

The iPhone Duo selling out until January suggested that people were buying into that idea with Apple's first foldable. Now the early reviews and feedback are starting to raise questions.

Dang these iPhone Duo screens can't be fixed til January! 😂💀💀💀 https://t.co/ZsZX5l42mp October 24, 2026

One of the most concerning issues coming from real-world feedback involves breaks concentrated around the hinge of the phone, including vertical cracks down the centre, dead pixels or lines across one side of the screen.…