Apple says the iPhone Duo display looks so matte because of a field of microscopic lenses that scatter reflected light. The same executives explained why the foldable’s selfie camera sits under that screen, and why Apple accepted the image quality trade that comes with it.
Michael Fisher of MrMobile put the questions to three Apple executives in a 20-minute interview recorded in Cupertino during the September event, Rich Dinh, VP of iPhone product design, Piyush Pratik, senior product manager for iPhone, and JP Guillou, senior director of display technology for iPhone.
Apple Says Every Part of the iPhone Duo Display Was a Custom Order
Fisher put Samsung on the table first, since it competes with Apple in phones and also supplies displays. How much of the iPhone Duo screen came straight from a Samsung line?
The executives did not name a supplier and said the display does not exist at a vendor until Apple places an order with its own specifications. They added that no pre-made shelf of parts could meet what the iPhone Duo needs. One executive summed up the process in a single line:
“We customize down to the nanometer.”
The same approach applies to the hinge, the enclosure and the chip. Apple starts with what the product has to do, then works with manufacturers to develop each part. Apple is reportedly paying Samsung $250 for each iPhone Duo display, though the executives did not discuss the price.
The Matte Finish Uses Tiny Lenses to Scatter Reflections
Fisher called the inner display dramatically satin and asked why Apple went that far. The answer starts with how glass normally behaves. A flat surface shows a distorted reflection of the room around it.
The nano-texture finish uses microscopic domes to scatter that reflected light, so the screen looks flat to the eye even though it has a texture. It sits on top of the 10-layer folding display Apple has already detailed.
Matte coatings tend to dull color, so Fisher asked about saturation. Apple said a custom anti-reflective coating on the first surface reduces reflections, which also limits that washed-out look.
Software puts some of the reflection back when the phone sits in a tabletop pose. Netflix uses the hinge angle sensors, the ambient light sensors and the light coming off the other half of the display to animate a lighting effect on the matte surface. The executives expect other app developers to build similar effects once they have the iPhone Duo in hand.
Apple Did Not Give a Fold Count for the iPhone Duo Hinge
Fisher asked how many folds the hinge was tested for, since other makers publish figures like 200,000 or 400,000. The executives declined to compare against other manufacturers’ tests. They said Apple studied a typical day for an owner, including the new poses the foldable supports, and built the durability work around that.
They pointed to materials instead. A new polymer that Apple says is 40 percent stiffer supports the display, the enclosure is clad in titanium, and ceramic inserts in the splits keep antenna performance strong. Apple also carried lessons over from the iPhone Air, iPad and Mac, and its product page lists an IP68 rating for the iPhone Duo. The inner display also has a replaceable cover layer.
Apple Hid the Camera to Keep the Inner Display Uninterrupted
Fisher noted that Samsung introduced an under-display camera in 2021 and later dropped it over image quality. Apple went ahead because the iPhone Duo has the largest display of any iPhone, and the company wanted that screen unbroken.
Making it work took the display team and the camera team together. The A20 Pro runs neural networks to make up for the lower light reaching the sensor.
Apple sees the inner camera as the FaceTime option. Stand the iPhone Duo on a table and you can video call hands-free on the larger screen. For higher quality, Apple pointed to the 48MP rear cameras, which can shoot selfies while the outer display acts as a live preview. The product page lists a 12MP Center Stage front camera on the outer display and an under-display FaceTime camera that records 1080p video.
Fisher also asked whether Apple bought up the world’s supply of under-display cameras. The executives laughed it off and said they built the camera for users. He then asked each of them to choose between an iPhone Flip and an iPhone TriFold. None of the three picked one. They said Apple is always thinking about the next product, and that nothing right now beats the iPhone Duo.
Pre-orders for the iPhone Duo start on October 16 at 5:00 a.m. PT, and the phone is available starting October 23.
