The iPhone Duo is drawing a growing number of complaints from owners whose foldable display cracked after hours or days of use. The phone went on sale on Friday, October 23, and starts at $1,999.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman verified the problem with more than half a dozen customers, who supplied photos of the damage or records of their support conversations with Apple.
Owners describe a crunch and a crack along the center crease
In each account the owner hears a crunching sound while unfolding the phone, and a large crack forms along the center crease. Some also see a white patch or another malfunction on the right side of the inner display. Every owner Bloomberg spoke with felt a bump under the display close to where the crack began.
Tom Battle from San Diego says his iPhone Duo felt stuck and slower to open than usual, and that he could feel a bump or loose piece under the screen. Venture capitalist Jonathan King heard a crunch on Monday and says the inner screen is now unusable. The phone also registers touches on that display when he is not touching it.
Surya Mangi from Allen, Texas, reports a cracked inner screen after about 30 hours of normal opening. Jainam Shah says the hinge went noticeably stiffer on one unfolding, then he heard a crack and saw bright vertical and horizontal lines. Shah reports no drops, impacts or unusual pressure.
Getting a replacement has been slow for some owners
An owner who goes by Centrino31A says his Richmond, Virginia Apple Store called the problem a defect that needed a replacement. That store had no Genius Bar appointments, so he was sent to a second store that tested the phone and confirmed there was no accidental damage. The second store had no inventory, and he is still waiting.
Mangi has no Apple Store nearby and was told to mail the phone in and go without it for more than a week. Apple is now sending him a replacement by express mail. Justin Lokos got a replacement at the Fifth Avenue store in New York after Apple ran an Early Field Failure Analysis on his phone. Shah’s store swapped his phone on the spot and asked if Apple engineering could contact him.
Apple employees told Bloomberg the company has issued no official guidance to retail stores or customer service agents. A team is investigating, and engineers are trying to get hold of affected phones for analysis.
Apple has handled launch hardware problems before
It is unclear what share of iPhone Duo units is affected or what causes the cracks, and most owners do not appear to have a problem. Bloomberg did not run into the issue on the review unit Apple provided or on an iPhone Duo it bought independently.
iFixit believes a piece of the hinge fails and cracks the screen, rather than the display panel itself being at fault. That lines up with what teardowns of cracked units have pointed to near the center of the hinge. Apple has faced launch hardware problems on earlier iPhones too, since the iPhone 6 Plus bent easily in 2014 and the iPhone 4 sometimes lost reception in 2010 when a hand touched the antenna cutout.
Our Take
It seems to be a problem hitting a minority of iPhone Duo units, but it is landing on a $1,999 phone that is also Apple’s first foldable. The bump under the display shows up in every account, and Apple has not commented yet.
If your iPhone Duo resists at a certain angle or makes a crunching noise, stop and book a visit instead of forcing it open. Our guide to a cracked iPhone Duo display covers the replacement options.
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