The iPhone Duo opens to a 7.6-inch inner display, which raises the obvious question of whether it can work like a small tablet with a keyboard and mouse. It can. The mouse needs an accessibility setting turned on first, and iOS 27.1 limits how far the setup goes.
Wired’s Julian Chokkattu spent a full workday on the iPhone Duo with a folding Bluetooth keyboard and a kickstand case, and wrote his entire iPhone Duo review on it. His verdict is that light, focused work is doable with a kickstand and the right keyboard, but nobody should expect a laptop replacement.
A Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse Both Work, but the Mouse Needs AssistiveTouch
Pairing a keyboard works like it does on any iPhone. Turn it on, open Settings, tap Bluetooth and pick it from the list of other devices. It reconnects on its own within about 10 meters, and the onscreen keyboard stays hidden while it is connected.
Chokkattu used an old Seenda folding keyboard that he admits is not very good. He points to compact keyboards from Nillkin and ProtoArc as better options for people who need to work away from a desk.
A mouse or trackpad takes more setup. iOS does not show a pointer when one connects, so AssistiveTouch has to be on first. Once it is, a gray circular pointer appears and works like an iPad cursor for navigating the interface and selecting text.
Getting the pointer working takes four steps in Settings:
- Open Accessibility, then Touch and AssistiveTouch, and choose Devices, then Bluetooth Devices to pair the mouse or trackpad. A wired mouse plugs into the USB-C port, and a USB-A mouse needs an adapter.
- Turn on AssistiveTouch from the same menu.
- Change the pointer color, size and auto-hide behavior under Pointer Style.
- Set tracking speed under General, then Trackpad & Mouse.
Button actions, Drag Lock and Mouse Keys live in the same AssistiveTouch menu. Mouse Keys lets the keyboard move the pointer, and pressing the Option key five times toggles it.
The cursor has rough edges with small tasks, since pasting hyperlinks and running quick searches felt slower than on a touchscreen. Chokkattu saved both for the end of his day and finished the piece on a desktop.
Split View Puts Two Apps Side by Side, but Only at 50-50
The iPhone Duo is the first iPhone that can run two apps side by side on its inner display. You can also open two windows of the same app, such as Safari, and save app pairs to return to later.
To save a pair, tap the bar in the middle of the two apps to lock it, and the pair shows up in Recents. Chokkattu pairs email with a calendar, and says the two-pane mail view makes clearing emails on the go much faster.
Apple fixes every split at 50-50, and the divider cannot be dragged. That fixed 50/50 layout trails the iPad, which has allowed resizing in Split View since iOS 9.
Portrait mode is tighter, because two apps cannot stack vertically unless one of them is a video app pinned to the top. Chokkattu would like a Slide Over style floating window for Slack, WhatsApp or Messages that leaves a split screen alone.
App Support Decides How Much Work You Can Finish on the iPhone Duo
Apps built for the larger display work well. Bear, the note-taking app Chokkattu wrote in, is optimized for it. Slack updated the day before his test with a two-pane view that makes jumping between conversations quick.
Other apps are further behind, and Zoom had not updated during his test, which left his video stuck in an awkward portrait orientation until he laid the phone flat and pointed the 5.4-inch outer display at his face. Most of Google’s workspace apps, including Gmail, look poor on the inner display, although the Google Search app has been updated.
Apple has shown the iPhone Duo apps available at launch, and the Made for iPhone Duo badge in the App Store marks the ones built for the larger display. Chokkattu expects Google’s apps to catch up soon, possibly on launch day.
A Kickstand Case and Long Battery Life Make a Desk Setup Practical
Apple sells the iPhone Duo Folio with Kickstand for $129 in navy blue or taupe. MagSafe kickstands and tripods also hold the phone upright.
Battery life held up through the workday, with Chokkattu at around 45 percent at 6 pm after about six hours of screen-on time. Apple rates the iPhone Duo for up to 24 hours of use with both displays used equally.
The USB-C port can send up to 4K video to an external display through native DisplayPort, though a footnote limits that to standard dynamic range video content. Apple Pencil with USB-C is coming later this year for either display, and iOS 27 code points to Apple Pencil hover support as well.
The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 and goes on sale Friday, October 23.
