Apple Event 2026: Here’s all you need to know about iPhone Duo, its first foldable

Apple has finally entered the foldable smartphone market with the iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone, which opens into a 7.6-inch display and folds down to a 5.4-inch outer screen designed to remain compact enough for a pocket. The company is positioning the iPhone Duo as a new take on the iPhone rather than simply a larger screen that folds in half. When opened, the device has Apple's largest iPhone display yet, while the outer display retains the same aspect ratio so content can move between the two screens without changing proportions.

“iPhone Duo is the most transformational change to iPhone since the original. With an entirely new design and intuitive experiences, it shows what’s possible when hardware and software are engineered together and redefines what it means to use a foldable phone,” said John Ternus, Apple’s CEO. “With the largest display ever on an iPhone that still fits easily in your pocket, combined with the power of A20 Pro, iPhone Duo helps you stay more immersed and productive wherever you go, whether you’re enjoying content, multitasking across apps, or gaming,” he added.

How much does the iPhone Duo cost in India?

The iPhone Duo is available in Star White and Night Sky and comes in four storage variants: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB. The 256GB variant is priced at ₹2,99,900, while the 512GB model costs ₹3,24,900. The 1TB variant is priced at ₹3,74,900, and the top-end 2TB model costs ₹4,49,900.

Pre-orders start at 5:30 pm IST on 16 October, and will be available from 23 October.

What does the iPhone Duo look like when folded and unfolded?

The inner display is a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR panel, 50% larger than the display on the iPhone 18 Pro Max, while the 5.4-inch outer screen provides about 90% of the screen area of the iPhone 18 Pro. Both displays support ProMotion, Always-On functionality and up to 3,000 nits of outdoor brightness.

Apple has also used a nano-texture finish on the inner display to reduce reflections and glare and make the crease less noticeable. A new FaceTime camera sits beneath the inner display, allowing the screen to remain uninterrupted when the camera is not being used.

How is Apple trying to make its first foldable durable?

The folding mechanism is built around a precision hinge made up of more than 100 components. Apple says the hinge is designed to support the centre of the display when the phone is opened, while an integrated magnet array helps it close securely.

Durability is clearly one of the areas Apple is trying to address with its first foldable. The iPhone Duo uses grade 5 titanium, Ceramic Shield on the rear and Ceramic Shield 2 on the outer display, which Apple says has three times better scratch resistance than the previous generation. The device is rated IP68 for water and dust resistance.

The inner display uses a multilayer construction with high-strength glass and a custom polymer coating. Apple says the layers are designed to move relative to each other during folding, reducing stress on the display over time.

How powerful is the iPhone Duo?

The A20 Pro chip powers the iPhone Duo, the same processor used in the iPhone 18 Pro models, and gets a custom vapour chamber to deal with the heat generated by sustained workloads. Apple claims the foldable can deliver up to 35% better sustained performance than the iPhone 17 Pro. The six-core CPU is up to 20% faster than the A19 Pro, while the seven-core GPU is up to 40% faster and more power efficient. The new dual 16-core Neural Engine provides twice the compute power for on-device AI, while the A20 Pro also has 50% more unified memory bandwidth and is built on a 2-nanometre process.

How much battery life does the foldable iPhone offer?

Battery life is handled differently because of the foldable design. The iPhone Duo uses one high-energy battery on each side of the device, with Apple's silicon and power-management algorithms treating them as a single system. Apple claims up to 31 hours of video playback using the inner display and up to 44 hours using the outer display. When both displays are used equally, the phone is rated for up to 24 hours of usage per charge. It can charge to 50% in around 20 minutes through wired charging and around 30 minutes wirelessly with MagSafe or Qi2.

What cameras does the iPhone Duo get?

The camera system is another area where the foldable design is meant to do more than simply change the form factor. The 48MP Fusion Main camera can shoot at up to 48MP, has zero shutter lag and includes an optical-quality 2x Telephoto option. A larger sensor, fast aperture and sensor-shift optical image stabilisation are designed to improve low-light photography. A 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide camera handles wider shots and macro photography, while a new Center Stage front camera can automatically frame photos and videos in different orientations, meaning users do not have to rotate the phone for landscape selfies.

The two-screen design enables some camera features that would not be possible on a conventional iPhone. Users can preview a shot on the outer display while using the rear cameras to take a selfie, while Duo Preview lets subjects see the live camera view and adjust their position before a photograph is taken.

Smart Take uses on-device AI to analyse a scene and automatically capture photographs when subjects are ready, reducing the chances of missing a shot while setting up the timer. For video, the main camera can record 4K at 120fps in Dolby Vision, with users able to adjust playback speed after recording for slow-motion effects. Cinematic effects can also be applied after capture at up to 60fps.

How does the iPhone Duo handle multitasking?

When opened, users can run two apps side by side through Split View, open two windows of the same app such as Safari, quickly switch between applications and save pairs of apps for later. Siri AI can also occupy one side of the screen while another app remains open on the other. Apple has redesigned iOS 27 around the two-screen form factor. Controls such as the Dock, Lock Screen controls and app navigation move to the side to free up vertical space, while the operating system automatically adjusts content as the device is opened, folded or turned. StandBy can also run on either display even when the phone is not charging, allowing the opened or folded device to function as a clock, photo frame or widget hub.

What does Apple Intelligence do on the iPhone Duo?

The iPhone Duo will run Apple's new Siri AI alongside Apple Intelligence. Siri can use personal context across messages, emails and photos, understand what is displayed on the screen and take actions based on that information. Apple is also bringing features such as Spatial Reframing, Extend and an upgraded Clean Up to the foldable, while Safari's Notify Me can monitor webpages for changes such as price drops or product restocks.