Apple's first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, has drawn durability complaints from the day it went on sale, with buyers reporting cracked inner screens after only a limited number of openings and a prominent technology YouTuber finding problems with both the hinge and the display.
Owners began reporting damage to the inner display on the 23rd, according to U.S. technology outlet The Verge and other foreign media on the 25th. Some devices showed cracks near the hinge where the screen folds, while others developed bright lines across the display.
A buyer in Australia said the screen broke about six hours after purchase. The buyer said the device had been opened fewer than 20 times and that, while unfolding the screen, something seemed to catch inside the hinge accompanied by a cracking sound, adding that there were no signs of external impact and that an Apple Store exchanged the device for a new one. On Reddit, the U.S. online community, users shared similar accounts, including screens that cracked during initial setup.
A durability test by a well-known technology YouTuber turned up problems as well. Zack Nelson, who runs the YouTube channel JerryRigEverything, tested the iPhone Duo for scratch resistance, dust intrusion and bending in a video posted on the 23rd. In a test that applied dust and sand, the particles worked their way into the hinge and the device no longer closed completely. The magnets that pull the two halves of the screen together could not overcome the debris lodged in the hinge.
When force was applied against the normal folding direction with the screen open, a green line appeared on the inner display. More pressure made the line spread, and the display eventually lost both its image and its touch response. Nelson noted that the Galaxy Fold devices from Samsung Electronics (005930) he had tested did not fail in the same way. The test applied physical stress well beyond ordinary use, however, and should be distinguished from the likelihood of failure in everyday conditions.
Repair costs have also come under scrutiny. Replacing the protective layer on the iPhone Duo's inner screen costs $19 to $49 in the United States, depending on whether the owner has AppleCare+. Samsung Electronics, by contrast, replaces the screen protector on its Galaxy foldable phones once free of charge within 12 months of purchase in the U.S.
The iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable phone, went on sale on the 23rd starting at $1,999 in the United States. Apple emphasized durability at launch, highlighting a titanium hinge and a screen protection layer it developed in-house. With damage reports piling up in the first days of sales, however, verifying that durability has become a challenge. The cases disclosed so far are not enough to determine the overall defect rate or whether a design flaw exists. Apple has yet to offer an official explanation for the breakages.
