It’s safe to say that the iPhone 18 Pro Max is proving very popular. At the time of writing, delivery estimates for the cheapest model are two to three weeks away, compared to one to two weeks for the iPhone 18 Pro. However, the popularity seems to pale in comparison to the iPhone Duo, whose delivery estimates were pushed back to next year after just an hour of pre-orders opening.
My iPhone 18 Pro Max arrived yesterday, after almost a month of waiting for Apple to actually ship the thing. The problem was that as soon as it was created, my mind immediately wondered what I should do with it. Even more so after playing with the variable aperture and watching the blades move across the camera lens.
In contrast, the iPhone Duo is something that many people are looking forward to, even if you accept some compromises in the process. For what? Because it’s something brand new that Apple has never done before, even though the first foldable phones are now old enough to be in third grade.
Latest videos fromTom’s Guide
What does the iPhone 18 Pro Max actually have to offer?
I know that on a technical level, the iPhone 18 Pro Max is a better phone than the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Our tests show that the A20 Pro chip makes it significantly more powerful and battery life is half an hour longer than last year’s flagship. Charging time is also noticeably faster, thanks to the faster 60W wired charging capabilities.
But these aren’t the kind of improvements you can consciously feel. They improve the overall experience of using the iPhone 18 Pro Max, even if you don’t actually notice what’s happening, but they’re not the kind of things that make you physically want to hold and enjoy the phone for yourself.
These gears only really clicked into place when I held the iPhone 18 Pro Max in my hand, and I felt like the aquarium fish at the very end of Finding Nemo. I already have an iPhone 17 Pro Max, and aside from an obvious difference in the weight of the two phones (8.78 ounces versus 8.22 ounces), I couldn’t really tell the two phones apart.
I tinkered with the variable aperture camera system, and it was pretty fun watching the blades move across the lens as they do. But it’s an activity that gets old very quickly, and once you’ve exhausted what little fun it brings, the reality sets in: updating your phone every year is a pretty pointless endeavor.
Apple may have made significant improvements to the iPhone 18 Pro Max and added some fancy new camera features, but that doesn’t change the fact that it feels more like an iPhone 17S than an iPhone 18 Pro. This makes the 18 Pro Max feel like another iteration of the same old things, and the honest truth is that it’s an extremely boring upgrade. To the point where it barely feels like an upgrade.
I admit that the software changes have a big impact on what the 18 Pro Max can do. But when you know that iOS 27 is not exclusive to the most recent iPhones, and has been available on older models for a good few weeks (or months if you downloaded the beta), it’s not really a selling point.
The iPhone Duo, on the other hand, is a completely new type of device that Apple has never made before. Of course, this won’t impress foldable phone enthusiasts for the same reason the iPhone 18 Pro Max doesn’t impress me now. But for those who have never left the Apple ecosystem before, this is a completely new type of device.
iPhone Duo brings changes you can feel and experience in your hands
Just look at the iPhone Duo to know that it’s going to offer a very different user experience than the iPhone 18 Pro Max. It’s a foldable phone that opens to reveal a large tablet-sized screen, significantly larger than that of a traditional phone.
A whole new form factor and a whole new way of working means the iPhone Duo is something you’re going to have to master. Even if you’ve used foldable phones a lot in the past, the fact that it’s a foldable iPhone means it will offer a slightly different experience than an Android model. Both in terms of software and how Apple actually makes the foldable experience work compared to Samsung or Google.
Hell, the fact that Apple changed the UI to place a taskbar on the side of the iPhone Duo means that every user will have to spend some time getting acclimated to the new way of doing things.
The iPhone Duo goes way beyond just being a foldable iPhone. Apple seems to have put a lot of effort into making this something different and unique from its usual annual releases. The use of titanium means it’s more durable than the last two Pro Max iPhones, and the under-screen camera is a feature we don’t really see on phones anymore.
Even if Apple doesn’t fix the myriad of problems hidden cameras face, users may experience something different. Plus, it means you have an uninterrupted display, something you don’t see much of anymore.
Apple has done something different with the iPhone Duo, and as expensive as it is, it offers something most iPhone owners haven’t been able to experience before. In a world where new phones seem increasingly boring and barely different from what came before them, this is a very desirable feature.
It’s unclear whether Apple will be able to maintain this enthusiasm with future foldable iPhones, although I suspect people will lose this sense of enthusiasm very quickly. After all, all the other foldables have only just become part of the annual release cycle, and there will be a point where the iPhone Duo falls in line with them.
Conclusion
Phone launches are boring and long outdated. Even though the companies behind them try to drum up excitement and act like what they’re offering is revolutionary, the truth is that 90% of the time, they’re not. Even new types of phones can get old very quickly, especially when you have a version as spectacularly bad as the original Samsung Galaxy Fold.
However, I never bought a new phone and had a hard time knowing what to do with it. It’s not a fun experience to hold a $1,200 phone and wonder what it’s for – which makes a very strong argument against upgrading your old handsets too quickly. But at the same time, I have to wonder if the impending release of the iPhone Duo affects things. Both in terms of user attitudes and the resources that Apple has devoted to the development of its new phone lines.
You can feel the anticipation for the iPhone Duo right now, and the fact that delivery estimates have been pushed back to 2027 suggests that demand is likely much higher than Apple actually anticipated. It’s not something you see every year, and it’s nice that people can be genuinely excited about a brand new phone. It’s just a shame that the iPhone 18 Pro Max looks like nothing.
Follow Tom’s Guide to Google News And add us as your favorite source to get our latest news, analysis and reviews in your feeds.
Learn more about Tom’s Guide
Gn tech
