The iPhone Duo is officially available today. Apple Stores around the world are crowded, if today’s launch at the flagship Fifth Avenue location in New York was any indication. If you can’t be bothered to be around customers with $2,000 to spend on the foldable, let me show you how Apple’s first foldable phone compares to the latest Android-based flagship models.
First, some references on the size of the iPhone Duo. From left to right below we have the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, iPhone Duo, US passport and a B6 size laptop. As you can see, the iPhone Duo has the smallest footprint. What you can’t get in this photo is thickness and weight. The iPhone Duo is about the thickness of three passports stacked together and feels considerably heavy in your hand. At 254g, it’s even heavier than the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
Here’s the same comparison but with exterior displays enabled for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and iPhone Duo. The screens on both devices are glossy and 120Hz. While the sizes are similar (5.5 inches on the Z Fold 8 and 5.4 inches on the iPhone Duo), the software is different. The Z Fold 8’s home screen works like a regular Android phone. Apple has moved the dock from the bottom to the right side, where the menus and buttons for the “Made for iPhone Duo” apps are also located.
Okay, now that we have an idea of how big the iPhone Duo is compared to something familiar, here’s how it compares not only to the Z Fold 8 (second from left), but also the Z Fold 8 Ultra (third), the original Google Pixel Fold (fourth), the latest Pixel 11 Pro Fold (fifth), and the original Microsoft Surface Duo (sixth):
The iPhone Duo shares a D-shape similar to the two Pixel Folds and the Surface Duo. But Apple’s asymmetrical exterior display stands out from the rest. I always felt like the rounded left corners of the Pixel Folds looked odd.
Above, the iPhone Duo, Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra and Pixel 11 Pro Fold open to their internal displays. The iPhone Duo’s nano-texture screen really helps reduce the visibility of creases and glare. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold has the most visible fold and the most reflective interior screen.
In the image above you can, once again, see how the iPhone Duo’s internal screen is less reflective thanks to the nano-textured layer. This layer is replaceable, but you shouldn’t remove it yourself unless you want an ugly, wavy, warped screen. You can also see that the inner screen of the iPhone Duo is shorter than that of the Z Fold 8. The iPhone Duo has a 1.4:1 inner screen compared to the 4:3 inner screen of the Z Fold 8.
What would a size comparison be without comparing the iPhone Duo to a classic bar-style iPhone? In the photo above, the iPhone Duo sits next to the 6.3-inch iPhone 18 Pro (center) and the 6.9-inch iPhone 18 Pro Max (right). The iPhone Duo’s exterior display offers 90% of the screen real estate of the iPhone 18 Pro.
Now let’s move on to the iPhone Duo (center) with its interior screen opened in portrait orientation compared to the iPhone 18 Pro Max (left) and an iPad mini (6th generation), which also has the same dimensions as the latest iPad mini (A17 Pro). Look at how much thinner the bezels around the iPhone Duo’s interior screen are. If the 8th generation iPad mini, which is expected to be announced at next week’s “Pray and Tell” event in Los Angeles, doesn’t have thinner bezels, I’ll be disappointed.
And here’s what the iPhone Duo (middle) looks like compared to the iPhone 18 Pro Max (top) and iPad mini in landscape orientation.
Finally, here is a comparison between the latest Samsung and Google foldable phones released this year. Below, the internal screens are open on all devices. I also added an unfolded passport and the iPad mini for good measure.
Alright, now that you know the size of the iPhone Duo, are you going to buy Apple’s first foldable? Is $2,000 still too high when a bar-style phone like the iPhone 18 Pro/18 Pro Max does everything you want and has better cameras? Sound off in the comments!
Gn tech
