Nicole Nguyen spent nearly a week with Apple's first folding iPhone. Closed, it's about the shape of a passport. Open, it reads like a small book. After an hour she could picture living with one. After a week she decided she isn't ready for it, or it isn't ready for her. The iPhone Duo goes on sale Friday, Oct. 23, for $1,999.
The good part is the screen. Nguyen reviewed the Duo for Thursday's Journal. The outside screen is 5.4 inches. Open it and you get 7.6 inches, just two-thirds of an inch smaller than an iPad Mini. A matte finish cuts glare and hides the crease where it folds. She watched a whole season of a show on it. She propped it up like a tent for a video call with her parents. She typed part of the review on it, folded halfway into what she calls the world's tiniest laptop. Folding phones have been around for more than seven years, from Samsung and Google (GOOGL) among others. Apple (AAPL) got here late, with a few good ideas.
Then come the trade-offs. In one hand you feel the weight. It outweighs a Pro iPhone and even other foldables, and it's wider and thicker too. Using it nonstop made her hand hurt. The camera zooms 2X, against 8X on the 18 Pro, and the selfie camera is weaker. Touch ID sits in the power button, so Face ID is gone, and so is the action button. Apple rates the battery at 24 hours of typical use, against 30 for the 18 Pro Max. She ended a day of nonstop testing with 10% to 20% left. You can pair a keyboard. You can't pair a mouse or trackpad, even though the Duo "costs as much as a MacBook Pro." Many apps aren't built for the big inner screen yet.
The first-generation tax
"It turned out to be a super-chill iPhone," Nguyen writes. She'd expected a super-productive one. Her bottom line is that she isn't convinced it's worth $800 more than an iPhone 18 Pro. Folding phones are 2% of the global phone market, and China buys more than a third of those, by Counterpoint Research's count. Shipping delays already stretch well into the new year. By the time most early buyers get one, she notes, the software may have caught up. The hardware has to wait for the next model.
Our read
This is a Cash Flow M5 story with a Behavioral twist. Apple (AAPL) is held at weight in 24 books; nothing added. One phone, hit or miss, isn't why we hold it. Our verdict is hold. The planning lesson is older than the iPhone. Version one of a gadget often costs the most and does the least. The second version is often lighter and better, and the people who waited got more for their money. Nguyen says this one needs a generation or two. The shipping delay is already doing some of the waiting for you.
Here's the connection to your own plan. A phone is one of the bills many households renew without a thought. If the Duo tempts you, open your carrier bill this week. Find what you still owe on the phone you have now, and remember the Duo costs $800 more than a Pro. If that $800 would do more in your emergency fund or your IRA, the next model is your friend. If the bill has grown past what you'd guess, bring it to a review and we'll go through the plan line by line.