Jesse Dalton had his new iPhone Duo for about five minutes. He moved his service and apps over, then opened it to show his wife. Four or five openings in, the hinge jammed at 45 degrees. He forced it and heard a pop. Bright lines ran across the inner screen. “I felt blind panic,” he told the Journal.
Shane Basinski, in Melbourne, Australia, lasted about six hours. He’d opened his Duo about 20 times and was treating it, in his words, “like fine china.” Then came a crack, a small bump under the glass and the same bright lines. Each man walked into his local Apple Store and came out with a replacement. Basinski says the new one opens and closes much more smoothly.
Apple (AAPL) says it knows about an issue with the inner display on “a small number” of units. Anyone with a bad screen should contact AppleCare for a replacement. Apple won’t say how many units are affected. It isn’t recalling the phone. And this isn’t the only hardware headache of its busy season. Apple also offered earlier this month to swap out some iPhone 18 Pro Max units that wouldn’t connect to AT&T’s (T) network.
Lemons, or a weak spot
Nicole Nguyen, the Journal’s personal-technology columnist, has tested her own Duo for nearly two weeks. No sticky hinge, no bad screen. But reports on social media show the same lines in the same places. Francisco Jeronimo of the research firm IDC says that pattern points to the hinge, or to how the screen is held when it folds. Shahram Mokhtari of the repair site iFixit took one apart. His theory is a weak point in the hinge that can damage the tiny electronics under the screen. Trapped debris or a factory defect could do it too. Flexible screens don’t forgive much. He also calls the Duo the most repairable foldable he’s inspected.
Getting one at all is still the bigger problem. The Journal reported Saturday that U.S. orders from Apple’s online store showed an average shipping delay of 92 days, by data firm Navi’s count. So the people whose phones broke were the lucky ones, for a few hours.
Our read
This is Insurance and Consumer Protection (M11), the small print on a big purchase. Last week we said a first-generation gadget costs the most and does the least, and that the Duo needs a generation. This week added a hinge. Apple (AAPL) is held at weight in 24 books and AT&T (T) in 3. Nothing added. A few broken screens don’t change why we hold either one. Our verdict is hold. If you still want the phone, three habits protect the $2,000. Buy the protection plan. Keep the box and the receipt. Know the return window before it closes.
The concrete thing in your plan is the gadget line in this year’s gift budget. Version one costs the most and breaks the most. Version two is usually lighter, cheaper and fixed. This week, pull out the receipt for the priciest thing you bought this fall and check its return date and warranty. It takes about five minutes, which is how long Dalton’s phone lasted. Bring the date to your next review. You check the roof before the storm, and the receipt before the hinge pops.