New iPhone Duo Screens Are Already Cracking, And This iFixit Report Explores Why

The iPhone Duo has been out for a few days now, and while some customers may have to wait until 2027, some early buyers are already saying that the inner display is cracking with no apparent reason. Among the worst cases, one user said the inner screen cracked within six hours of using this device, while another wasn’t even able to finish setup before the screen cracked. According to them, they heard a crunching sound when unfolding the iPhone Duo, and then this large crack would appear in the center of the crease, while others reported the right side of the display also breaking. It’s unclear what’s been causing this defect, and repair company iFixit suggests that this could be due to localized mechanical stress caused by overlapping internal support edges near the central hinge.

The company overlaid 3D models and CT scans onto images of cracked devices to understand what could have happened. One of the hypotheses is this localized defect, while other possibilities could be a joint of the hinge momentarily getting stuck or not articulating smoothly. Another possibility could be friction or misalignment preventing the ultrathin layers of the iPhone Duo from gliding freely over those structural edge transitions, leading to micro-fractures on the display.

At this moment, Apple hasn’t explained why, but the company told Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman that it’s “aware of an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units.”

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also says that Apple believes these impacted devices haven’t suffered from usage, but rather already being defective from the start. Still, if we take previous reports regarding Apple facing production difficulties ahead of the iPhone Duo release: It seems Apple was not only having a hard time in final assembly, but component makers were having issues with low yields, design changes, and deliveries getting delayed.

Whatever the issue is, foldable phones breaking rapidly isn’t something new. The original Galaxy Fold, for example, had major display issues within the first two days of reviewers using this phone; such as people removing the top-layer screen protector. While we all know this protection isn’t made to be peeled off, at that time it wasn’t clear. Interestingly enough, in Apple’s case, it’s even possible to peel off and even replace the nano-texture screen protector, but the company stresses that users shouldn’t use the iPhone Duo without it.

The original Google Pixel Fold also had similar issues with users reporting their inner displays breaking less than a week after acquiring the device. Among the issues that these first-generation products face, the media reported debris inside these phones, mainly with defective units — which all companies eventually replace for users. What makes Apple’s case unique is that the company was confident enough that its product was different from other foldables on the market. Reports about its inner display breaking in just a matter of hours show that Apple can also suffer from a first-gen foldable product as well.

While we still need to wait to see if these issues might escalate or if they’re just a few random cases of this product’s first batch, it’s interesting to see how the company described this product during its announcement. Used to having its devices tested to the limit, as many reviewers tried to bend Apple’s thinnest iPhone to date, the iPhone Air, for example, Apple says the iPhone Duo was “designed for durability.”

The company explains that it uses a grade five titanium for strength, with an enclosure that has a mirror-polished finish and a 3D-printed hinge cover. “The hinge is engineered from more than 100 components to precisely control opening and closing and support the center of the display … Internally, support ribs reinforce the structure for added stiffness, while antenna splits with ceramic fiber inserts enhance the frame’s rigidity,” the company states in a press release.

Still, despite all this effort to make the iPhone Duo error-proof, current reports suggest that a lot can happen with this device. While Apple is still offering ways to replace this product for free, the iPhone Duo could quickly become a $1,999 mistake if customers don’t get something like AppleCare+ alongside the phone. That said, iFixit has an interactive CT scan by Lumafield Neptune scanner showing the insight of the iPhone Duo and how it can be possibly breaking.