Apple stayed out of the foldable phone market for seven years after Samsung launched the first one, then finally gave in. On September 9, at an event in Cupertino called Surprise and Shine, the company revealed the iPhone Duo foldable, its first phone with a folding screen. AndroidHeadlines reported it starts at $1,999 for 256GB, making it the most expensive iPhone Apple has ever sold, with pre-orders opening October 16 and shipping starting October 23.

The iPhone Duo foldable is shaped like a passport when it is closed, with a 5.4-inch screen on the outside. Open it up and it becomes a 7.6-inch display, which Apple says is 50 percent larger than the iPhone 18 Pro Max and 80 percent larger than the iPhone 18 Pro. When it is fully open, Apple calls it the thinnest iPhone it has ever made. Reuters reported that the frame is machined titanium and the phone carries an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.

Under the hood, Apple built a custom hinge from more than 100 tiny precision parts and used a nano-texture finish on the display to hide the crease where the screen folds. TechCrunch noted that the iPhone Duo foldable runs on the new A20 Pro chip and an Apple-designed C2 modem, and it is eSIM-only with no physical SIM slot. Battery life is rated at 31 hours of video playback on the inner display and 44 hours on the outer one, per the same report. There is no Face ID. You unlock it with Touch ID built into the side button, or with your Apple Watch. According to MacRumors, Apple Pencil support is coming to both screens of the iPhone Duo foldable later this year.

The folding phone era finally gets an Apple logo

The iPhone Duo foldable is the first marquee device launched under Apple CEO John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on September 1. Ternus spent part of the presentation taking shots at rival foldables, saying other companies had made phones that felt "like two phones awkwardly stuck together," and promising the Duo would feel like an iPad in your pocket. He closed the reveal with "actually there is one more thing," a deliberate nod to the line Steve Jobs made famous, which Jobs had borrowed from the detective show Columbo, according to the Associated Press.

Analysts expect the iPhone Duo foldable to sell well even at that price. Softonic reported that analysts see roughly 5 million units shipping by the end of 2026. Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, told the Associated Press the Duo would overshadow Apple's other announcements at the event, calling it a distinctive new design for the iPhone lineup. Paolo Pescatore of PP Foresight said Apple had "created a new premium growth opportunity" for the iPhone business. Not everyone was instantly sold. Reuters noted that Apple shares were down 1.8 percent at the end of the presentation, and Wood cautioned that foldables still make up less than 5 percent of the overall smartphone market. The event also pushed new AI features across the lineup, and the rules around that tech are still being written, as this look at California's AI kill switch regulation fight explains.

Samsung is not standing still

Apple is late to a party Samsung started seven years ago, and its main rival is not exactly struggling. PhoneArena reported that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 got off to a flying start, and in Samsung's home market of South Korea its sales rose about 10 percent week over week in the week after the iPhone Duo foldable was announced. Price is where Samsung has the edge at home. The iPhone Duo starts at 3.29 million won, about $2,382, while the most affordable Z Fold 8 costs 2.28 million won, about $1,650.

The rivalry matters because foldables are still a niche. With fewer than 5 percent of phones sold being foldables, Apple entering the category could finally push it into the mainstream, the way the iPhone once did for the smartphone itself. For now, though, both companies are fighting over a small slice of buyers willing to pay tablet prices for the iPhone Duo foldable or its rivals, something that fits in a pocket.

The price problem

For most Gen Z buyers, the iPhone Duo foldable's price is the real headline. Two thousand dollars is rent money, and for comparison the iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 with the Pro Max at $1,299, according to the Associated Press. If your budget is already stretched, this is worth a serious look at where your money goes first, which is why these five money moves for Gen Z are a better pre-order than the phone itself.

The starting price is the story here, and Reuters pointed out that the iPhone brought in $209.6 billion for Apple last fiscal year, just over half of its total sales, so a premium foldable is a new revenue lane, not a niche experiment. Trade-in programs and carrier deals will soften the sticker shock when the iPhone Duo foldable lands on October 23, and Apple is betting the crease-free screen and iPad-style multitasking will convince people it is worth it. Whether that bet pays off will show up in holiday sales numbers. In the meantime, the foldable wars are officially on, and for the first time Apple is playing in them.