It has been three days since the iPhone Duo was officially shipped. Faced with such an “first new form of iPhone in nineteen years”, the market response is undoubtedly enthusiastic.
As the first “new form” product in the history of the iPhone, which Apple has been dormant for seven years, people’s attention to it is focused on two aspects –Hardware design, and software capabilities.
Regarding the latter, we did see Apple’s determination and appeal from the press conference to the launch of sales.
Before the App Store deadline in April 2027, major application developers provided round after round of active adaptations with unprecedented treatment for Android:
As for the former, although the form of iPhone Duo has been on the market for a long time, the ingenuity and choices in its internal design were not known until the disassembly content was released in recent days.
The first thing that needs to be acknowledged is that although iPhone Duo is a brand-new product, in terms of its internal design and workmanship, iPhone Duo still continues Apple’s long-standing excellence:
Picture | YouTube @iFixit
Even though there is nothing “unprecedented” in the physical appearance of the iPhone Duo, there are actually some elements hidden inside the fuselage that are different from all folding screen phones on the market, and are even “Apple-exclusive”.
For example, this “nano-textured surface” at the center of the discussion——
In terms of form, it is a screen film that can be replaced individually.But just like all other folding screen phones, even if you don’t like it, don’t tear off the factory film.
Picture | YouTube @iFixit
Because the screen under the nano-texture layer is not only far inferior to the nano-texture layer in terms of material strength, it also does not have any oleophobic layer on it. From a design perspective, it is not designed to be exposed and in contact with fingers.
In addition, some so-called “iPhone Duo inner screen films” with extremely high prices have appeared on Taobao and JD.com. These are pure IQ tax products.
Not only does the second layer of film not stick to the nano-texture layer, but the extra thickness may cause the screen to be squeezed and damaged, which is not worth the loss:
Picture | Xiaohongshu
The point is, iPhone Duo’s nano-texture surface acts as a出廠特性, giving iPhone Duo a unique look and feel in the folding screen market, as well as a very excellent “hidden” effect:
In most daily light environments, the nano-texture layer of iPhone Duo can provide an integrated look with almost no reflection while hiding the creases.
In an earlier article we mentioned,The biggest significance of the folding screen is to provide an integrated large screen instead of divided small windows.Even though there are so many excellent product precedents in the past, the frosted inner screen of iPhone Duo is still the one with the strongest “integration” so far.
In addition to the outer screen, the steel-cased battery inside the iPhone Duo body is also very distinctive.
From the debut of the iPhone 16 Pro to today, steel-case batteries have made considerable progress in terms of charging and discharging performance, durability and safety.
But for the iPhone Duo, the biggest advantage of the steel case battery is space utilization:
Picture | YouTube @iFixit
Since there is no need to reserve aluminum-plastic film edge sealing and expansion space, complex shapes can also be achieved through precision stamping and laser welding.The steel-cased battery used in the iPhone can increase the overall space utilization of the battery compartment area by about 10% to 18%.
In a folding screen where every inch of land is at a premium, these spaces are more important than ever.
The total capacity of the two batteries of iPhone Duo is about 19Wh, which is almost catching up with the 21Wh battery of iPhone 18 Pro Max——
Picture | YouTube @iFixit
And iPhone Duo usesElectrically Debundable AdhesiveIt is still the “most elegant” way to remove the battery in the entire folding screen market.
Use a DC power supply to energize the battery glue and place for a while, and the battery glue will completely lose its stickiness. It does not need to be heated or broken. It is much safer and more convenient than traditional battery glue:
Picture | YouTube @iFixit
This electrosensitive battery glue, which has won unanimous praise from domestic and overseas disassembly media, is not the only aspect of iPhone Duo that is considered for repairability.
iFixit mentioned in the disassembly that the viscosity of the screen glue used on the iPhone Duo’s outer screen is very well controlled, and it almost perfectly balances the adhesion force and the difficulty of disassembly:
Picture | YouTube @iFixit
Shahram Mokhtari (principal teardown engineer at iFixit) also commented:As a part that often needs to be repaired and the starting point for all disassembly, an external screen that is easy to disassemble makes sense.
Especially since Apple still insists on selling genuine parts and official repair tools (albeit very expensive), we can speculate thatGenuine iPhone Duo parts will also appear on the Apple Self Service Repair store page:
Another interesting thing inside the iPhone Duo is its external screen front camera.
Since the external screen cannot “steal” space from the camera platform, Apple customized aThickness only 1.91mmThe thickness of the camera assembly and lens assembly is only 3.29mm.
Picture｜bilibili @微机分WekiHome
In order to compress the thickness to the maximum, Apple uses a “broken board sinking” process similar to that of the middle frame of mobile phones, and fixes the Sony IMX915 sensor in the middle of the hollow substrate with gold wires. The recording specifications are still 4K 60 Dolby Vision without shrinking.
According to disassembly, the X-axis linear motor used by iPhone Duo has a volume of approximately 681.5 cubic millimeters.
This volume is just between iPhone Air and iPhone 18 Pro, facing超過半斤The body can also provide sufficient hand feel:
Picture｜bilibili @微机分WekiHome
According to Ai Faner’s experience, the iPhone Duo’s motor tuning is still the best among all current folding screen phones.
Not only does the iOS 27 system have rich vibration feedback, it also inherits Apple’s long-standing excellent start-stop control, and there is almost no “lag” on a large body:
But beyond the details, the iPhone Duo has become “mature” in the key component of the folding screen, namely the hinge.
As can be seen from iFixit’s disassembly, the iPhone Duo uses four sets of springs as the torsion structure, two sets less than the Samsung Z Fold8, but it is still tuned very well in terms of hand feel uniformity and resistance segmentation:
Picture | YouTube @iFixit
Moreover, iPhone Duo has many hover function scenarios that Z Fold8 does not have, which also shows that Apple has chosen a slightly different camshaft design, which makes some evaluations before the release that “iPhone Duo is equivalent to replacing the Z Fold8” self-defeating:
Picture | YouTube @iFixit
However, both the iPhone Duo and Z Fold8 face a common challenge: dust-proof hinges.
In iFixit’s dust intrusion test, the iPhone Duo showed a very similar intrusion problem to the Z Fold8. After the powder intruded along the gap between the hinge cover and the body, it caused the hinge to move unsmoothly and make abnormal noises:
Picture | YouTube @iFixit
Strictly speaking, the iPhone Duo’s nominal IP68 protection requires “no visible dust deposits inside the talcum powder sand box for 8 hours of testing.” It is true that the two sides of the fuselage were not invaded by dust, but the risk of dust entering the hinges still exists objectively.
In addition, in order to pursue visual smoothness, Apple does not install semi-circular dust covers on both ends of the hinge like other folding screen phones on the market.
Although this looks and feels better, in iFixit’s test, we can clearly see powder accumulation in the hinge gap where the iPhone Duo lacks a dust cover:
Picture | YouTube @iFixit
In daily life, it is equivalent to the crumbs in your pocket, the fine hair on your clothes, and the sand and dust in the air. They may be “temporarily stored” in this gap, increasing the risk of dust entering.
In addition, although it is impossible to determine whether there is a direct connection, iFixit also proposed an explanation for the recent phenomenon of iPhone Duo screen failure.
Through disassembly, iFixit believes that the location of damage in existing screen cases corresponds to the area where the center pivot connecting plate of the iPhone Duo hinge, the screen cable and the edge of the steel case battery meet.This connecting plate needs to sink slightly during the folding process to leave room for the screen to bend.
iFixit speculates that if the connecting plate sinks the wrong distance or is delayed when the phone is closed, and if foreign objects such as sand and dust enter the hinge area, the curved screen may press on that point, causing damage:
Picture | YouTube @iFixit
In short, if you have already purchased an iPhone Duo and plan to use it as your main phone, Ai Faner still recommends purchasing AppleCare+ for more complete protection.
If you haven’t bought iPhone Duo yet or are still waiting for delivery, you might as well take this opportunity to reconsider it——
After all, on the whole, it is the most appropriate choice to wait a few months before buying iPhone Duo. Not only will the price be more suitable, but third-party app adaptation will also keep up.
But in any case, iPhone Duo has its special value as a product.
No matter how lively the current Android folding screen market is, the greatest value of iPhone Duo is that it allows many people who don’t look at “non-iPhone” at all to start paying attention to and understanding the folding screen category for the first time——
For example, today, 7 years after the folding screen was launched, there is still a need to popularize the popular science “Don’t tear off the inner screen film”. This is an obvious example.
But on the other hand, iPhone Duo is also a product that integrates a large number of mature industry solutions.
Although it contains Apple’s unique persistence and exclusive technology, it doesn’t have much of the “magic” feeling that the original iPhone had.
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