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# iPhone Duo Reviews: Two Faces, Two Verdicts
- URL: https://macanorak.com/iphone-duo-reviews-two-faces-two-verdicts/
- Published: 2026-10-22T12:03:13.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-22T15:24:45.000Z
- Description: The iPhone Duo’s reviews are in. I called it a 'Janus phone'. The verdicts suggest that the face I worried about might be the one people like best.
- Author: MacAnorak
- Tags: Field Notes, Track Record

In my recent article [*The iPhone Duo Has Two Very Different Faces. You Might Not Like Which One You See*](https://macanorak.com/the-iphone-duo-has-two-very-different-faces-you-might-not-like-which-one-you-see-2/), I compared the iPhone Duo to a figure from Roman mythology: Janus — associated with beginnings, endings, doorways, transitions and duality — usually shown with two faces looking in opposite directions.

The Duo is, in its own way, a Janus phone. Close it and you have one experience; open it and you enter another. I wondered whether it might mark the beginning of the end of the singular slab.

On Wednesday October 21st, the iPhone Duo review embargo lifted. John Gruber, in one of [the most thorough and opinionated](https://daringfireball.net/2026/10/the%5Fiphone%5Fduo?ref=macanorak.com) reviews of the Duo, says that the name of the product is perfect: the Duo is two devices in one. However, he argues that *only one of these devices is any good*. The outer device is, in his view, the worst iPhone Apple has ever made — a cumbersome little thing. The inner device, in contrast, is a small, joyful tablet, the best he's ever used. He grew up with Transformers[\[1\]](#fn1), as did I (although he says he was more of a GI Joe kid) and his analogy is that the Duo isn't a phone pretending to be a tablet, it's a *tablet in disguise*. I compared it to Janus from Roman mythology, but Transformers is a great analogy for the folded state of the Duo. A folded Transformer was never a convincing car, and a folded Duo is, in Gruber’s view, not as good an iPhone as a regular one.

What strikes me is his description of the moment you pick it up. Every single time, he says, you face the same awkward decision: unfold it, or put up with the cramped outside screen. There's a third option, which he arrived at while waiting for sandwiches in a bagel shop: do neither, and leave it in your pocket (At £1999, it’ll burn a hole there anyway). Janus was associated with doorways — close the Duo and you have one thing; open it and you have another. I made this sound romantic. But for Gruber, at least, the closed state is an annoyance. It straight-up puts you off using the device.

When I wrote that the inner screen’s nano-texture finish might divide opinion *"straight down the middle"*, I was guessing. I thought many people would be surprised by a matte screen, that some would dislike it, that some would potentially find the transition between moving from the outer glossy display to the inner matte screen jarring.

Some reviews suggest otherwise. [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1014709/iphone-duo-inner-screen-nano-texture-matte?ref=macanorak.com) positively gushes over the experience of using the inner nano-texture screen: *“changing between the two screens somehow feels nice in both directions. Opening up to the inner screen feels like a welcome break from the reflections on the outer screen. When closing it and going back to the outer screen, the richer blacks and colors feel inviting.”* Gruber loves the inner matte display, to the point of wishing his non-folding phone had it, and he predicts most foldables will copy it next year. [9to5Mac](https://9to5mac.com/2026/10/21/iphone-duo-review/?ref=macanorak.com) explains that the nano-texture finish plays a central role in reducing the visibility of the crease.

There is some dissent, and it supports my original concerns. [Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/phones/iphones/apple-iphone-duo-review?ref=macanorak.com) says the finish hides the crease, but observes that *“it doesn’t offer the perfect blacks or vibrant hues I normally associate with OLED”*. That's the trade-off I described. [Joanna Stern](https://www.youtube.com/live/bxDTWuL9GxY?ref=macanorak.com) also found that fingerprints were harder to clean off on the inner display, and she said Apple should have included the $9 polishing cloth (she’s right).

What nobody can answer yet is the question I asked about durability. The nano-texture finish sits on a replaceable polymer cover layer. [The layer is replaceable](https://macanorak.com/apples-foldable-has-a-cover-layer-for-19-you-can-get-another-one-just-dont-replace-it-yourself/) but no-one has truly had a chance to test how it wears in regular use. Joanna Stern used a custom device to subject her Duo review unit to more than [32,000 folds](https://www.youtube.com/live/bxDTWuL9GxY?ref=macanorak.com) over four nights. That’s not representative of normal use, and it doesn’t settle the question of how the nano-texture finish will wear. She thought the hinge felt looser as the folds accumulated, although she couldn’t detect much overall change (and a gauge actually showed the hinge was slightly *stiffer* afterwards). She didn't comment on whether the test caused the crease to become more visible.

The outer, glossy screen is where the reviewers diverge, and it's what I'd (ironically) glossed over.

In my piece [comparing the Duo to the mini](https://macanorak.com/big-things-come-in-small-packages-what-the-iphone-duo-learns-from-the-iphone-mini/), I argued that Apple had seemingly learned a lesson about marketing: the Duo promises 90% of the screen area of an iPhone 18 Pro on the cover display, and one-handed use, instead of a spec sheet. [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1015028/iphone-duo-review?ref=macanorak.com) notes *“that’s pretty small for today’s apps. It’s like having an iPhone 5 in a world of iPhone Pro Maxes”.*

Gruber argues that nobody would want an iPhone with this shape and size if it were a standalone phone, and that the mini was a better shape than the Duo's outer display. He astutely points out that Apple chose *not* to make the iPhone Air half a Duo. So, to my mind, it seems like the iPhone Duo may have the right pitch and a compromised phone.

The reviewers don't all agree about the outer face. Gruber says it’s cramped and compares using messages (with the keyboard open) to using an old BlackBerry phone; 9to5Mac said *"typing on the iPhone Duo’s outer screen is very pleasant"*, and also that neither screen feels compromised.

In my [Big Things Come in Small Packages: What the iPhone Duo Learns From the iPhone mini](https://macanorak.com/big-things-come-in-small-packages-what-the-iphone-duo-learns-from-the-iphone-mini/) piece, I said the Duo was perhaps prohibitively heavy and expensive for ordinary customers. At 254g against 249g for the 18 Pro Max, Gruber makes the point that it's technically only negligibly heavier, but it feels far denser, because the surface area is so much smaller. If it didn't unfold, he says, no one would buy it. 9to5Mac, however, found it surprisingly comfortable.

In terms of battery and heat, The Verge says it gets hot and it doesn't seem ready for a full day of heavy use. Gruber notes the battery is very good, although the device does get warm.

For Gruber, the lack of Face ID on the Duo is a source of *“endless unceasing frustration”*. Tom's Guide calls the switch to Touch ID a *“downgrade”.* This seems significant: Gruber [predicted in September](https://daringfireball.net/2026/09/thoughts%5Fand%5Fobservations%5Fon%5Fapples%5Fsurprise%5Fand%5Fshine%5Fevent?ref=macanorak.com) that Touch ID could sink the first-generation model. [Marques Brownlee](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESABTN4VtrA&t=1192s&ref=macanorak.com) argues that *"Face ID is going to be the number one thing people miss coming from other iPhones”.* Joanna Stern positively pined for Face ID.

Gruber's overall verdict is that it's an *“extraordinarily polished prototype”* and The Verge calls it *“incomplete as a product, but complete enough as an idea that you can see where things are going”.*

So even if the inner screen of the Duo is excellent, is that experience worth the price, weight, Touch ID compromises and inconvenience of opening the device? The price, in particular, is where I still have serious reservations. Gruber imagines folding an iPad mini in half so it fits in your pocket, with a small screen on the outside to see the time and notifications, and says that's kind of what the Duo is. An iPad mini with 256GB storage and cellular connectivity costs £849 in the UK. The Duo, with 256GB storage costs £1999\. Gruber does note that the tablet experience of using the iPhone Duo is preferable to any iPad he's used, including the mini. But again, is that experience worth £1999?[\[2\]](#fn2) And are you happy paying £1999 for something that feels *“incomplete”*?

People seem willing to pay for the Duo — it's sold out. According to DigiTimes, Apple have reportedly [boosted iPhone Duo orders by 44%](https://www.macrumors.com/2026/10/22/apple-boosts-iphone-duo-orders/?ref=macanorak.com) (9.7 million to 14 million units) to catch up with demand. But preorders measure customers’ willingness to buy a device under the conditions prevailing at launch. They don’t, by themselves, measure whether a product will find a durable market. WAtoday's David Swan, [as quoted by iPhone in Canada](https://www.iphoneincanada.ca/2026/10/21/iphone-duo-reviews-roundup/?ref=macanorak.com), says he'd wait a year for the second generation.

I previously wondered if the Duo might be the beginning of the end of the singular slab. The reviews suggest a more modest answer. Gruber thinks some of the Duo's problems are endemic to foldables and can't be solved. And even the most enthusiastic reviewers write about it as a beginning, not an ending.

Janus looks both ways, and the iPhone Duo does too. One of its faces looks back at the iPhone we know, and it’s the one many reviewers seem to like least. The other looks forward to a tablet that fits in a pocket, and it’s the one many reviewers like most. Whether Apple's next move is a Duo that makes the first face better, or gives up on the whole idea completely, will tell us a great deal about which direction they’re looking.

In the iPhone Duo, Apple may have made a better small tablet than a small iPhone, despite selling the device as an iPhone. My advice from before still stands — reviews are subjective. Go and try the Duo in a store, with the expansive nano-texture inner screen, as well as the cramped outer glossy one. Consider which of the two experiences you will actually use most, and decide whether you’re happy living with both faces of the iPhone Duo.

---

1. Not to be confused with GoBots — Tonka's rival line of transforming robot toys went on sale slightly before Hasbro's Transformers, and had a cartoon of its own. Transformers won the great shape-shifting toy war, and Hasbro bought Tonka in 1991, GoBots name included. If you were a GoBots kid, I'm sorry. [↩︎](#fnref1)
2. For some it might be, especially those for whom the Duo will replace a phone and a tablet, saving space and reducing the need to carry two devices. [↩︎](#fnref2)