The Independent’s Andrew Griffin went into Apple’s event skeptical of foldables — then folded an iPhone Duo and immediately got it. He says the hinge closes with a satisfying magnetic thunk, the inner screen has no visible crease, and the software makes opening, closing, and split-view feel inevitable rather than gimmicky.
Andrew Griffin for The Independent:
I can’t say I’ve ever wanted to fold my phone in half. OK, maybe once or twice, in response to a particularly frustrating notification – but not habitually, every time I use it.
And that had always been my response to the folding phones that have been released by various companies in recent years, and now by Apple, in the form of the newly released iPhone Duo. In short: why?
[T]he technology didn’t seem to match up with the experience. In practice, those foldable phones just seemed to be two phones stuck together, one twice as big as the other, leaving you with a compromised version of both and a constant fear that it might crease or break or fall apart.
And then you actually fold the iPhone, as I just did after Apple’s launch event in California. And all of a sudden it feels like it makes sense…
In general, the iPhone Duo is something you really have to feel for yourself – which is good, given that it feels so nice.
Once the device is actually open, the unfolded screen is beautiful. There’s no visible crease at all: if you didn’t know it could fold, you would never guess the iPhone Duo wasn’t just a new iPad Mini.
Overall, the whole hardware and software experience is so deeply integrated that the folding nature of the phone stops feeling strange very quickly. Within a few minutes of using it, it just felt sort of inevitable, and like I wanted one.
MacDailyNews Take: iPhone Duo pre-orders will make the iPhone X’s look like a nonevent.
If and when Apple debuts a foldable iPhone, they’ll be showing the world how it should be done and what to copy going forward. As usual. — MacDailyNews, February 27, 2019
As with fingerprint and facial recognition, when Apple debuts a foldable iPhone, then foldable smartphones will have been done right. — MacDailyNews, January 17, 2019
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it does not
I would much rather carry a Duo in comparison to an iPad Mini.
The price deters, tho.
As much as i’d like a Duo, I have to ask myself how many times i’ve been out and about wishing I had my Mini with me.. never. I’ve always just wanted a bigger iPhone, starting with the 6 Plus and then the Pro Maxes. I’d be very happy with a 7″+ iPhone. If I do ever end up with a Duo I’ll be using it unfolded most of the time like the giant iPhone many wished the Mini could have been all along. If Apple made a slab iPhone the same dimensions as an unfolded Duo and sold it for $1199 starting they’d sell tens of millions. It’d be much cheaper for them to produce without a hinge, repair costs would be lower and battery life would be 3+ days.