Apple acknowledged that the inner screens on a "small number" of its new iPhone Duo foldable phones are failing, showing horizontal bright lines near the hinge, and said it will offer free replacements under AppleCare.
Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, went on sale Friday to considerable lines and extended pre-order wait times — but within days, a wave of user complaints about a potentially serious hardware defect had emerged.
Some customers who received the $1,999-and-up device on its opening weekend reported that the phone's inner screen was breaking, displaying horizontal bright lines emanating from the hinge area.
"We are aware of an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units," an Apple representative told CNBC. "If users experience issues with their iPhone Duo display, they should contact AppleCare for a replacement."
Apple said it would replace affected devices under its AppleCare warranty program. For iPhone Duos outside of warranty coverage, Apple lists the cost of an inner-screen repair at $999 on its website.
The bulk of the early complaints originated with anonymous users on Reddit and X, though Apple acknowledged the problem only after device repair firm iFixit weighed in on Sunday following a hardware teardown of the device.
iFixit technician Shahram Mokhtari pointed to the hinge design as a likely culprit. "Many of these damage reports describe folding or unfolding the phone, hearing a crunch, and pushing past it," Mokhtari said in the firm's teardown video. "Right where the damage is happening, the hinge is shaped a little differently."
iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens elaborated further on X. "The hinge is actually dozens of parts, with ludicrous precision," Wiens wrote. "A manufacturing variance or grain of sand can kill the fragile display panel it protects."
Screen failures on foldable devices are not a new phenomenon. Samsung encountered nearly identical problems when it released one of its first folding handsets in 2019, and reviewers quickly found that the inner display cracked during normal use. The issue has persisted as one of the primary barriers to broader consumer adoption of the form factor.
Early reviewers of the iPhone Duo praised the experience of using the phone when unfolded, particularly for multitasking and media consumption, though they noted that many third-party apps had not yet been optimized for its larger, wider display.
Apple said on Monday that developers were already moving to address that gap. "The response to iPhone Duo from early users has been incredibly positive, and we are seeing exciting things from developers who are rapidly updating their apps to take advantage of its unique form factor," an Apple representative said in a statement.
Apple also cautioned that fake images of damaged screens had circulated online alongside legitimate reports, complicating efforts to assess the true scale of the problem.
How broadly the inner-screen issue ultimately affects the iPhone Duo's rollout will depend in part on whether Apple determines the defect stems from a manufacturing variance — potentially limited to a specific production batch — or from a more systemic design characteristic of the hinge itself, a question iFixit's teardown raised but did not definitively answer.
TechEchelon Staff bylines are produced collectively by the newsroom for short, breaking, and wire-style coverage. Longer-form reporting is published under the responsible reporter's name.
More from the Staff →A teardown by YouTuber CuriousHagi points to a thin, notched linking hinge as the likely cause of the screen cracking failures being reported by iPhone Duo owners, with marks on the support plate suggesting where the mechanism catches before breaking.
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