The iPhone Duo is almost here. Pre-orders open on October 16, and the foldable launches on October 23.
Repairability is one of the biggest questions around Apple’s first foldable iPhone. With a starting price of $2,000 (the 2 TB model climbs to $3,200), nobody wants a pocket device that’s fragile or hard to fix.
Speaking of pockets, that’s the next thing we need to talk about with foldables.
The dust, the lint, the sand
An empty pocket isn’t necessarily a clean one, especially the pockets in jeans worn by guys between the ages of five and ninety-five. We try to fit everything in there: keys, snacks, an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, the country of Yugoslavia and more. It’s a mess.
Purses aren’t automatically better, either. I’ve seen things (mostly dust and lint) you wouldn’t believe.
That’s just part of the human condition, but foldables like the iPhone Duo aren’t fully built to handle pocket dust, lint and debris.
The possible reality
iFixit, the repair experts known for never accepting “broken” as an answer, is skeptical about the iPhone Duo’s repairability, even though the phone hasn’t been released yet.
That’s an educated guess based on seven years of foldable teardowns. Early models like the Galaxy Fold and Motorola Razr were notoriously hard to repair, with screens, batteries and hinges that required complicated and expensive work.
What about newer foldables?
Newer foldables offer better protection, but iFixit’s teardowns show that hinges are still a weak point. Dust and debris continue to find their way inside despite various protective measures.
Google’s Pixel Fold lineup has arguably built the strongest repair ecosystem, with replacement parts, tools and repair guides available. Even so, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold earned only a 4/10 repairability score.
Replacing the inner screen can involve more than 200 steps and take an experienced technician several hours. That gives you a good idea of what you’re dealing with.
So maybe the best way to protect your iPhone Duo is to not toss it in your pocket right away?
The pouch
When I got to use the Oppo Find N5, a truly marvelous foldable, I carried it in my pocket, but always inside a sunglasses pouch. Lint aside, the main reason was that it shared a pocket with my non-folding daily driver, and I’d rather not let two unprotected phones scratch each other.
Sure, the pouch makes drawing your phone a bit slower, but it’s a compromise I’m willing to make since I don’t have extra coverage.
But you? You may be better off with AppleCare+ for your iPhone Duo.
