iPhone Duo is the first foldable phone developed by Apple.

With prices starting from £1,999, it also earns the accolade of the most expensive iPhone ever released.

John Ternus — Apple's new Chief Executive, just eight days into the role — introduced iPhone Duo at the company's annual September showcase alongside successors to the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, brand-new AirPods with improved noise-cancellation, and a new lineup of Apple Watches.

Whispers of an iPhone with a secondary, iPad-like screen have swirled for years, but Apple hasn't been in a rush to launch its first foldable.

This is not a new approach from the Cupertino company, as then-CEO Tim Cook explained in an interview back in 2014: "The philosophy's always been to be the best, not the first. The iPod was not the first MP3 player... the iPhone was not the first smartphone... and then if you look at iPad, tablets were shipping a decade before."

And it's the same story with the arrival of the iPhone Duo.

Samsung pioneered the modern foldable smartphone with the launch of the Galaxy Fold in 2019, followed just a few months later by Huawei’s Mate X. Since then, several Chinese manufacturers — including Xiaomi, OPPO and HONOR — have entered the market with a variety of foldable form-factors and sizes. China now accounts for around half of global foldable smartphone sales, according to market intelligence firm IDC.

But it was the launch of the Google Pixel Fold three years ago that marked a turning point. Suddenly, Apple was the only major smartphone brand without a foldable.

It's something Chief Executive John Ternus acknowledged: "Others have created foldables that just feel like two phones awkwardly stuck together. This results in a square screen that's poorly suited for the way people use them."

As for the iPhone Duo, Mr Ternus — who oversaw its development in his previous role as Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering — describes it as a combination of "thoughtful design with breakthrough engineering in a way only Apple can".

"The result is a series of remarkable innovations that we believe will redefine the experience of using a foldable phone," the 25-year Apple veteran added.

iPhone Duo isn't available to preorder until October 16, with the first foldables due to be delivered on October 23. That's when you'll be able to pop into your nearest Apple Store to test out this first-generation foldable for yourself.

GBN Tech was inside the Steve Jobs Theatre — Apple’s purpose-built auditorium, named after its late co-founder — among the first people outside the company to get hands-on with the iPhone Duo.

And you really need to spend some time with the iPhone Duo in your hands to appreciate this magical device.

On paper, there seems to be little separating the iPhone Duo from its closest rivals, including Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, Xiaomi 18 Fold, Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold, and Huawei Pura X Max, to name just a few.

All of these Android-based competitors ship with a stockier, passport-like design that unfolds into a widescreen form factor that's tailored to watching films and television on the move. Based on blockbuster sales of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 — the first foldable from Samsung with this passport-style design — it's the right shape and size for most people.

Like the iPhone Duo, these foldables let you run multiple apps side-by-side on the larger, pliable screen. Rather than swiping between apps to multi-task, you can drag-and-drop items between two windows running simultaneously.

Like the iPhone Duo, these foldables let you start watching a video on the smaller exterior screen, unfurl the handset, and continue watching — without a pause — on the large widescreen display. Likewise, eBooks, video games, and online articles expand across the tablet-like screen for a more immersive experience.

Like the iPhone Duo, these foldables let you rely on the rear camera for selfies, with the front screen doubling up as a viewfinder. Like all smartphones, these dual- or triple-camera systems boast the biggest sensors, purpose-built LED flash, and superior stabilisation for the best image and video quality.

But the similarities go beyond functionality. The specifications are strikingly similar too.

iPhone Duo packs a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR display, the same size as the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Xiaomi 18 Fold, and just a sliver smaller than the 7.7-inch screen squeezed inside the Huawei Pura X Max. And it's a similar story with the cover screens: 5.4-inch on iPhone Duo and Pura X Max, 5.5-inch on Galaxy Z Fold 8, 5.3-inch on Xiaomi 18 Fold.

With so much common ground, is iPhone Duo just another foldable? No, not even close.

Apple is rumoured to have spent a decade perfecting its foldable behind closed doors. Without sneaking into its famously secretive design labs, there’s no way to know when development began. But having spent time with the iPhone Duo, we can believe it.

Every part of the experience is so polished, so refined, so slick that 10 years of tinkering doesn’t sound far-fetched.

That's why reducing iPhone Duo to a list of components, measurements, and other technical specifications is a disservice. It misses what separates this foldable from the competition — the sheer amount of fine-tuning.

And that obsessive amount of care is apparent from the moment you unfold the iPhone Duo. Each time you unfold the Duo like a paperback, an animation makes it look as if the exterior screen is being peeled away from the content on-screen. App icons, webpages, video, and games will blur and fade as you lift the screen as if they're getting further and further from the glass touchscreen. At the same time, these same on-screen items are revealed in sharp, crisp detail on the right-side of the inside screen.

As you turn to the expansive foldable screen, the left side shows the same out-of-focus effect until you snap open the device completely. It's as if everything you do on your iPhone Duo exists on the same plane, but if you're using the smaller cover screen, you'll only see some of that experience. It's only when unfurling the device completely that you're able to see that entire plane in focus.

First off, it's stunningly beautiful, and in our first few moments with the iPhone Duo, we just folded and unfolded — drinking it in.

But this animation does a phenomenal job of wordlessly communicating how the Duo works. Even if you've never used a foldable before, once you've seen this animation, you immediately know what will happen when you unfold this first foldable design.

For example, the software on iPhone Duo shifts many of the most commonly used buttons in your favourite apps to a column on the right of the screen, so they naturally fall under your thumb. If you want to add a new event in the Calendar app, you won't be pressing the ​+​ symbol in the top-right corner like your current iPhone – it's on the bottom-right.

That extends to the Dock with your four most-used app icons, which has been located along the bottom of the screen since the first iPhone back in 2007, but is now vertically stacked on the right side of the iPhone Duo.

When you unfold the iPhone Duo, and that gorgeous animation shows the screen seemingly being left behind on the interior display, you can see that all of the controls from the outer screen will be in ​exactly​ the same spot. There's no moment to reorient yourself, everything is where you expect to find it, with the only difference being that impressive 7.6-inch screen extends off to your left.

It sounds simple, but there's a mind-boggling amount going on behind-the-scenes to make this possible.

First off, the foldable display illuminates instantly as soon as you start to unfurl the iPhone Duo. That's not something we've seen with many of its competitors, which take a beat before blinking into life. The operating system also has to know the ​exact​ position of the hinge, so that it can dynamically adjust the animation in real-time, so that your content seems to fall away from the glass displays as you fold and unfold.

That feature is also available to apps running on iPhone Duo. For example, if you fold the iPhone Duo like a laptop so that it can support itself on a table, Netflix will keep your video playing horizontally on one side of the foldable screen, with a keyboard-like arrangement of controls — play, skip forward and back, volume — running on the other side.

Eventually, these controls fade, leaving reflections from the video above. But these are not ​real​, Netflix is rendering them in real-time.

It's clever stuff, and it'll be interesting to see what developers do with the new form-factor and the ability to tweak their designs based on the position of the hinge.

Internal teams at Apple have also dreamt up some interesting ideas — if you fold the iPhone Duo like a tent and leave it on your nightstand, the alarm begins with a subtle warm glow emanating from inside the crease to slowly wake you — but expect to see a swathe of impressive updates to existing apps and a barrage of new ideas and concepts for apps.

Despite the radically different form factor, there's a lot about the Duo that's still familiar.

Dynamic Island, introduced with the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, is still present and correct. It displays background processes — like timers, music controls, gate information for a flight, ongoing calls — around the pill-shaped cutout for the front-facing camera.

As you'd expect, this remains in the same position when you unfold, even though there's no camera in that spot on the inside.

All of the apps longtime iPhone owners are familiar with are present and correct.

Apple has added a new symbol that combines mobile signal, Wi-Fi connection and battery in one, since these no longer run along the top of the screen like other iPhone models.

It's a nice touch, and there's a fun animation that explodes out each individual element when you swipe down for the Control Centre, but pressing on the symbol does nothing, which felt counterintuitive.

What about the foldable display? Apple has brought the same level of finesse to the foldable screen as the software that runs on it.

Most foldables use an ultra-thin pliable sheet of glass, but it's buried in a variety of extra layers required for durability. As a result, your fingertip will most likely come into contact with plastic over anything else. This can feel ​very​ cheap and toy-like compared to the strengthened glass that has become standard on smartphones since the launch of the original iPhone.

And if you're worried about the crease down the middle of the display, this glossy plastic ​really​ doesn't help.

What sets the iPhone Duo apart from its rivals is a matte finish on the 7.6-inch foldable screen. It's similar to the so-called nano texture display available on the iPad and MacBook Pro lineup, which dramatically reduces glare on the screen. If you haven't seen it in action, it's incredible. And its inclusion on the iPhone Duo is a stroke of genius.

The matte finish reduces any distracting reflections on the screen.

At certain angles, it doesn't even look like an OLED display – it looks like text and app icons have been printed onto a sheet of paper. That'll be a massive advantage when binge-watching boxsets or reading an eBook on the iPad mini-like display in bright sunlight, like on a sunlounger on your next holiday.

But this matte finish also dramatically reduces crease visibility — even under direct light, it's barely noticeable — and stops any smudgey fingerprints from showing. Lastly, this matte finish doesn't look cheap.

While there's a lot of clever technology built into the Galaxy Z Fold 8, that foldable screen feels like glossy plastic.

At the edge, it's possible to see the lip of one of the protective layers adding durability to the screen. In fact, it's so clearly visible Samsung warns owners not to peel away this protective film, as it'll invalidate the warranty.

In contrast, there's no chance iPhone Duo owners will make the same mistake, since it looks like a single pane of matte glass.

Of course, Apple is still shipping a smartphone with folding​ glass, so we'll need to see whether the 10 ultra-thin layers that make-up that pliable screen result in something significantly more durable than its competitors.

Given the fact that Apple will let owners use its Apple Pencil accessory as a stylus (Samsung warns Galaxy Z Fold 8 users not to press into the screen with their fingernails) suggests the company is pretty confident.

On the topic of durability, iPhone Duo is rated IP68, which means it can withstand dust and submersion in 1.5 metres of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. That's not something you'll find on foldables from Samsung, Huawei, or Xiaomi.

Google is the only other manufacturer to deliver on the same dust and water resistance for with its foldable as the rest of its smartphone lineup.

Our Early Verdict

Foldables aren't cheap. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 starts from £1,699, while the Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold will set you back a minimum of £1,799.

But even so, the iPhone Duo's £1,999 starting price — it tops out at an eye-watering £3,199 if you want the maximum storage — is very expensive.

Thankfully, the incredible level of polish to the software, titanium chassis and other premium materials, powerful custom-designed processor, and water-resistant build all ensure this feels like a high-end product. We'll need more time with the iPhone Duo, but in the hour or so we spent with this device, that matte display felt refreshing durable for a foldable.

Even so, you could buy an iPhone 18 Pro and an iPad mini and still have £201 left to show for it. That's enough for a pair of the new AirPods 5 too.

While the iPhone Duo is the most expensive smartphone in the Apple Store, it doesn't benefit from all of the features found on other models. For example, you'll need to forgo the 8x optical-quality zoom offered by the third, tetraprism camera found on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro.

It's also worth noting that iPhone Duo is a first-generation product, so it will take time for the teams behind your favourite apps to update their code to take advantage of that secondary display and new foldable-only features.

But if you were already considering a foldable, the matte display and long list of refinements in iOS 27 to take advantage of this all-new form factor, means you must try an iPhone Duo before placing an order for any of its rivals. It's more polished than anything else on the market.

Apple has bided its time and clearly learned a lot from the awkward first stumbles of more established foldables. Whether that's enough to justify the £1,999 price tag depends on how much you want the ability to carry an iPad-like experience in your pocket at all times.

iPhone Duo is available to preorder from October 16 in the UK, with availability from October 23. It's available in Star White or Night Sky, that's White or Black to you and me.