For the first time in nearly two decades, Apple Inc. has introduced a new iPhone design, but it has already become a target of mockery and memes.
On Wednesday, September 9, at the ‘Surprise and Shine’ event in Cupertino, California, the multitrillion-dollar company announced the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first foldable smartphone, marking a major revamp of its flagship product.
When closed, the iPhone Duo has a 5.4-inch outer Super Retina XDR display, while opening the device reveals a 7.6-inch inner display—the largest screen ever put on an iPhone. It has a grade 5 titanium frame for durability, the A20 Pro chip, a 48MP Fusion Main camera, and Touch ID instead of Face ID.
According to the BBC, it looks like a wider iPhone when folded and a small iPad when opened.
“Lmao not buying a glorified small tablet, I’m not impressed, and that price is insane,” one buyer commented.
Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The biggest talking point has definitely been the price, which many users have found unreasonable.
The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 in the U.S. for 256GB, with the top 2TB model costing $3,199. Previously, the newest iPhone started at $900.
“Insanity that a MacBook Pro and this phone start at the same price. W*F justifies that pricing?” one user said.
Another wrote, “The pricing is f**king absurd. It will only be for d*e-hard Apple fans and wealthy people.” A third said, “2k for a phone is insane. No phone is worth that much, lol.”
The launch came as Apple made its first major announcement since the new CEO, John Ternus, took the helm in September, replacing Tim Cook.
He has been part of the company’s product design team since 2001 and served as Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering for the past five years.
Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Apple is joining the race for foldable phones pretty late, with South Korea’s Samsung and China’s Motorola leading the market for a few years. Google, OnePlus, and Vivo also have similar models.
However, Ternus believes that “others have created foldables that just feel like two phones awkwardly stuck together,” he said at the company event, and that Apple’s model would “redefine the experience of using a foldable phone.”
“It's entirely new and at the same time remarkably familiar. A similar size to your passport, it feels familiar to hold and comfortable to use with one hand,” Ternus added.
However, tech enthusiasts aren't entirely convinced, and many users are even less impressed.
“The real fight is China, where Huawei owns nearly 80% of foldables," said Francisco Jeronimo, Vice President for Data and Analytics, Devices at IDC EMEA, according to the BBC.
“The foldable risks becoming a premium-priced ornament in the portfolio, imparting badge value but not meaningful growth,” said Dipanjan Chatterjee, an analyst at Forrester.
Chatterjee added that the iPhone Duo could face the same fate as Apple’s Vision Pro headset, which, priced at $3,699, is not a hit with buyers.
Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies, said, “Foldables are interesting devices.
“A lot of people are intrigued by it, but the software and the learning curve that you have from moving from a traditional phone to a foldable is real.”
On top of the exorbitant pricing, the phone’s features also earned criticism online from regular users.
“An iPad mini chopped in half,” one said. Another wrote, “Influencers will buy it, show it in their stories, then return it like the Vision Pro or nah?”
Apple’s competitors and other global brands also joined the party.
Duolingo was one of the earliest to react, tweeting, “They named a phone after me and made it bend over.” A follow-up read, “Now there’s extra screen space for you to do your lesson.”
“What an exciting Apple event! I sure hope my brand doesn’t get infringed upon,” the account said in a less subtle post.
Samsung responded to Duolingo, joking, “I’m so sorry, Duolingo. They copied us too. #Solidarity.”
Image credit: Duolingo/X
Samsung also shared a series of tweets, trolling Apple over iPhone Duo.
“Let us know when you're done reheating our leftovers,” one of their posts read. Another said, “Not the bedside clock. It’s giving Groundhog Day.”
Motorola chimed in, saying, “New in their hands. Iconic in ours.”
But a few elements could set iPhone Duo apart from its competitors, according to a CNN review.
One is a feature called Standby that turns the cover screen into a bedside clock or photo frame, propped up like a tent. Another is the nearly invisible crease when unfolded, a flaw in the early foldables from Samsung and other companies that made them unappealing to some customers.
The tech giant also introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, AirPods 5, Apple Watch Series 12, and Apple Watch Ultra 4. The company is now offering the option for people to lease a new phone after raising prices on its newest devices.
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