Apple Enters Foldable Market with iPhone Duo
AI-generated image · US National Wire
The tech giant debuts its first folding-screen device years after competitors like Samsung and Google established the category.
During its ‘Surprise and shine’ event, Apple announced the iPhone Duo, marking the company's first foray into devices with folding screens, as The Verge first reported. According to reporting from The Verge, the device features a custom nano-texture display material designed to reduce the visibility of the screen's crease.
While the iPhone Duo is a first for Apple, The Verge notes that the company is far from the first to market with foldable technology, trailing efforts from Google and Samsung. The device also inherits a name Apple has used multiple times in the past. The company previously released the PowerBook Duo, an ultraportable laptop introduced in 1992, and the MagSafe Duo wireless charger, which was discontinued in late 2023.
Beyond Apple's own history, the "Duo" moniker has been used by other tech firms for folding or dual-screen hardware. Microsoft launched the Surface Duo in 2020, which utilized two 5.6-inch OLED screens separated by a hinge, and later released the Duo 2. Additionally, Asus produced the ZenBook Pro Duo and the ROG Zephyrus Duo gaming laptop. Other non-Apple products with the name include the NEC TurboDuo console launched in North America in 1993 and Google's VoIP service, Google Duo, which operated from 2016 until its 2022 merger into Google Meet.