The iPhone Duo is Apple’s coolest phone in years. There’s just one problem

By Lisa Eadicicco, CNN

(CNN) — There were many times I didn’t want to put the iPhone Duo down. Once you get used to reading, watching TV and scrolling through Instagram on a giant screen, it’s hard to go back to a tiny glowing rectangle.

There’s just one issue: Many apps are still made for that little rectangle.

This is what it’s been like to use the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first foldable iPhone, which launches on October 23. It starts at $2,000, making it as expensive as Apple’s latest 14-inch MacBook Pro.

It’s a big move for Apple, which rarely messes with the winning formula that’s turned the iPhone into a business that raked in more than $200 billion in revenue last year. But after years of incremental iPhone updates, Apple faced pressure to prove it could still captivate consumers.

I got a taste of that future after spending about a week with the new foldable phone that Apple provided CNN for testing purposes. The iPhone Duo became my tablet for watching Netflix, a bedside alarm clock at night, an extra screen for watching football on Sunday, a miniature monitor when connected to my Bluetooth keyboard and a camera with a built-in tripod.

But there were equally as many times – if not more – when I grew frustrated because apps didn’t work the way they should, since developers haven’t updated them yet. And despite Apple’s “it just works” approach, the iPhone Duo takes some getting used to. While the iPhone Duo’s software certainly felt much smoother and more fluid than Android alternatives, many of its core features have been available on Samsung or Google phones for years.

What can iPhone Duo do that a regular phone can’t?

The iPhone Duo is the biggest change Apple has made to the iPhone in its nearly 20-year history. There’s a 5.4-inch screen on the outside, which unfolds to reveal a 7.6-inch display on the inside. When closed, the iPhone Duo feels like a passport, but obviously thicker and heavier. When opened, it’s like a thinner and smaller iPad Mini.

One of the most popular questions I get about the iPhone Duo is whether you see the crease. The answer, believe it or not, is no. The crease is barely visible when using apps or scrolling around the home screen, and I can hardly feel it when swiping across the display.

The iPhone Duo’s unconventional shape means it can do things you wouldn’t be able to do as easily with a regular phone. Prop it open like a tent or stand it up like a book while the screen is locked, and the display will turn into a bedside clock, digital photo frame or calendar. Certain apps like the camera and Apple Fitness Plus will shift to the top portion of the screen when folded halfway like a laptop – but that depends on whether developers program their apps to do it.

When the phone is open, you can take selfies with the phone’s rear cameras while viewing a preview on the cover screen, which came in handy when I was shooting the video for this review.

The iPhone Duo can run two apps on screen at the same time, which was useful for situations that involved looking up information or viewing content in multiple apps. You can, for example, drag and drop an image straight from the Photos app into a text message when both apps are on screen. I also used split screen mode to show a friend my Halloween costume and the movie character it’s based on at the same time.

While this is convenient, it’s probably not the reason you’re going to buy an iPhone Duo. The Duo’s inner screen is best used when dedicating the whole thing to a single app like Netflix. And the display has a matte finish, which reduces glare and doesn’t smudge easily.

But many apps, including popular ones like Google Maps, Gmail, Call of Duty Mobile, and Uber weren’t updated to take full advantage of this big screen when I tested the Duo before launch. Some apps looked like floating windows in the middle of the tablet-sized screen.

These apps can expand to occupy more of the display, but they still don’t fill the whole space. Other apps were updated to occupy most of the display but still had a black bar along the side. That’s what you see when developers haven’t updated their apps using Apple’s latest software development tools, as the company lays out on its website.

The good news is that more apps have been updated even during the few days I’ve had the phone, including Google, TikTok, Instagram and Threads. But the uncertainty of not knowing how an app is going to look feels inconsistent and can be jarring – which is an area where Android has had a head start.

The apps that are optimized for the Duo provide a glimpse of what’s possible. My favorite app so far is the puzzle platform game Planet of Lana, which looks gorgeous and colorful on the Duo’s larger screen.

I also really liked using Apple Books, which lets you view pages on either side of the screen when the display is slightly folded like a real book. (Amazon’s Kindle app is one of the many apps that hasn’t been updated yet). Apple’s Messages and Mail apps also show your inbox on the left and messages on the right so that you can see everything at once.

But how is it as a regular phone?

For its price, the iPhone Duo should be able to do everything a regular phone can do and more. My biggest concern was that the design would make it feel awkward to use when closed, but typing and swiping on the cover screen feels surprisingly natural and comfortable. I’ve even come to prefer the Duo’s wider keyboard over the one on my iPhone 18 Pro.

Still, there was a learning curve at first. I kept accidentally hitting the Siri button, which is located on the Duo’s side, when I meant to press the volume keys on the top of the phone. I also didn’t realize that you must have an app open before you can use split screen mode, rather than just opening a new app and dragging it to one side of the display from the home screen.

Battery life is reasonable and in line with what you’d expect from a new phone. My battery was usually down to 35% or 46% by the time I went to bed, although that will always vary depending on which apps you’re using and how often you’re using the tablet screen compared to the cover display.

The iPhone Duo has cameras that are similar to the iPhone 18 Pro’s but with one key difference: there’s no telephoto camera. That means zoomed-in photos won’t look as crisp or clear compared to ones taken on the iPhone 18 Pro, although shots captured on both phones looked similar otherwise.

The biggest question I get about the iPhone Duo is whether it’s worth the $2,000. That’s tough to answer considering it costs more than a month’s rent for most Americans . The only reason you should even consider it is if you really want a screen that’s bigger than you’d find on any other phone but still fits in your pocket.

My advice? Wait until developers have had more time to optimize their apps before you decide. While the Duo is compelling, apps still have catching up to do.

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