I tried the iPhone Duo at a store during lunch, mostly checking how it felt for normal tasks. I opened Mail and Calendar side by side, then carried it in my jacket pocket for seven minutes. I want to try it properly, but the price is hard to swallow. Is anyone else interested but holding off because of the price, or did you buy one anyway?
The purchase price may not be the worst part. A device with two displays or a folding mechanism is something I’d want covered by AppleCare, and cases, repairs, and eventual battery service could make an already expensive phone cost even more.
I’m interested in the format, especially for Mail, Calendar, maps, and documents. Still, those are convenience improvements rather than tasks my current phone cannot handle. A few minutes in a store can prove the idea works, but it cannot show whether the extra thickness becomes irritating after a month or whether you keep using split-screen once the novelty fades.
I’d hold off for now. The first generation usually makes the most sense for people who enjoy trying new hardware and can accept paying an early-adopter premium. For everyone else, waiting gives you a chance to see long-term durability reports, app support, trade-in values, and whether a later model gets lighter.
If you are still tempted, I’d compare the monthly cost against how often you would genuinely use two apps at once. If that answer is several times every workday, the price may be defensible. If it is mostly for occasional convenience, a regular iPhone plus an iPad you already own is probably the less painful setup.
Don’t let carrier financing make the iPhone Duo look cheaper than it is. Long bill credits can turn a trial purchase into a commitment, especially if you decide the extra bulk is annoying but leaving the plan means losing the remaining discount.
I’m less convinced than @liam that every first-generation buyer should simply wait. If the seller has a genuine no-fee return window, that may be the only useful way to test it. Use it through a normal workweek, including typing while standing, taking photos one-handed, charging in the car, and carrying it with everything else you normally keep in your pocket. Store demos hide those small irritations.
For me, split-screen Mail and Calendar would need to replace times I currently reach for a tablet or laptop. If it only saves a few app switches, the price is impossible to justify.
Don’t budget only for the phone. A foldable this expensive practically begs for insurance and a decent case, so I’d wait for refurbished iPhone Duo stock instead of paying extra to satisfy curiosity.
Don’t judge split-screen until the keyboard is open. Mail and Calendar can look clever in a demo, then half the useful space disappears when you actually reply or edit an event.
That is what makes the price hard to swallow for me. You may be paying mainly for a layout that works best while reading, not doing.
Seven minutes in a jacket pocket is the easy test. Sitting down with it in jeans for an afternoon is the honest one.
I like the idea of the iPhone Duo. I just suspect I’d spend a lot of money to avoid tapping the app switcher.
Don’t compare the iPhone Duo with a regular iPhone only while it’s unfolded. That gives the Duo its best possible matchup. The more useful comparison is how each handles the boring things you do all day: checking a notification, paying at a terminal, taking a quick photo, answering a message while walking, or pulling it out with one hand.
That’s where the price becomes harder to defend. A regular iPhone may be less interesting on a demo table, but it is likely simpler for those quick interactions. If the Duo makes common tasks slightly clumsier in exchange for making occasional two-app sessions much better, you are paying a premium for a device that wins the less frequent contest.
@data_nick43 makes a good point about the keyboard, but I’d take that comparison further. Try the same short task on both phones and time nothing. Just notice which one requires more repositioning, folding, rotating, or reaching. Mail next to Calendar looks useful, yet creating an event from an email may still feel slower if the controls are cramped or the phone needs both hands.
I understand wanting to try it because the format is genuinely different. Curiosity alone just wouldn’t get me past the price. The Duo would need to be at least as convenient as a normal phone when closed, then clearly better when open. If it only shines during carefully chosen multitasking examples, it feels more like an expensive sidegrade than an upgrade.
Nobody’s asked how many of your daily apps actually redraw for both panels. Apple’s own stuff will look great in the demo, but banking apps, whatever you use for transit, half the smaller apps you rely on will just stretch or letterbox until the developer bothers to update them, and some never will. So the split-screen dream can quietly shrink to Mail, Calendar, and a browser.
@data_nick43 nailed the keyboard problem, and honestly that plus patchy app support is the combo that would stop me. You end up paying for a layout that only pays off in a handful of first-party apps while reading. If you can borrow one through a proper return window like @rootlab said, spend the week opening the boring apps you actually use, not the two everyone shows off. That tells you more than the pocket test ever will.