An Apple iPhone Duo smartphone is displayed at Apple’s Fifth Avenue store on the first day of in-store sales in New York, USA, on Friday, October 23, 2026.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
apple’s The iPhone Duo, the first foldable phone, hit stores on Friday, with long lines and long wait times for pre-orders.
But some customers who were lucky enough to get their hands on a $1,999+ phone in the first weekend are reporting some pretty major issues. This means that the inner screen of your phone may be damaged and you may see a bright horizontal line coming from the phone’s hinge.
Apple on Monday said it was aware of the issue, said it affected a “small number” of phones, and said it would replace the devices under AppleCare coverage.
An Apple representative told CNBC that the company is “aware of an issue impacting the internal display of a small number of iPhone Duo units.” “If users are having issues with their iPhone Duo display, they should contact AppleCare for a replacement.”
Apple says on its website that repairs to the inside screen of an iPhone Duo that are out of warranty will cost $999.
Most of the reports come from anonymous customers on online forums like Reddit and X, and there are also fake images online. However, reputable device repair company iFixit spoke out on Sunday after disassembling the new device and testing its dust resistance, theorizing that the problem may be related to Apple’s hinge design.
“Many of these damage reports describe the phone being folded and unfolded, hearing crunching noises, and being pushed around,” iFixit technician Shahram Mokhtari said in a teardown video. “The shape of the hinge is a little different where the damage is occurring.”
“Hinges are actually made up of dozens of parts with ridiculous precision,” iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens wrote in a post, adding that “any manufacturing variation or grain of sand can destroy the fragile display panels they protect.”
Broken screens have been an issue with foldable smartphones since 2019, and have been seen as one of the major obstacles to widespread adoption of the technology. That year, Samsung released one of its first foldable devices, but critics quickly noticed that the inner screen cracked during normal use.
Early reviewers praised the experience of using iPhone Duo when open, especially when it comes to multitasking and media, but said many apps weren’t updated to take full advantage of the phone’s large, wide screen.
Apple announced Monday that apps have already been updated for the new foldable device.
“The response to iPhone Duo from early users has been incredibly positive, and we’re seeing exciting things from developers who are rapidly updating their apps to take advantage of its unique form factor,” an Apple representative said in a statement.
