This week in 30 seconds The news: The first iPhone Duo reviews are out (Engadget gave it 8.8 out of 10), and the $1,999 foldable reaches buyers Friday, October 23. New orders on Apple's US store were still quoting January 22 this week. The catch: The complaints come in two kinds. Unfinished apps and Apple Pencil support can improve by January. The weight, the 2x zoom and the one hand reach can't. Your move: Already ordered? Check the delivery estimate in the Apple Store app or Your Orders on apple.com. Some dates have moved earlier, and canceling to chase one puts you back at the end of a January line. |
Welcome back to The Cupertino Chronicles.
The first iPhone Duo reviews went up Wednesday, two days before the phone reaches its first buyers on Friday. Engadget gave it 8.8 out of 10, and hardly anyone spent much time on the crease. The arguments are about everything else, and they sort into two piles: things a software update can fix and things it can't.
The software pile is long. Engadget found Telegram stuck in a narrow portrait window on the inner screen with dead space on both sides, and Apple Pencil support waits on iOS 27.2. Google told The Wall Street Journal that Gmail, Docs, Chrome, YouTube, Meet and Maps will support the Duo at launch. Google Photos has no date.
The hardware pile stays put. The Journal's Nicole Nguyen used the Duo closed, in one hand, and her thumb couldn't reach the camera's flash toggle or the letter A. Zoom stops at 2x where the iPhone 18 Pro reaches 8x, and Touch ID in the side button stands in for Face ID.
The calendar is why the split matters more than any score. Apple's US store was still quoting January 22 for new orders this week, so most Duo owners will start on software with three more months of work behind it, running on the same hardware reviewers held. If your doubts are about apps, the wait helps you. If they're about your hand or your camera roll, no update changes that, and the 18 Pro Max is the better phone for you.
MobileSyrup is calling its review a work in progress and plans to check back in a month. That follow up, due in late November, will be the first look at how the fold holds up after real use.
The gap between iPhone Duo (254 grams) and iPhone 18 Pro Max (249 grams), from Apple's own spec pages. Pro Max owners already carry the Duo's weight every day. Closed, though, the Duo measures 11.3 millimeters thick against 8.75 for the Pro Max, and Nguyen found it wider too, so the sore thumbs in this week's reviews come from reach more than mass.
New: Every iOS 27 Problem, Tracked in One Place
Before you book a Genius Bar appointment over something that broke after the update, look here.
Just launched on TBTL iOS 27 Problems and Fixes 14 tracked2 not fixed yet5 owner reported4 fixed3 not a bug Counts as of the page's October 20 update. Every iOS 27 problem we can confirm sits on one page, with what to do about each one. Something is marked fixed only when Apple's release notes or an Apple statement say so. Every card says whether Apple has confirmed it, so you can tell what Apple has admitted from what owners are seeing. You help keep it current. Tap I have this too on any problem that matches yours, or use Report a problem if yours isn't listed. Reader reports are how a new problem makes the Watching list. When iOS 27.2 ships, every item gets checked against Apple's release notes, and if an update fixes something on the list, our Should I Update? email tells you within hours. |
Dates to know
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Every Duo Complaint, Sorted by Whether It Gets Fixed
Battery results ran from about 13 hours to almost 29, because reviewers measured different things.
Our roundup reads the big reviews side by side, from Engadget and The Wall Street Journal to PetaPixel's camera test and MobileSyrup's review in progress. It explains why the battery numbers disagree so widely, what each reviewer found on the inner screen beyond the crease, and how the cameras hold up against both the iPhone 18 Pro and Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8. It also links straight to every full review, so you can read the one written by someone who holds a phone the way you do.
The Fine Print "Cover layer damage: $49" That's the first line on Apple's iPhone Duo repair estimates, and it covers the nano texture layer over the inner screen. Engadget found that layer can come off if you pick at it, and the Duo gives no warning about it during setup. Apple prices the fix as damage: $49 out of warranty, or $19 with AppleCare+. If a corner ever starts to lift, book a repair instead of reaching for a fingernail. Every week, one line Apple would rather you skimmed. |
The iPhone Duo reaches 50 percent in about 20 minutes only on a 60W or higher USB-C adapter, and Apple sells that separately. UGREEN's Nexode Air is a compact 65W GaN charger with a foldable plug, enough to hit the Duo's fastest wired speed whether yours arrives Friday or in January.
Sponsored and affiliate links help keep The Cupertino Chronicles free. Partners are picked to fit the issue and never shape what I write.
Apple's Case Against OpenAI Got Narrower and Easier to Prove
A federal judge says Apple is "highly likely" to win an injunction, and OpenAI agreed to a standstill before he could order one.
Last week in San Jose, OpenAI volunteered to leave alone any Apple trade secrets its new hires may have brought with them while the case runs. Then it accused Apple of the same thing. Our recap walks through every filing since July, what Judge Edward Davila granted and what he called a "huge ask," and why one line from Apple's lawyer about "a few bad apples" changes what Apple actually has to prove.
Some Duo Delivery Dates Are Moving Up: Orders in Japan jumped from December to launch day over the weekend, and Apple now limits the Duo to two per customer online. Check your estimate before you cancel anything, because a new US order still lands in late January. Full story →
Verizon Prices iPhone Handoff at Double T-Mobile's: Verizon says iPhone Handoff, the iOS 27 feature that moves one phone number between two iPhones, will cost $10 a month against $5 on T-Mobile, with no launch date beyond "coming soon." AT&T hasn't said it will offer it at all. Run a Duo and a Pro on one Verizon number and that's $120 a year before you buy a single case. Full story →
iOS 27.2 Reaches Release Candidate: Apple seeded build 24B115 on Monday with Siri AI in French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish, plus profiles in the Apple TV app. French support still doesn't reach France, because Siri AI remains unavailable on iPhone in the European Union. Apple hasn't announced a date, and 9to5Mac expects the public release around Monday, October 26. Full story →
Withings Now Charges to Send Your Data to Apple Health: New Withings accounts created on or after October 13 need Withings+ ($9.99 a month or $99.99 a year on the App Store) to send weigh ins and blood pressure readings to Apple Health, while importing from Apple Health stays free. Apple still sells the $229.95 Body Comp scale as "compatible with Apple Health," and nothing on that listing mentions the fee. Full story →
Fixing an iPhone 18 Pro Yourself Saves $12.92: Apple's Self Service Repair Store now stocks iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max parts, but a battery costs $129 either way, and after the part credit and the $49 tool rental you come out $12.92 ahead. The Duo isn't in the store, so a folding screen still means a trip to Apple. Full story →
👁 One Thing Worth Watching
Apple Pencil on an iPhone: Apple promised Pencil support for the Duo "later this year," and only the Apple Pencil (USB-C) is on its list, not the Pencil Pro. 9to5Mac reports the iOS 27.2 release candidate already turns it on. That puts note and markup apps built for iPad onto a phone for the first time, and how quickly developers redraw them for a folding screen is the part to watch.
📌 On the record: On November 13, a new iPhone Duo order on Apple's US online store will still show a delivery date in 2027. Scored with the rest in the quarterly Called It / Missed It.
When we wrote on October 9 that moving the Duo's controls to the side of the screen would define its first year, one hand use was the open question, and this week's reviews started answering it.
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Read on the webClosing Thought
For years the open question about a folding iPhone was the hardware. One morning of reviews mostly settled it and moved the question to apps, Pencil support and the small layout fixes that Apple and developers ship on their own schedules. Those arrive over months, so no review written this week can tell you much about the Duo you'd own next spring.
If a Duo showed up at your door Friday, what's the first thing from your current iPhone you'd miss?
Hit reply and tell me. I read every one, and the sharpest answers (first name only, with your OK) run in next week's issue.
Justin
The Cupertino Chronicles lands every Thursday morning.
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