Apple has unveiled the iPhone Duo, its first foldable smartphone, introducing a book-style design with a 7.6-inch inner display and a 5.4-inch outer screen.

When opened, the device becomes the thinnest iPhone Apple has made and offers its largest iPhone display to date. The outer Super Retina XDR display provides about 90% of the screen area of the iPhone 18 Pro, while the inner display is 50% larger than that of the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Both screens support ProMotion, Always-On display and peak outdoor brightness of 3,000 nits.

The inner screen uses a nano-texture finish designed to reduce glare and make the display crease less noticeable. Apple has placed a FaceTime camera beneath the inner display, while Touch ID is integrated into the side button rather than using Face ID.

The iPhone Duo is built from grade 5 titanium and uses a hinge made from more than 100 components. Apple says the device carries an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, while Ceramic Shield 2 protects the front display.

It is powered by the same A20 Pro chip used in the iPhone 18 Pro models. The 2-nanometre processor includes a six-core CPU, seven-core GPU and dual 16-core Neural Engine. Apple says the device can deliver up to 35% better sustained performance than the iPhone 17 Pro, supported by a custom vapour-chamber cooling system.

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The foldable design also introduces new multitasking features in iOS 27. Users can run two apps side by side in Split View, open two windows of the same app, save app pairs and interact with Siri AI while keeping another app visible. Apple said apps including Netflix, Zoom and Slack are already being adapted for the larger folding display.

The camera system includes a 48-megapixel Fusion Main camera with a 2x optical-quality telephoto option and a 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera. Users can preview photos on the outer screen while shooting with the rear cameras, while a feature called Duo Preview lets subjects see the live framing. The phone can also record 4K video at up to 120 frames per second in Dolby Vision.

Apple has introduced a dual-battery design, with one battery on each side of the device. The company says the iPhone Duo can provide up to 31 hours of video playback using the inner display, 44 hours using the outer screen and up to 24 hours of typical use when both displays are used equally. Wired charging can reach 50% in about 20 minutes.

The phone uses an eSIM-only design worldwide and includes Apple's N1 networking chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread, as well as its C2 cellular modem.

The iPhone Duo will be available in star white and night sky, with storage capacities of 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB. Prices start at $1,999 in the US.

Pre-orders begin on 16 October, with availability starting on October 23 in more than 70 countries and regions. Apple said the device will ship with iOS 27.1.