It's hard to argue against a long-anticipated, well-made first-generation product that comes after years of sameness. Yes, I'm talking about the iPhone Duo.
The initial reactions are glowing. People are ecstatic about the attention to detail: the clever animation when you unfold the device, the no-crease display, the thought out multitasking gestures.
I am just as excited to try it out as other tech enthusiasts, but after using foldable phones for nearly eight generations of devices, I think that excitement is the honeymoon period, and it will quickly fade. It's all for one simple reason: the iPhone Duo is still fundamentally a foldable phone, like the rest of them.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman argues the iPhone Duo will turn foldable phones into the new normal. I disagree, and here is why.
People don't need foldable phones
Image by PhoneArena
There are a few reasons why foldable phones have never exited their niche status in the past eight years, and it's not because they did not carry an Apple logo.
At the most fundamental level, foldable phones are not popular because they introduce friction to a form factor driven by convenience.
To understand the iPhone Duo's chances we need to understand what people do on their phones, and whether a foldable phone would benefit that.
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And here is the fundamental conflict.
People unlock their phones an average of more than 100 times a day. That clearly shows a phone needs to be optimized for such quick interactions. Now imagine if you had to unfold your phone a hundred times each day. To me, that does not sound the least bit exciting — it sounds tiring and unnecessary.
Sure, a larger screen makes the experience in some apps a little better, but when we are talking about hundreds of little interactions, texting or social media, the focus moves from "better", to "convenient and fast."
The new form factor | Image by PhoneArena
Even Apple's marketing does not show how these essential daily interactions improve on the iPhone Duo. Instead, Apple showed us how gorgeous the Netflix app looks on the Duo, but how many people watch Netflix regularly on their phones? I bet that nobody would volunteer to hold their phone for the whole hour and a half duration of a full-featured movie, or even the half hour duration of a TV series episode.
The 30/70 use of foldable phones
Image by PhoneArena
Some early studies back when foldable phones just started suggested that foldable phone users only use the main screen 30% of the time, and I think that just proves my point: the overwhelming majority of smartphone interaction boils down to quick interactions and social media.
The modern smartphone has evolved to one very particular shape with very specific dimensions. So specific, that most phones sold today all look the same: relatively narrow rectangles at a certain weight. This size is no coincidence: it's the touching point between how these phones fit in a pocket and how comfortable they are to hold.
There are no smartphones shaped in a different way because it simply makes no sense to make other smartphones.
I don't argue that the iPhone Duo will be a complete failure. I know some people who genuinely watch a ton of video on their smartphones and others who need a bigger screen in their pocket. Some of them might decide spending two grand on such a device is worth it. But I argue that they are not the majority of users, but the minority, just like was the case with foldables in the past seven years.
Final Words
Image by PhoneArena
The iPhone Duo is a wider and shorter device. It's a bit too wide when closed making the experience effectively worse, and like all other foldables, it's a pain opening it hundreds of times each day. The novelty of the form factor and the excitement of Apple's first foldable phone can start a fire, but they are not the fuel that can keep this one burning.
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Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.
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