The reason behind such negative remarks is that the $1,999 device lacks some very basic features like a telephoto lens, Face ID, and a physical action button. For reference, you will find all three in the three-year-old iPhone 15 Pro. Fortunately, Apple is reportedly planning on adding all these capabilities in its future foldables.
Face ID and Action button
In his latest Power On podcast, Mark Gurman provided some details about what Apple has planned for its next-generation foldables. According to him, there is a possibility that the iPhone Duo 2, which could launch next fall, would feature Face ID. For reference, the iPhone Duo supports authentication only through Touch ID, and it is one of the main complaints users have with the Apple foldable.
Comment about the lack of Face ID. | Image by Reddit
A user mentioned under a relevant Reddit post that the unavailability of Face ID is a real killer for them. It's widely believed that the company decided not to offer the facial recognition system because it was not possible to install its sensor inside the super-thin iPhone Duo.
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The tipster mentioned in the podcast that the tech giant is currently testing a prototype of the iPhone Duo 2 with Face ID beneath the outer screen. This suggests that Apple might have come up with a way to fit the Face ID inside the super-thin enclosure or managed to reduce the size of the sensor. Either way, the testing of Face ID increases the possibility of it coming in future foldable iPhones.
Apple employees are reportedly looking for ways to offer the Action Button as well in the upcoming foldables. However, Gurman isn't very confident about this particular addition. The California giant has been offering an Action Button on its slab phones since the iPhone 15 Pro, and it can be customized for various purposes, such as opening the camera app or switching between silent and ring mode.
The addition of which of the following would make you get the iPhone Duo 2?
2 Votes
Telephoto lens and a bigger screen
When asked about the telephoto lens, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman mentioned that although he doesn't know when it will actually come, it is certainly on the list of things Apple has planned for future foldables. The tipster further highlighted that the current model doesn't ship with a telephoto lens not because of a cost-saving measure, but because of physics.
I think that's purely a physics issue in terms of the depth needed. It's going to be interesting to see how they end up solving that.
Mark Gurman, Bloomberg
Later in the podcast, the tipster also talks about a bigger-screen Apple foldable. According to him, the third generation of iPhone Duo, which will likely come out in 2028, could feature a larger screen, probably half an inch bigger than what you have in the existing model.
Could we see an iPhone Duo Max in the future?
One of the main differences between a standard iPhone and its Pro sibling is that the latter usually has a bigger screen. So, Gurman's statement that Apple is looking at a slightly bigger-screen iPhone Duo might make you think that the company could launch a Pro or Ultra variant of the iPhone Duo. One user mentioned in a related Reddit post that it will most likely be called the iPhone Duo Max.
Comment about the iPhone Duo Max. | Image by Reddit
Well, Gurman doesn't believe that. According to him, the foldable with a larger display will not be a separate model. This more or less rules out the possibility of an iPhone Duo Max or iPhone Duo Pro.
Apple knows what's missing in the iPhone Duo
This isn't a sponsored post, and I am not here to defend the iPhone Duo. It surely has a few cons that you generally don't expect in a device that costs $2,000. The unavailability of a telephoto lens and a facial recognition system hurts even more after knowing that other foldables, like the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Pixel 11 Pro Fold, feature both of them.
But let's be practical. The iPhone Duo is out, and there's not much we can do now. All the major things the device is missing require hardware additions, so it's definitely not possible for Apple to add them to the existing iPhone Duo through a software update. The only thing we can do now is to call out Apple to ensure that future foldables offer everything that's missing from the first-generation foldable iPhone, and considering everything Gurman has shared in his podcast, it appears that future foldables would definitely be great.
Aman Kumar is a news writer at PhoneArena covering Google Pixel phones, Android features, AI-powered smartphone tools, and mobile tech news. Before joining PhoneArena, he spent over five years writing about consumer technology for publications like MakeUseOf, How-To Geek, and Guiding Tech. His current daily drivers are the Pixel 10 and Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus, while his red iPhone SE (2nd gen) remains a personal favorite. Aman also appreciates bold smartphone experiments and still considers the Nokia N-Gage one of the industry’s most iconic designs.
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