The iPhone Duo is NOT a waste of money. Carl Pei is wrong!

By Mariyan Slavov · Senior Reviews Writer

Published: Oct 13, 2026, 8:21 AM

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This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.

The iPhone Duo is right around the corner, just a couple more days to go. | Image by Apple

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The iPhone Duo has been a hot topic in the tech community lately. A lot of people weigh in with their opinions, and even though you can disregard much of this noise, there are some that deserve attention. Such as Nothing's Carl Pei. The eccentric CEO lashed out with a controversial opinion about the iPhone Duo.

Carl Pei thinks the iPhone Duo is a waste of money

According to Carl Pei, the iPhone Duo is a waste of money. | Image by Instagram

We know Carl is no stranger to controversial comments and that he likes to "poke the bear," so to speak. His latest take was posted on Pei's official Instagram account and literally says, "Hot Take: The iPhone Duo will be a waste of money. $2000 is a lot for a bigger screen and a fancy animation. What do you think?"

Now, Mr. Pei might be onto something with the animation—meaning it's created a new trend in smartphone UI (and not only on smartphones)—but I think the upcoming Apple foldable is far from a "waste of money." Let's address Carl Pei's concerns first.

It's missing a telephoto camera

I tested a lot of foldables with powerful camera systems, but I never managed to force myself into using them as camera phones. | Image by PhoneArena

In the Instagram clip, Carl Pei points out three main drawbacks the iPhone Duo has. Well, four if we count the price. The first one is the dual-camera system. There's no telephoto camera on the iPhone Duo, and yes, camera-wise, it's closer to an iPhone 17 (or 18, if we hop ahead in time) than to the iPhone 18 Pro devices.

But I have a hot take of my own. Foldable devices are not camera phones. I've used my fair share of foldables over the years, including flagship phones from Honor and Huawei packing huge camera systems.

Somehow, I never used them the same way I would use a slab phone with powerful cameras. Maybe it's just me, but to me, foldables were always too fragile to treat as true camera phones.

Let me explain. Earlier this year, I went to Japan on vacation and took the Xiaomi 15 Ultra with me. I took a lot of pictures, and this involved taking the phone out of my pocket, flinging it around, and generally not thinking, "What if I break it?"

I can't imagine a foldable in such a scenario. God forbid you try to snap a picture in an unfolded state. It's a recipe for disaster.

And besides, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has a dual-camera system, and it's selling like hotcakes. Granted, a telephoto camera is a nice-to-have feature for the occasional portrait shot or snapping a distant object, but the lack of one doesn't automatically render a device "a waste of money."

Do you think the iPhone Duo is a waste of money?

14 Votes

The lack of Face ID

When Apple removed Touch ID, people weren't happy and wanted it back. Now, it's suddenly a problem. | Image by AppleInsider

This one might be harder to swallow, but it depends on how you're using your phone and whether or not you're coming from the iOS crowd. I admit, Face ID is great — useful, fast, and secure.

Apple probably should've tried to get it into the cover screen at least, but no cigar.

Having no Face ID when you unfold the iPhone Duo doesn't seem like a huge deal breaker to me. The simple act of unfolding the phone requires physical action, and placing your fingers in the right place (over the capacitive Touch ID) can solve the problem.

Again, having Face ID when the Duo is closed would've been nice, but I don't think this is such a huge issue, given no other foldable has a similar system.

Many people have lamented the untimely demise of Touch ID over the years as well, and now that it's back, suddenly it's a big problem. But I think Carl Pei's biggest issue with the iPhone Duo has something to do with the price tag.

Is $2,000 really too much?

$2,000 is a lot of money, don't get me wrong. I recently bought a used Schecter KM-III Artist guitar for 1,360 euros (around $1,500), and believe me, I felt that financial hit. But in light of the recent memory crisis and the ever-rising smartphone prices, $1,999 for a device that's one of a kind inside the iOS ecosystem doesn't feel terrible.

There are rumors that the Galaxy S27 Ultra could start at $1,599 next year. Samsung foldables are already quite expensive, and the Z Fold Ultra went over the $2,000 mark. Taking all this into account, the iPhone Duo doesn't seem that expensive.

Remember, people speculated that the iPhone Duo would cost $3,000 and repeat the Vision Pro disaster. At $1,999, I wouldn't call the Duo a good deal, but it's not a waste of money compared to its rivals.

And most importantly, there are a lot of things this first-generation foldable got right. Things that Samsung couldn't fix for eight generations.

The iPhone Duo is getting a lot of things right for the first time in a foldable

Apple engineers put part of the iPhone Duo's cooling system inside the hinge. | Image by Apple

The opening and closing animation aside, there are a lot of things the iPhone Duo got right. It's the first foldable with a removable screen layer — something that people have been missing in foldables for almost a decade.

It's also $19, so the next time you scratch or damage the top layer of the iPhone Duo's screen, you won't pay $200–$300 for a screen replacement.

Apple also put part of the iPhone Duo's cooling inside the hinge, a brilliant move that should help with heat management and throttling.

The nano-texture coating on the screen is also a great way to hide the crease and deal with reflections. Granted, these types of coatings have been around on Huawei and TCL phones and tablets for ages, but I've never seen one on a foldable.

Last but not least, the software experience, along with the infamous opening animation, is promising to be flawless. Apple is making sure developers have optimized their apps and games for the Duo so there won't be any broken apps on day one of the launch.

I don't see a Nothing foldable phone anywhere

Some of the comments under Carl Pei's post. | Image by Instagram

This might be a bit of a spiteful argument, but as many of the comments under the original Instagram post point out, it's easy to criticize a product when you don't have an alternative to offer.

All that being said, I'm not playing Apple's advocate here. If the iPhone Duo turns out to be a dud, I'll be the first one to objectively admit that Apple failed.

But if this model helps foldables move forward, then I wouldn't call it a waste of money, either.