The iPhone Duo may be only for people with very clean pockets

The iPhone Duo is still almost a month away (pre-orders start on October 16 and it's launching on October 23), but we're getting closer now.

One of the most important aspects of Apple's first-ever foldable iPhone is repairability. After all, nobody wants to spend $2,000 (that's just the starting price; the 2 TB variant goes up to $3,200) on a pocket gadget that's fragile and compromised.

It's funny that I just mentioned "pocket gadget". We need to talk about pockets and foldables right about now.

The dust, the lint, the sand

Just because it's empty, that doesn't mean your pocket is (pristinely) clean. Especially a pocket that's housed in a pair of jeans owned by a male between the ages of five and ninety-five. Us boys always try to fit everything in our pockets: keys, food, an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, the country of Yugoslavia and so on. It's messy.

You might think females and their purses are better off somehow; but I've seen some things (regarding dust and lint) you people wouldn't believe.

In short: that's part of the human condition. But foldables aren't meant to deal with that… completely.

The possible reality

iFixit, the world-famous team of pros who've never taken broken for an answer, has something to say about the yet unreleased iPhone Duo. The team is skeptical about the phone's repairability.

That's an educated guess, based on what the team has learned from tearing down foldables over the past seven years. Early models like the Galaxy Fold and Motorola Razr were notoriously difficult to repair, with screens, batteries and hinges requiring expensive and complicated work.

What about newer foldables?

Newer foldables have improved protection, but iFixit's teardowns show that hinges remain a weak point, with dust and other debris still finding their way inside despite various protective measures. Google's Pixel Fold lineup has arguably built the strongest repair ecosystem, with replacement parts, tools and repair guides available, yet the Pixel 10 Pro Fold still managed only a 4/10 repairability score.

Replacing its inner screen can involve more than 200 steps and take an experienced technician several hours, which gives you an idea of what you're dealing with.

So maybe the best way to protect your iPhone Duo is not to throw it in your pocket right away?

The pouch

Back when I got to play with the Oppo Find N5—a truly marvelous foldable—I used to carry it in my pocket, but first, I put it in a sunglasses pouch. Lint issues aside, I did this because I carried the Find N5 in the same pocket with my non-folding daily driver. I would rather not carry two unprotected phones in the same pocket and let them scratch and hurt each other.

Sure, the pouch thing may be a bit "slow" when it comes to drawing your phone, but it's a compromise I'm willing to make, since I don't have extra coverage.

But you? Maybe you're better off with AppleCare+.

Trade in your old phone for cash at ecoATM!

Recycle your used phone and get instant cash. Find out how at ecoATM!

Check at ecoATM