The wait for Apple’s first foldable smartphone has ended, and early field tests confirm that the screen’s central crease is obviously still there, although it has been mitigated.
The company has chosen to wait before launching its iPhone Duo, analyzing competitors’ flaws to present what it believes to be a superior solution.
The result is a device that, while not able to physically eliminate the panel’s ripple, uses a matte surface and advanced materials to hide it from the front view, pairing all of this with highly optimized software.
iPhone Duo, the crease is there but Apple almost pulled off a miracle
From early leaks, the ability to hide the crease has been at the center of attention. Videos shot inside Apple Park show that, looking at the smartphone from certain angles, the crease is clearly visible. However, looking at the front panel, the bulge becomes almost completely imperceptible to the naked eye.
To achieve this, the company used a double-layer flexible glass and a titanium plate placed under the display assembly, designed to relieve stress on the materials.
A true difference is the “nano-texture” finish: an opaque surface with an anti-scratch coating that reduces reflections and masks imperfections. In its official communications, the company describes the screen as flat and smooth, noting how adhesives allow the panel layers to slide during closing to minimize physical stress.
This matte choice for the inner screen creates, however, a clear contrast with two specific elements. On one hand, the outer display protected by Ceramic Shield 2 feels glossy and completely different to the touch.
On the other hand, the camera positioned beneath the foldable panel is devoid of the anti-reflective finish. This difference in treatment, necessary to guarantee proper sensor operation without further blur, ends up making the lens more visible than expected.
On the durability front, Apple has not declared a precise number of guaranteed folding cycles, opting instead to describe a hinge composed of more than 100 components capable of lasting over time.
On the other hand, the direct competitor Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, which presents a crease slightly more visible than Apple’s, is certified to withstand 500,000 opens.
Official documents also reveal that water and dust resistance with IP68 certification of the new Cupertino phone should be considered temporary, a feature also shared with the recent Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold.
The software optimization and the launch in Italy
A concrete and immediate advantage of iPhone Duo lies in the redesign of iOS 27. The operating system has been built to adapt to the device’s new shapes, offering a user experience that already seems well tailored compared to the interfaces currently offered by Android manufacturers, bringing healthy competition in the field of user interfaces.
Italian consumers will be able to purchase the new smartphone in colors Star White and Night Sky. The official price list starts at 2,369 euros for the 256 GB version, rising through various memory configurations to reach 3,869 euros for the variant offering 2 TB of storage.
The pre-order phase will start on Friday, October 16, while general availability in stores and for deliveries is set for the following week, Friday, October 23.
