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Apple’s first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo. / Apple

Apple on Sept. 9 local time unveiled its first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo.

Apple’s new CEO John Ternus introduced the iPhone Duo at Apple Park, the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, and said official sales will begin on Oct. 23.

The iPhone Duo will be available in two colors, Star White and Night Sky. Storage options include 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB, with US prices starting at $1,999, or about 2.68 million won.

According to Apple’s official website, prices in South Korea are 3.29 million won for the 256GB model, 3.59 million won for 512GB, 4.19 million won for 1TB and 5.09 million won for 2TB.

Preorders will begin on Oct. 16, with the official launch set for Oct. 23. The same preorder and launch schedule will apply in more than 70 countries and regions, including South Korea.

An iPhone Duo case will be priced at $79, while the iPhone Duo Folio with a built-in kickstand will cost $129.

The iPhone Duo features a 5.4-inch outer display when folded and a 7.6-inch inner display when unfolded. The outer screen offers about 90% of the display area of the iPhone 18 Pro, while the inner screen is 50% larger than that of the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Both displays use the same aspect ratio so content can transition seamlessly when the device is folded or unfolded.

The inner display features a nano-texture finish designed to reduce reflections and glare. Both screens support ProMotion and always-on display functionality and offer up to 3,000 nits of outdoor brightness. The device is also expected to support the USB-C Apple Pencil later this year.

Apple has also strengthened durability. The iPhone Duo is made of Grade 5 titanium and uses a precision hinge consisting of more than 100 components. Ceramic Shield is applied to the rear and Ceramic Shield 2 to the front, while the device carries an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. Apple said Ceramic Shield 2 on the front offers three times greater scratch resistance than the previous generation.

New camera features also take advantage of the foldable design. “Smart Take” uses on-device AI to analyze a scene in real time and automatically take a photo when the subject poses. “Duo Preview” displays a live camera preview on the outer screen so the subject can check the framing. The camera system includes a 48-megapixel Fusion main camera and a 48-megapixel Fusion ultra-wide camera.

The iPhone Duo also introduces a redesigned user interface optimized for iOS 27. When unfolded, users can view two Home Screen pages at the same time and run two apps side by side using Split View. They can also open two windows of the same app simultaneously or save app combinations for later use.

AI features have also been upgraded. A new “Siri AI” based on Apple Intelligence will be available in beta with iOS 27. Siri AI can use personal information from messages, emails and photos to help users find what they need or perform tasks related to content displayed on the screen.

The device is powered by the A20 Pro chip. According to Apple, sustained performance is up to 35% better than on the iPhone 17 Pro. The chip features a six-core CPU, seven-core GPU and dual 16-core Neural Engines. It is manufactured on a 2-nanometer process and offers 50% more unified memory bandwidth than its predecessor.

For battery life, the iPhone Duo uses a dual-battery design with high-energy batteries positioned on both sides of the device. Apple said it can provide up to 31 hours of video playback using the inner display, up to 44 hours using the outer display and up to 24 hours when both screens are used equally.

Wired charging can bring the battery to 50% in about 20 minutes, while MagSafe or Qi2 charging can reach 50% in about 30 minutes.

                                                                                                             Jeong A-reum