Analysis
Apple's first foldable phone will reportedly be called the iPhone Duo, and it will start at $2,000 for a 256GB model, The Verge reported on September 9, citing Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The device is expected to be unveiled at Apple's September 9 event alongside the iPhone 18 lineup but won't reach stores until October, a gap unusual for a marquee Apple product.
Gurman's reporting describes a device with a 5.5-inch external cover display and a 7.8-inch inner display that opens to roughly the shape of an iPad mini, built around a magnetic hinge system and, notably, support for the Apple Pencil, a first for an iPhone. Apple is reportedly using its new A20 Pro chip and in-house C2 modem, with dual 48-megapixel rear cameras and a 12-megapixel front camera. Storage will reportedly scale the price up to roughly $3,000 at the high end, with the device coming in white and dark blue.
The $2,000 starting price lands inside the range analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had projected, $2,000 to $2,500, and undercuts some earlier estimates that ran as high as $2,299. Reporting also suggests Apple blew through its internal cost targets amid an ongoing memory-chip shortage and is absorbing some of that expense itself rather than passing the full cost to buyers. Apple's iPhone franchise generated roughly $209.6 billion of the company's $416 billion in revenue last fiscal year, just over half, meaning even a strong foldable launch would need years to register as more than a rounding error against that base.
“Apple is reportedly using its new A20 Pro chip and in-house C2 modem, with dual 48-megapixel rear cameras and a 12-megapixel front camera.”
Apple is late, not first
Apple is entering a category Samsung and Huawei have run for seven years:
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 -- launched at $1,999 for 256GB, with the newer Z Fold 8 outselling it by roughly 30% in the US.
- Samsung -- holds an estimated 64% global foldable market share and is targeting 7 million foldable unit sales in 2026.
- Huawei -- the number-two foldable player globally, at roughly 15% share, concentrated outside the US market.
Apple's $2,000 entry point doesn't undercut Samsung's flagship fold on price, it matches it almost exactly, suggesting Apple is pricing to protect margin rather than to win share on cost.
None of this is confirmed by Apple, which as of publication had not commented on pricing, naming or specs ahead of its own event. First-generation Apple hardware categories have a mixed track record: Vision Pro shipped to a niche audience at a steep price and hasn't scaled into a mainstream product two years later. A foldable priced at double a standard iPhone Pro, arriving a month after Apple's main launch event, reads more like a controlled, supply-constrained rollout than a volume play.
Apple's event streams live from Cupertino at 10 a.m. Pacific on September 9; confirmation of the iPhone Duo's name, price and October ship date is expected within hours of publication.
