iOS 27.2 is now rolling out, and while this update isn’t as big as iOS 27 itself was, there’s quite a lot here to get stuck into, so — even putting aside the inevitable bug fixes — it’s well worth downloading.

Highlights include various improvements to Siri, such as the ability for Siri to draw on more personal context sources, including voicemails, photos attached to messages, and calendar event attendees. This update also brings more languages to Siri AI, including French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Some other AI features have also been improved, with, for example, SynthID labeling now being added to Image Playground creations and substantially edited photos, such as those that have had the Reframe or Extend tools used on them. This means that it will be harder for people to pass off AI images as real ones.

Updates to Apple Music, Messages, and more

Away from AI, iOS 27.2 also brings a new icon to Apple Music, with this one being black and white rather than red — bringing it more in line with the company’s other recent iconography.

There are also now suggestions in the Messages app, which are tappable shortcuts that appear based on context. So, for example, if someone invites you to an event, it might prompt you to add it to your calendar.

Plus, Dual Capture is now available in group FaceTime calls, allowing you to show content on both your front and rear cameras simultaneously, and the iPhone Duo has received a couple of updates, adding support for the USB-C Apple Pencil and an Edge Light to brighten your face in video calls.

Those are arguably the seven biggest updates in iOS 27.2, but there are numerous smaller changes too, such as tweaks to the layout of the Podcasts app and an anniversary reminder on phone calls. So there’s a lot here.

Your iPhone should prompt you to download iOS 27.2 sooner or later, but if you don’t want to wait, you can head to Settings > General > Software Update.

It's also been a really difficult year in tech, though, due to the component crisis and rising prices across nearly all products. In the middle of that tension, it only makes sense for us to find out which companies navigated the challenges best by asking the community of tech lovers out there — and so here are the first TechRadar Readers' Choice Awards.

The results are in, so below we've listed the TechRadar Readers' Choice Awards 2026 winners winners in every category, all 100% voted by you!

Phones & tablets

Phone of the Year

Phone Brand of the Year

Phones Innovation of the Year

Best Value Phone

Best Mid-Range Phone

Best Folding Phone

Best Flip Phone

Best Camera Phone

Best Gaming Phone

Best AI Phone

Cameras & drones

Camera of the Year

Camera Brand of the Year

Camera Innovation of the Year

Best Beginner Camera

Best Mid-range camera

Best Professional Camera

Best Compact and Instant Camera

Best Action and Vlogging Camera

Best Camera Lens

Best camera accessory

Best drone

Computing

Computing Brand of the Year

Best Computing Innovation

Best Value Laptop

Best AI Laptop

Best Gaming Laptop

Best PC Gaming Handheld

Best Gaming Keyboard

Best Gaming Monitor

Best Gaming Mouse

Gaming

Gaming Device of the Year

Gaming Brand of the Year

Gaming Innovation of the Year

Best Console Accessory

Best Gaming Service

Best Gaming Controller

Best Gaming Headset

Best Gaming Chair

TV & home theater

TV of the year

Home Entertainment Brand of the Year

Home Entertainment Innovation of the Year

Best Gaming TV

Best TV for Sound

Best OLED TV

Best mini-LED TV

Best Value TV

Best Projector

Best Soundbar

Best Wireless Home Theater Speakers

Streaming

Streaming Service of the Year

Best Streaming Service for Movies

Best Streaming Service for Documentaries

Best Streaming Service for TV Series

Best Free Streaming Service of the Year

Audio

Headphones of the Year

Audio Brand of the Year

Audio Innovation of the Year

Best Wireless Headphones

Best Wireless Earbuds

Best Open Earbuds

Best Value Headphones

Best Value Earbuds

Best Value Open Earbuds

Best Wired Headphones

Best Wired Earbuds

Best Bluetooth Speaker

Best Wireless Speaker

Best Portable Audio Player

Best Turntable

Best DAC

Best Stereo Speakers

Health & Fitness tech

Health and Fitness Device of the Year

Health & Fitness Brand of the Year

Health and Fitness Innovation of the Year

Best Smartwatch

Best Running Watch

Best Fitness Tracker

Best Smart Ring

Best Electric Toothbrush

Best Connected Fitness Tech

Home tech

Home Device of the Year

Home Tech Brand of the Year

Home Tech Innovation of the Year

Best Home Light Tech

Best Home Security Device

Best Robot Vacuum

Best Vacuum

Best Air Fryer

Best Coffee Machine

Best Value Coffee Machine

Best Fan

Update, October 26: Apple has provided an official statement to TechRadar on the reported iPhone Duo issues:

“The response to iPhone Duo from early users has been incredibly positive, and we are seeing exciting things from developers who are rapidly updating their apps to take advantage of its unique form factor. We are aware of an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units. If users experience issues with their iPhone Duo display, they should contact AppleCare for a replacement.”

So there we have it — it appears that some of the cracked screens we've reported on below are indeed the result of a manufacturing issue, but only for a "small number" of units. Exactly how big that number is remains to be seen...

Original story follows...

While there has been a lot of excitement around the iPhone Duo, its launch hasn’t been faultless, with high demand leading to shipping delays and — more worryingly — some users reporting that their phones are already breaking.

Specifically, a small number of users have reported the hinge cracking and causing the screen to break, but is this the start of ‘crackgate’, or are these just isolated incidents?

Going by social media, we’d lean towards the latter — there have been a fair few reports across Reddit and elsewhere, but relative to how many people have received an iPhone Duo, it’s a drop in the ocean.

A fragile flagship

It’s also possible that some of these cracked hinges were caused by careless use of the phone. Foldables are inherently more fragile than standard handsets, but the iPhone Duo will be many people’s first foldable, and they may not all be used to how it should be treated yet.

Indeed, YouTuber CuriousHagi was able to replicate the issue but — as some Reddit users pointed out — only by intentionally bending the phone backwards as part of a durability test. So it’s not yet clear whether most of these cracked screens are from similar (albeit perhaps less extreme) misuse or normal handling of the phone.

Either way, with all the screens seemingly breaking at the same point, it suggests there could either be a design flaw present in the iPhone Duo — which would be a big problem for Apple — or simply a defect in some units, which would be a more isolated and easily fixable issue.

We’ve reached out to Apple for comment and will update this article if we hear back, but for now, if you have or are getting an iPhone Duo, we wouldn’t worry too much, as there aren’t a vast number of reportedly broken phones yet.

But you should probably treat it a bit more gently than a standard iPhone, and — surprise! — definitely not bend the hinge backwards.

The teardown and repair experts over at iFixit have put the new Apple iPhone Duo through their rigorous examination process, and there are positives and negatives to take. A repairability score of 5 out of 10 is the best iFixit has ever given to a foldable phone, but there are pain points, and areas of potential weakness.

We've embedded the teardown video below, and you can read more at the iFixit blog, but the highlights are an outer screen and a couple of battery cell units that are relatively easy to remove. The outer trim of the foldable came away intact too, which the iFixit team notes wasn't the case with the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

Applying dust that glows under ultraviolet light, the teardown showed some of it reaching the hinge mechanism. While the hinge didn't gather as much dust as the Pixel 11 Pro Fold or the Galaxy Z Fold 8, enough got into the hinge for it to start crunching (it's worth noticing the iPhone Duo let in dust in the JerryRigEverything durability test too).

Apple has given the iPhone Duo an IP68 rating for protection against dust and water, but in terms of dust at least, you really can't take any chances with this foldable. "We hoped Apple would solve this problem, but sadly it seems like the Duo's got the same dirt-phobia as its folding cousins," writes the iFixit team.

Cracked screens and hidden hinges

iFixit also comes up with an explanation for the cracked screen problem being reported by some iPhone Duo owners. Apparently, it could be down to stress caused by the main display crease putting pressure on the central support bar for the hinge – though further investigations will be needed to know for sure.

Another party of the teardown takes a close look at the gears, springs, and metal joints that Apple has constructed the iPhone Duo's hinge out of, and there's a detailed description of how Apple has applied a "very good disguise" for the crease on the main display, through the arrangement of pixels and the screen's matte nano-texture finish.

If an iPhone Duo repair is required, it's the main, inner screen and the hinge that are going to be the biggest problem, according to iFixit: because of the complicated way that's been assembled and put together, it "takes a lot of work", a lot of time, and a lot of money if you need to get these parts of the iPhone Duo looking like new again.

"For a first attempt, Apple has done well," concludes the iFixit team when summarizing the teardown and durability test. "The easy battery removal alone is something we'd like to see on every foldable. But you'd better baby that screen, Duo owners. And maybe quit carrying around that pocket sand."

The Federal Court of Australia has ordered Apple to fully open up its iOS ecosystem in the country to third-party competitors, with Justice Jonathan Beach ruling that the tech giant misused its market power to maintain a monopoly over app distribution and in-app payments.

The ruling has also ordered Apple to restore the video game Fortnite and other Epic Games apps back onto the Australian App Store, six years after the Cupertino tech giant banned the game for bypassing Apple’s payment systems.

Both orders are set to take effect at noon Australian Eastern time on March 1, 2027.

“In response to regulatory or judicial constraints imposed in connection with the App Store that are anything other than detailed, prescriptive and precise, Apple has systematically implemented practices that seek to circumvent the practical effects of those constraints,” the ruling read.

Beach also said that Apple “devised and pursued a deliberate and comprehensive strategy of foreclosure in relation to iOS app distribution.”

An Apple spokesperson told TechRadar that the company “does not have a monopoly position in Australia or in any market around the world. We respectfully disagree with many findings in this case, including a market definition that has been rejected by other courts.

“We will request a stay and appeal the outcome to seek a resolution that respects our intellectual property and protects the safe, secure experience that consumers and developers expect from the App Store.”

Apple has until February 15 to appeal this decision.

TechRadar has also contacted Epic Games for comment, though Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney took to X (formerly Twitter) to celebrate the ruling.

Apple and Epic Games have been going back and forth in courts ever since the former removed Fortnite from the Apple App Store in August 2020 for selling the in-game currency V-bucks in a way that would circumvent Apple’s 30% commission fee on in-app purchases.

Last year, the US Supreme Court also ruled that Apple engaged in anti-competitive conduct and pricing. A separate ruling in 2024, meanwhile, forced Apple to allow US customers to add links and buttons inside their apps that bring them out to a website where they can input credit card information, though it ultimately didn’t grant Epic Games’ petition to open iOS to competing stores and payments. Sweeney, at the time, called the ruling “a sad outcome for all developers”.

No more loopholes?

With Apple looking to appeal this ruling, these changes are far from guaranteed to happen in March next year, but it would be interesting to see if the tech giant will adopt a similar “compliance through friction” strategy in Australia.

The 2024 ruling above saw Apple implement a 27% commission on transactions completed on those external websites, a disclosure warning and restricted developers from using traditional buttons or persuasive calls-to-action language.

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) forced Apple to allow third-party app stores, sideloading (installing apps through websites) and alternative in-app payments. Apple, instead, found workarounds like implementing a “Core Technology Fee” (charging developers that opt out of the App Store 50 euro cents per first annual install regardless of whether the developer made any money), using convoluted and multi-step installation processes for third-party app stores and requiring alternate app store developers to secure a $1 million standby letter of credit.

Justice Beach called them “deterrence tactics”, saying the fees blocked “any genuine prospect of competition” and explicitly addressed those “disproportionate frictions”, non-neutral disclosure sheets and discriminatory fees in the ruling.

The ruling outlines specific bans that Apple has to follow:

• implementing the Core Technology Fee
• 27% commissions on on transactions done through external websites
• disclosure sheets
• forcing developers into new, bundled contracts just to use alternative distribution
• requiring developers to also display Apple’s In-App Purchase (IAP) button alongside their preferred payment method
• forcing developers to appoint Apple as their legal "agent" for marketing and delivery.

Some potential workarounds that Apple may explore could be under the guise of “security standards”, using user interface design to discourage users and aggressive geofencing, or we could even see something completely different.

In any case, this is far from the last time that Apple and Epic Games will face each other in court, with Apple’s appeal to the US Supreme Court scheduled for sometime during its October 2026–2027 term. The EU is still actively investigating Apple while Epic Games continues to challenge Cupertino’s policies under the DMA.

Granted, not every question was about the Duo. Many took the "Anything" part literally and asked me about everything from my hairline to their favorite color. I played along as I fielded myriad queries about Apple's first folding device. Over 24 hours, I reiterated many points from my review, which I doubt many read, but I also learned a thing or two I missed while testing the product.

Here are some of the highlights:

For my iPhone Duo review, I placed the folded phone on multiple MagSafe charge stands and holders. The MagSafe magnets sit on the back, right under the camera array, and the Duo fits perfectly on each stand. With charge stands, the Duo instantly slips into the redesigned Standby mode. I love it.

Someone on Threads asked me if I had tried unfolding the Duo and putting it on a MagSafe stand. So I did and quickly found that the weight of the half not attached to the charging stand made the entire phone rotate ever so slowly on the MagSafe charger. So, while you could use the unfolded Duo on a MagSafe charging stand, it is not recommended.

After someone else asked if they could still use their MagSafe Wallet, I found that the Duo's back is too short to accommodate the standard MagSafe Wallet.

With its two differently sized screens, the iPhone Duo is unique in the iPhone lineup, and there were reasonable questions about how features like vertical Wallpaper images work across the cover and inner display.

I didn't know, so I set the cover wallpaper as a vertical photo I took with the Duo of the Empire State Building, and I gotta say, I love the handoff between displays. The Cover display showed the iconic building, and when I opened the Duo, it showed more of the photo.

There were a lot of questions about the Duo's split-screen capabilities, like if I could open more than two apps (no, but you can do a PiP video overlay), and if you could drag and drop content from one screen to another (you can).

Some wondered if you could run the same app on both screens. You cannot, but if you want to maximize your social media, I found that you could run TikTok and Instagram Reels in side-by-side windows. It's social media turned up to 11.

During my review, I tried running the Kindle app, but the app wasn't optimized for the device and looked tiny and useless. Someone asked me about "iBooks," which is now known as Books.

As a first-party app, it's optimized for Duo, of course. Flipping virtual pages on the 7.6-inch inner display is a transporting experience.

Many wondered whether I hated the matte finish on the inner display (I don't), but I also got a ton of questions about the crease and the inner display's overall durability. A few wanted to know if I'd scratched it, either purposefully or by accident, with my fingernail. I had not, honestly; I don't even see fingerprints on the matte display.

A couple of people asked about the visibility of the crease and whether that area of the screen bounced or wobbled when I touched it. So I tested it by opening the phone and pressing down on the essentially invisible crease. No movement.

Many had obviously heard that not every app is optimized for the new inner display. In my review, I noted that LinkedIn and Gmail were particularly poor fits and later found that Adobe Acrobat still wasn't optimized. But developers are constantly delivering updates, so apps that didn't work yesterday look great today.

Still, people wanted to know how apps deal with the handoff from the 5.4-inch outer display to the 7.6-inch inner one. Optimized apps handle it smoothly; most simply expand without losing context.

Some, like DeckMan and Toastie, playfully use the two screens to create entertaining interplays. DeckMan, for instance, turns the duo into a virtual portable tape deck.

An almost equal number shared their concerns about the size of the 5.4-inch cover display. It's actually not that small, but Apple's decision to place the Dock vertically on the right-hand side means that you lose a lot of pixels to what is often empty space. Others complained about the lack of support for left-handed users (they kept asking me if I was left-handed). Some are even bothered by the dock's placement on the much larger inner display. You can't move it, and this will probably remain a key issue for many potential Duo owners.

Every single iPhone model now supports Face ID, with the notable exception of the new Duo. It's probably the single biggest Duo misstep, and many asked me if I was having trouble adjusting to using Touch ID again. Initially, I was, but I have gotten used to it. I hope the next Duo brings back facial recognition.

I probably got a dozen or so questions about battery life. Some reviewers have criticized the Duo for subpar battery life if you mainly use the larger inner screen. I did not find that, but I did field quite a few battery life questions from concerned potential buyers. I told them what my tests found: all-day battery life in a variety of situations.

I struggled a bit when people asked me to compare the Duo to the iPhone 18 Pro Max. I get it; they want to know if they should stick with what they know or, perhaps, try the awesome new thing. It's not easy, though, to directly compare the single-screen iPhone 18 Pro Max with the dual-display Duo. But leaving aside the screens, if you focus on, say, the cameras, you might stick with the 18 Pro Max, which offers a telephoto and a variable-aperture main camera. The Duo is also heavier than the iPhone 18 Pro Max, which might be a deal-breaker for some.

There were also a healthy number of comparisons to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 lineup, especially the similarly sized and shaped Galaxy Z Fold 8. A few asked me to compare the cameras. Turns out that both the Z Fold 8 and Duo have just two external cameras: wide and ultra-wide, and the Z Fold 8 has just a couple of megapixels per camera on the Duo. Ultimately, it's a wash on the camera front.

I got just as many questions about the cameras' quality, including the 12MP Center Stage camera on the outside and the 4MP inner camera. I found it interesting that many knew not to directly compare it to the new iPhone 18 Pro Max lenses and instead focused on the more comparable iPhone 17 Pro's wide and ultrawide. In my testing, I found the imagery was just as good as what I got from that now year-old device. I do, however, miss the telephoto lens.

One person actually asked how this iPhone Duo is different from the Surface Duo that Microsoft launched in 2019 and discontinued in 2024. I gently explained that while the Surface Duo's inner screen had two displays, the iPhone Duo offers one flexible inner display.

Apple hasn't said much about Apple Pencil support, but that may be because the Duo currently only supports the Apple Pencil USB-C. Why? It's the only one that you can still charge separately from, say, a tablet. Apple Pencil Pro needs the iPad to charge. The Duo cannot charge another device. As one Threads user put it, "Which basically means that my Pencil Pro is useless?" Mine too, my friend, mine, too.

Just minutes after the iPhone Duo went up for preorder last week, on October 16, 2026, shipping timeframes began to slip. And if you were to order one right now — regardless of color, carrier, or storage — you’re looking at a January 2027 delivery date. But fear not, I've got some good news directly from Greg Joswiak, Apple’s SVP of Marketing.

"You know, we didn't ship them all away during the pre-order, we have them available at the stores, we're excited," said Joswiak.

He continued, “I'll be at 5th Avenue in the morning, my favorite place to launch iPhone, and I'm sure we'll have some happy customers.”

It’s a potentially reassuring comment if you’re currently waiting online or preparing to camp overnight, or even if you’re planning to arrive early at a store on launch day tomorrow, October 23, 2026.

I’ll be with Joswiak, other Apple employees, and who knows how many customers outside the flagship and iconic Cube store on 5th Avenue in NYC.

Previously, Apple has said it would have limited supply for walk-ins, but Jos offers a bit more, noting that the Duo will be available in stores. And while demand for the iPhone Duo for online orders and pre-reserves has been impressive, leading to long lead times, he reiterated that Apple still has some set aside for folks who want to try their luck going to a store or even trying to lock in a unit for pickup.

On overall demand for the iPhone Duo, Joswiak notes, “Well, I think you saw the pre-order demand last week was extraordinary.”

He continued, “People got it. They understood what we were doing. The people who, like yourselves, who saw it early on were quite taken by it.”

You can read TechRadar’s full review of the iPhone Duo here, and I’ve gotten the chance to spend some more time with it this week since the original unveiling in September. It’s still an incredible form factor, one that feels excellent in the hand and ultimately feels like a premium iPhone.

More recently, I’ve gotten to see more applications running on it — like Edits taking advantage of the bigger internal screen, the impressive reflections rendered in real time in Netflix, and the epic DeckMan, which turns the Duo into a cassette player. Still early days, but it really shows off some unique experiences designed for the Duo.

Another exemplary example is the MLB app, which is launching its iPhone Duo update on Day One with pretty spectacular timing. You see, the World Series kicks off tomorrow, and if you have an iPhone Duo and an applicable account, you can watch it in grand style. On the cover screen, or, if you flip it open, in a full-screen, TV-like treatment. Even neater, if you fold it like a book or mini laptop, you can have the broadcast on top and box score on the bottom. You can even split the screen for the broadcast on the left and another app on the right.

Joswiak noted the importance of MLB and sports at large: ”Sports are important to us; it's important to our users.” The relationship is so tight that the iPhone is in the Baseball Hall of Fame, specifically a Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro Max that was used to broadcast Friday Night Baseball.

So, if you’re lucky enough to get an iPhone Duo tomorrow, you can tune into the World Series on its impressive new display. But if you’re still hoping to get your hands on Apple’s first folding phone, don’t count yourself out just yet. Despite online orders slipping to January, Joswiak says Apple will have units available in stores tomorrow. Your best bet? Get there early.

In the early days of the iPhone, seeing one in the wild, usually in a brave early adopter's hands, was like spotting a unicorn. The excitement was palpable. Over the years, though, as every smartphone has become a glass and metal slab, making it difficult to tell one iPhone release from another, the excitement has diminished. Where I used to keep my 'regular' iPhone review units out of sight, I now casually carry them around in a case, and no one is any the wiser.

That, though, is not the case with the iPhone Duo. In my effort to spend as much time using the new folding iPhone as possible, I carried it everywhere, including to a wedding party for my friend's son. My iPhone Duo test unit was somewhat disguised by being clad in a Taupe Folio with a Kickstand case, but as I held it aloft to photograph the newlyweds, the bride's eyes grew wide.

"Is that...?!"

My eyes darted from her to the phone in my hand, and I considered stuffing it back in my pocket, but I was intrigued by her reaction. I hadn't seen this level of interest and excitement in years.

I nodded wordlessly; the newlyweds started peppering me with questions, and as I folded and unfolded it, and they glimpsed the inner display, the bride's jaw dropped. She asked if I liked it. I mumbled, "Yes, I think so," without offering much more information.

I was determined to use the iPhone Duo's two external 48MP cameras to photograph the event, which meant this scenario repeated itself more than once.

It was obvious that, unlike every other iPhone of the last decade or so, the iPhone Duo could not travel incognito; people were, it seemed, intensely interested in Apple's first truly new iPhone form factor in basically forever.

The interest is warranted.

The iPhone Duo is not simply an iPhone folded in half. I'd argue it's only marginally an iPhone and more of a hybrid, splitting the difference between a sub-sized smartphone and a slightly larger, 8-inch iPad mini.

From the highly polished titanium frame to the curves and pitch-perfect tolerances, the iPhone Duo's design is Apple at its best, and while it doesn't reinvent the genre, the nano-texture finish on the main display cannily solved the chief folding phone complaint: that darn crease. It's not that the crease is completely gone, but in daily use it's virtually invisible. As an added bonus, that matte finish kills reflectivity in bright sunlight, and makes almost everything look better.

Apple includes four cameras, three of which are powerful enough to produce high-quality photos across a range of styles. I saw excellent color accuracy and low-light performance, and the ultra-wide camera feels expansive. The inner-display camera is, it appears, just 4MP, but it does a good job with casual selfies and FaceTime calls.

Apple has almost stuck the landing here, but there is a slight step backwards. I'm fairly certain its decision to move the status bar and dock to the right side of the 5.4-inch outer screen, and therefore shrink the width of most apps, will divide opinion. I like how this makes it easy to tap an app with your right thumb, but the remaining screen real estate makes some app experiences look and feel cramped.

Then there's the lack of Face ID on the cover screen, which means this is the first iPhone in ages that I have to use my finger to unlock.

I'm also less than thrilled that a nearly $2,000 / £2,000 / AU$3,500 phone starts with just 256GB of storage; although, to be fair to Apple, the $1,899.99 / £1,699 / AU$2,699 Galaxy Z Fold 8 also starts with the same amount.

Those small nits are like pointing out the missing eyelashes on the Mona Lisa, though. Overall, this is a fantastic entry into the folding phone space, offering the dual capabilities of a glanceable and attractive iPhone that fits in any pocket or hand, and a versatile 7.6-inch tablet.

Not everyone needs two screens in one device, or wants to pay as much as they would for a home appliance for their next smartphone; but for those who feel confined by the boundaries of a typical iPhone and want to do more in less space, the iPhone Duo, which starts out smaller than your average smartphone but unfolds to reveal an almost twice-as-large tablet display, is well worth your consideration.

Apple iPhone Duo review: Price and availability

• From $1,999 in the US
• From £1,999 in the UK
• From AU$3,499 in Australia

Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo, its first folding phone, as its "one more thing" during the Surprise and Shine event on September 9, 2026.

The list price is $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,499 for the 256GB model, which is in line with most of its folding competitors from Samsung, Huawei, Motorola, and Oppo. It's available in storage configurations up to 2TB for $3,199 / £3,199 / AU$5,899.

The iPhone Duo is the most expensive iPhone Apple has ever made, but we should put this in context. Like most foldables, this is a two-in-one device: a pint-sized smartphone with a 5.4-inch 4:3 screen, and a 7.6-inch tablet. Unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which has a similar passport-style shape, and even the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, which is a more conventionally sized and shaped foldable, the iPhone Duo's larger main screen supports digital pen input (this wasn't available for my testing period, but it's expected by November).

You may also be able to soften the price blow a bit with a trade-in; or you might want to look at Apple's leasing program, which will run about $57-to-$83 / £47 to £66.63 / AU$97.19 to over $161 a month for the base model.

In total, the iPhone Duo is probably better value than you think.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Apple iPhone Duo review: Specs

These are the key specs of the Apple iPhone Duo:

Apple iPhone Duo review: Design

• Polished titanium
• Exquisitely engineered hinge and folding operation
• Unfolds flat
• IP68
• Thicker and heavier than nearest competition
• No Face ID

'Satisfying' is the best way to describe the feeling of repeatedly opening and closing the iPhone Duo. It's as if Apple inadvertently created a digital fidget spinner — the more I carried around the iPhone Duo, the more I found myself absentmindedly folding and unfolding the phone.

Apple's exceptional engineering makes it possible to unfold the phone initially, with almost no effort (it almost springs open at the slightest intentional touch), before the internal torque kicks in to allow for the Duo to be opened to almost any angle between zero and 180 degrees (flat).

While you can't see the work that went into making this hinge, the effort is evident in every single touch and move. Inside are hundreds of magnets and other components that keep the phone securely closed, but never get in the way of an easy opening. More so than with any folding phone I've tested, the hinge essentially disappears when the iPhone Duo is unfolded flat.

At 5.2mm thick, the fingerprint-attracting polished titanium iPhone Duo is the thinnest iPhone ever. At least that's how Apple markets it, but that's in tablet mode; I do like the sound of a 5.2mm-thick tablet. The 7.6-inch device is thinner than the 8-inch iPad mini (6.3mm). Folded, the iPhone Duo is 11.3mm thick, almost 2mm thicker than the folded Galaxy Z Fold 8. And at 254g, the iPhone Duo outweighs the Galaxy Z Fold 8 by a noticeable 53 grams. It's even slightly heavier than the iPhone 18 Pro Max, which weighs 249g.

The upshot of all this is that while the 4.64-inch by 3.31-inch folded iPhone Duo fits in even the smallest pocket, you will feel its heft, especially if you pop, say, a Folio with Kickstand case on it.

The iPhone Duo stands out in a way few iPhones have in recent years. Folded, it's closer to square than rectangular in shape, resembling a squat iPhone Pro Max. Plus, the asymmetry — flat and square on one side and curved on the other when folded — means the Duo cuts a unique profile among smartphones.

It does feel good in the hand, though the wider body might take some getting used to. I like the Ceramic Shield 2 front and back, especially the matte-finished back, which makes the Duo almost slip-from-your-hand-proof. The large dual-camera array bump is reminiscent of the iPhone Air, though the similarities end there.

The volume buttons live on the top edge, another departure from the traditional iPhone, and indeed from smartphone design in general — I'm not sure I love that decision. On the right is the long Touch ID-enabled power/sleep/Siri AI button, and below that is the Action button. I often forget that last button exists on my iPhone 18 Pro Max, and I wonder if it was truly necessary here.

I appreciate the inclusion of Touch ID (I registered my index finger and thumb), but the lack of Face ID is frustrating — I had no idea how much I relied on it for quickly unlocking my phone until it wasn't there. Multiple times I've stared at the iPhone Duo's cover screen waiting for something to happen, forgetting that I have to intentionally touch the Touch ID button. A nearly $2,000 device lacking Apple's most powerful biometric security feature is close to unforgivable — I'll probably set up a workaround so that I can unlock the Duo via my Apple Watch.

Along the bottom edge are the USB-C port (the phone ships with a charging cable but no power adapter), the speakers, and the mics.

Unfolded, the iPhone duo feels like a thin, compact tablet — I hesitate to say 'iPad' since the operating system is essentially iOS with some small adjustments for the new form factor.

Remarkably, Apple comes out of the folding gate flourishing an IP68 rating, which means the iPhone Duo is protected against dust and even water. Naturally, I submerged the Duo under a running faucet, and it was none the worse for the experience.

Overall, I like the design and form factor, but it's different from a traditional iPhone, so it does take some getting used to. I struggled, for instance, to figure out the best way to hold the phone for photography. Do I need to turn it into landscape mode, or should I just hold it the way I hold a 'regular' iPhone? I do wonder how many will choose to unfold the phone, and shoot pictures in the same way they might with their iPad.

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

Apple iPhone Duo review: Displays

• Adorable and unusually shaped 5.4-inch cover display
• Industry-leading 7.6-inch foldable internal display
• Crease is canily hidden via a combination of expert engineering and a nano-etched display
• Bright, sharp, fluid screens

Credit to Apple for not skimping on either of its iPhone Duo displays. Both the 5.4-inch outer and the 7.6-inch flexible inner screens are Super Retina XDR-class OLED panels, both with variable refresh rates up to 120Hz, always-on functionality, and up to 3,000 nits of brightness.

Both displays look impressively sharp, and actually offer slightly higher resolutions than the comparable displays on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8.

The iPhone Duo's 5.4-inch cover display has a 2034 x 1398 resolution (compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 cover display's 1972 x 1248), and the 7.6-inch Inner display is 2670 x 1878 (compared to the Z Fold 8's 2448 x 1848 main display).

At first glance, the iPhone duo Cover screen is instantly recognizable as an iPhone, but close scrutiny reveals some interesting adjustments for the relatively short and wide display. First, the pill-shaped Dynamic Island sits in a vertical space along the right side, and when you look at the home screen, the dock is stacked vertically below the time and a status button (a single tap on it expands it to show connectivity and battery, and also drops down the full Control Center).

The Duo takes that right-hand space and rarely gives it up, which means that websites can look cramped in Safari, and some apps like TikTok, and even Apple's native ones, like Sports, can feel a bit squeezed. There are exceptions, like when you use the screen as a viewfinder in the Camera app, or look back at images in the Photo Gallery. In those cases, the imagery fills the entire screen.

I'm less conflicted about the glorious main screen. It's big, it's responsive, and the matte, nano-texture covering almost completely hides the crease by dispersing any light bouncing off it, instead of directing it right back to your eyes. The display looks and feels perfectly flat, plus that matte covering kills all reflections, and makes every image look almost magazine-quality. It could be argued that a tiny bit of visual punch is lost in the texture, but I really enjoyed everything I viewed and did on the screen. It feels wonderful to the touch, and I had fun playing games like PUBG, browsing the web on a big screen, watching Netflix, reviewing and editing my photos, and multi-taking (more on that later).

Unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and 8 Ultra, the iPhone Duo's inner display supports a stylus, specifically the USB-C Apple Pencil. That support is not yet live, but I can't wait to start drawing on the Duo. I did attempt some Procreate Pocket sketches with my finger, and it didn't go well, which is mostly a me problem. However, I had slightly better luck with an analog stylus (see below).

Apple hides the 4MP inner FaceTime camera behind a handful of pixels, but they don't appear to have the exact same mix of matte and pixel density as the rest of the display, and as such are easy to spot. I wonder if Apple should have just gone with a standard, albeit smaller, cutout.

As on the cover display, Apple has positioned the status and dock vertically on the right side of the main display. I wonder why, in Tablet mode, Apple didn't simply copy the iPad and put this bar at the base of the screen. Still, I noticed that the dock disappears when you're in apps like Safari.

There's more to say about app compatibility with this platform, which I'll get into later in the Software section of this review.

I especially like the redesigned Standby feature, which takes advantage of the Duo's multiple displays and foldable nature. You can prop up the phone like a tent and have the Standby display appear in landscape mode. If you flip the phone up so it's standing on your desk like an open book, the Duo knows to switch Standby to the inner display. At one point I popped the Duo onto my old Belkin MagSafe charger, and used it as a nightstand clock. It's so smart and useful.

What we have here are two excellent displays with a wide array of capabilities in one device. It's both a tiny iPhone and a mini tablet, with two screens that should please both the iPhone and iPad crowds. I have my reservations about the cover screen, but as an overall multi-display package, I'm impressed with the Duo.

• Display score: 4.5 / 5

Apple iPhone Duo review: Cameras

• Two strong 48MP cameras
• Excellent 12MP Center Stage camera
• Inner camera is lower-resolution but effective for FaceTime
• No telephoto camera

It's been a long time since I've reviewed an iPhone on which camera considerations come second to design and mechanical engineering, but the excitement revolving around the iPhone Duo is about its folding capability, creaseless inner screen, and unique-among-iPhones form factor.

Even so, there's no indication that Apple has skimped on three of the four cameras. Yes, the inner camera is just a 4MP shooter that's primarily devoted to FaceTime calls, but the rest of the lenses — 48MP f/1.6 Main, 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, and 12MP f/2.2 Center Stage — are all excellent.

While I haven't had a lot of time with the iPhone Duo, I have managed to shoot in a variety of conditions and situations, pushing the cameras on speed, image quality, color, and low-light performance.

The two external cameras default to shooting at 24MP, which means each photo has effectively twice as much information per pixel (the process is called binning).

I was particularly impressed by the level of detail in the main-camera shots — just look at the specks of pollen on the marigold flower in the gallery below. That same image shows an exceptional balance of shadows and light; the sunlight bleed on the right does not overwhelm the exposure of the rest of the image.

In a challenging social-club environment, the main wide and ultra-wide cameras acquitted themselves nicely, making exposure adjustments to capture the moment without too much grain. Obviously, there was some motion blur, but I think it added to the emotional weight of the event.

With the iPhone duo, Apple has introduced Smart Take, which I liken to your own personal fashion photographer. The setting lives under the grid menu (drawer) in the Camera app, and once it's on, you can set the phone folded at 90 degrees on a desktop, start posing in front of the camera, and Smart Take will capture the 'best shots.'

When I used it, I noted that while I was trusting the phone to take some decent photos of me, I couldn't see a display to keep track of what it was capturing (Smart Take is not supported on the 4MP inner camera). Still, I started striking poses, assuming that the camera would deem those best. It kind of worked, though I think Smart Take would work best if you're able to put the iPhone Duo up on a tripod or shelf to make sure the camera is closer to eye level.

Similar to what we've seen on other foldable phones, Apple has included a camera mode, Duo Preview, that lets you use the best main or ultra-wide camera while still using the cover display as a viewfinder. It's a useful table-stakes feature that I'm glad Apple included, especially since the inner camera is so underpowered.

Apple says you get 2x effective optical zoom on the main camera, but that's a sensor crop. Yes, the pixels and image information will be real, but I prefer a proper zoom lens. To be fair, the iPhone Duo camera array is quite similar to the 50MP pair on the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which also lacks a telephoto lens.

I also used the cover screen Center Stage camera to shoot some portrait-mode selfies. They were, as you might expect, impressive (not the subject, just the brilliant bokeh).

The iPhone Duo's trio of high-quality cameras meets, in my estimation, the high watermark set by lenses on previous iPhones, including the iPhone 17 Pro (the 18 Pro models come with a variable aperture).

• Camera score: 4.5 / 5

Apple iPhone Duo review: Software

• An iOS tablet hybrid that somehow works
• Dock position will split some
• Split screen for multitasking
• Third-party app support is a work in progress

With the iPhone Duo, iOS officially means multiple things. Where it was once a smartphone platform, it's now a multi-hardware-configuration operating system that can, depending on where it's installed, fork appropriately.

Instead of the iPhone Duo unfolding and converting into an iPad, it remains steadfastly an iPhone with tablet-like capabilities. This has resulted in some odd decisions on Apple's part, like hiding some of the ever-present status-bar information, including battery life, and rotating and moving the dock. Even the iPad doesn't put the dock on the right-hand side.

On the cover screen, the status bar and dock placement cut into screen real-estate for some apps and browser experiences; this is less of an issue on the larger inner screen.

Since this is not pure-play classic iOS, there is some discontinuity in third-party app support. During my testing, Gmail and LinkedIn didn't look great. The former is stretched wide but doesn't fill the full depth of the display; LinkedIn floats in the middle.

For unoptimized apps, I did have the option of using the very iPad-like 2x zoom icon, which stretched the app to fit more of the screen. In some instances, apps appeared to work, but some features were broken. When I played Asphalt Legends on the inner display, tilt-to-steer was broken, though it worked perfectly on the cover display.

Some third-party apps, including Netflix (clips looked pretty good on the Cover display), and first-party apps like Safari and Messages, look great, and effectively use all the 7.6-inch display's real estate. There are even some apps that are already custom-designed to take advantage of the dual-display setup.

One of my favorites is a game called Toastie. On the inner screen, you butter your bread, add cheese and other ingredients, then hit grill, at which point you fold the phone closed, and it gently pulses for each second of cooking. You have to decide when to stop. To see your grilled cheese sandwich, you open the phone — I did this a half dozen times before I had a virtually edible sandwich.

Deck-Man is also a cute concept; this turns your iPhone duo into a classic cassette tape player, complete with the static you hear when the player is on but not playing a tape. When the iPhone is open, you choose a cassette and virtually put it in the player, then you close the phone to access the player controls. I especially liked how "rewinding" the tape reproduced the classic sounds of a physical tape rewinding in an old-school player.

I also played Battle Fleet, which is a Battleship knockoff, and works well when you set up the phone in 90-degree opened desktop mode.

These are all clever apps, though I wouldn't argue that any are the Duo's 'killer app.'

The 7.6-inch inner display is also a good canvas for multitasking. You split the screen by swiping up from the bottom of the display and slowly dragging an app left or right. Inside each pane, you can swipe up to choose a different app. I used this to have Messages and Safari side-by-side, and also for the drawing app Procreate on one side and a reference image from Safari on the left.

Unlike on the Galaxy Z Fold 8, you can't run three apps, though the iPhone Duo will let you add picture-in-picture video on top of two apps you have open.

The iPhone Duo is a good showcase for Apple's growing AI ambitions. Siri AI now knows more about me and my smartphone, so when I ask if there are any emails I should know about, it automatically accesses 'Priority Mail' in the Mail app, and quickly starts reading off the first crucial message. Siri AI is better at maintaining context, so I don't have to restate myself, but it's still not foolproof. I asked Siri where I had been yesterday, and it showed me a picture of myself and listed my age. Siri AI should, though, get better as it continues to index my system.

In general, iOS 27, which is more customizable that ever, has useful widgets and more powerful AI features, and is the perfect platform for Apple's biggest iPhone design leap. It may not have all the design elements right, and the app support is lagging a bit behind, but these are all minor, and I think easily adjustable or fixable, issues.

• Software score: 4.5 / 5

Apple iPhone Duo review: Performance

• Powerful A20 Pro CPU
• 12GB RAM
• Smooth performance across the board

Apple smartly put the same CPU, the 2-nanometer A20 Pro, in the iPhone Duo as it did in the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. As a result, the performance on its first foldable device is equally impressive. In Future Labs benchmark tests, the A20 Pro on an iPhone Duo beat the Galaxy Z Fold 8's Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy in Geekbench 7 single- and multi-core tests, and it also edged out the Qualcomm chip in most of our graphics tests. None of this was by a wide margin, and I'd challenge anyone to notice the difference in real-world scenarios. Still, it's nice to know that the Duo is cooking with gas, just like its Pro counterparts.

In my experience, the iPhone Duo is fast and fluid. Speaking of which, it's fun to start with some third-party apps on the cover screen, and then flip open the iPhone Duo to see the virtually seamless graphics handoff from the smaller display to the larger one. It's both a software and performance feat that nothing stutters or stalls in the handoff process.

The larger inner screen will probably encourage many to try even tougher tasks, like editing 40K 60fps video. I used CyberLink PowerDirector to do so, and while the system and app handled the task fine, the non-optimized app couldn't properly fill the 7.6-inch display.

The back of the phone, near the camera bump, can get a little warm during gaming and other CPU-intensive operations, like recording the aforementioned 4K video, but not uncomfortably so.

Apple's A20 and the 12GB of RAM on board seem well suited to local tasks like photo editing in Cleanup, and both realistic and fanciful image creation in Image Playground.

The iPhone Duo starts with 256GB of storage, which matches the Galaxy Z Fold 8. At this price, though, I think it should start with double that. You can expect strong connectivity across the board from the iPhone Duo. Inside is Apple's C2 modem for better 5G connectivity. Plus, there's support for WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Messages via Satellite.

Apple iPhone Duo benchmark scores

• Performance score: 5 / 5

Apple iPhone Duo review: Battery

• Solid all-day battery life
• Fast wired charging

Apple reportedly squeezed a fairly large, almost 5,000mAh, battery into the iPhone duo, and is promising some pretty impressive battery-life numbers based on fairly specific types of usage. Video playback, which doesn't rely all that much on energy-draining resources, can, Apple claims, go for an eye-watering 44 hours, or 31 hours on the larger inner display.

In more varied use, Apple is claiming a full day of battery life on a charge. In my real-world tests I got around 14 hours, and in our more stringent Future Labs tests, we got 13 hours. That's commendable performance, but not as good as what the same Future Labs tests show for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, which managed 14.33 hours.

I still think the iPhone Duo's numbers are good, especially because my experience was easily cruising through a full day of phone activities, without any concern that I needed to plug in.

The phone supports fast charging and, with a 45W charger, I charged to 60% in 30 minutes. The MagSafe back also supports fast wireless charging.

• Battery score: 4.5 / 5

Should you buy the Apple iPhone Duo?

Apple iPhone Duo scorecard

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Apple iPhone Duo review: Also consider

How I tested the Apple iPhone Duo

I used the iPhone Duo for almost a week for everything from social media to Slack and email. I perused websites, watched videos, played games, followed maps and turn-by-turn directions, and took photos. In short, I tried ot use it as my primary device

Read more about how we test

First reviewed October 2026

What makes the Duo interesting isn't simply the engineering required to create a folding phone. It's that Apple is confronting the same challenge every edge device manufacturer now faces: AI capability is increasing faster than our ability to manage the heat it generates.

That’s why I believe we’re entering a new phase of device innovation, with thermal design increasingly shaping what’s possible. In the edge AI era, managing heat helps determine what a device can do, how long it can sustain performance, and how small or thin it can be.

The iPhone Duo is just the latest reminder that smartphone manufacturers have run into a stubborn engineering problem: How to keep mobile processors cool when there’s almost nowhere left to put a cooling system.

For its part, with the Duo, Apple has packed its A20 Pro and other heat-generating electronics into an exceptionally thin, foldable design. It’s also created a custom vapor chamber to help dissipate heat and sustain performance in the new form factor.

The latter is more than an engineering footnote. It’s a glimpse at a challenge the edge AI industry is starting to confront. Thermal design and industrial design are inseparable. And new solutions to thermal challenges must be considered.

Foldables Make the Challenge Obvious

Foldable phones make the thermal management challenge easy to perceive. Conventional smartphone design gives engineers a relatively predictable enclosure in which to arrange the processor, battery, cameras, and thermal management system. A foldable must accommodate a hinge and two display sections while remaining thin enough to fold comfortably and fit in a pocket.

At the same time, the processor and other electronics still generate heat – more, even, when we consider how people are starting to use mobile devices. Which means foldable designs necessarily concentrate significant heat-generating components into smaller and thinner portions of the device, precisely where space for thermal hardware is already constrained.

In general, vapor chambers remain one of the most effective ways to manage heat in a compact electronic device. They work by moving heat away from a concentrated source, such as a mobile processor, and spreading it across a larger area. But vapor chambers ultimately spread heat rather than remove it.

Sure, as processors become more powerful, manufacturers can increase the size and effectiveness of the vapor chamber. But eventually that thermal component itself becomes a design constraint, especially in foldable phones.

Agentic AI Makes the Challenge Urgent

In foldables, innovating around thermal management is itself an admirable design goal – if folding were the only technological advancement engineers had to tackle. But they’re pushing the envelope on physical design at the exact moment when smartphones are being asked to do much more. Namely, to process agentic AI workloads.

As agentic AI moves from the cloud to edge devices – AI-capable smartphones, wearables, glasses, and more – thermal management becomes the industry's most important challenge. Imagine a new foldable smartphone with its own specialized thermal management system, designed to accommodate an innovative new form factor. Now imagine asking that foldable to process vast amounts of data differently than before.

Unlike traditional mobile apps that perform discrete tasks, AI agents operate continuously. They sense their environment, preserve context, analyze streams of data, and act in real time.

In my view, the industry is still underestimating how significant this transition will be. Historically, a smartphone's thermal profile was defined by short bursts of activity: launching an app, streaming a video, capturing a photo. Agentic AI at the edge changes that model entirely. Devices are moving toward persistent intelligence, continuously sensing, processing, reasoning, and responding. With these sustained workloads, a device’s ability to manage heat becomes a defining constraint on its performance.

Passive thermal technologies remain indispensable. Vapor chambers, graphite, heat spreaders, and advanced materials will continue to play a critical role in future devices. The challenge is that Edge AI introduces thermal loads that increasingly benefit from more than heat spreading alone. As devices become thinner and workloads become more persistent, designers will need additional ways to not just to move heat away from sensitive components, but to move heat out of the system entirely.

Micro-Cooling Complements the Vapor Chamber

So here we are, with foldable smartphones capable of agentic AI processing. It’s a perfect storm of thermal design challenges. Engineers can continue enlarging or customizing the thermal systems they integrate into new and different form factors. Or they can find other ways to extract more thermal performance from available space.

The latter approach is where active, micro-cooling technology becomes a viable and important solution.

Unlike miniature rotary fans, which exist today and take up precious real estate of their own, MEMS-based piezoelectric actuators, fabricated in silicon, generate airflow inside extremely compact packages. Basically, it’s a fan on a chip, capable of precise active cooling that fits where conventional solutions cannot.

With micro cooling (µCooling), heat isn’t just spread out, it’s removed from the device entirely before it can sink into the case, delaying or eliminating thermal throttling. This hybrid approach to cooling in highly constrained spaces delivers better thermal performance in today’s AI-enabled smart devices.

It also creates greater design flexibility – a must as devices themselves become more physically flexible. If active µCooling can provide additional thermal performance, manufacturers may not need to maximize the physical dimensions of vapor chambers. A more appropriately sized, passive thermal system could be paired with localized active µCooling and thereby free up internal volume for other components and give designers more flexibility in how a device is assembled.

Put simply, with µCooling, thermal hardware wouldn’t have to consume as much of a device’s design envelope.

µCooling As Part of the Compute Architecture

The implications extend beyond folding smartphones. AI glasses, headphones, watches, robots, and other edge devices face the same fundamental problem, often with even tighter constraints on size, weight, and power.

The industry wants to put more intelligence into mobile devices while simultaneously making them smaller and more comfortable. That creates a physical contradiction. More compute generates more heat. Smaller devices provide less room to manage it.

µCooling offers a way to change the equation. Not by eliminating vapor chambers and other passive solutions, but by supplementing them with localized active cooling that provides additional thermal headroom while giving product designers more freedom.

As AI runs more continuously in the background, edge devices will spend more time computing and less time idle. Sustaining performance will matter as much as reaching peak capability. Foldable phones make this challenge acute, but it extends across the edge AI market as more intelligence and local processing place greater demands on compact hardware.

That intelligence has a thermal cost. Over the next decade, progress will depend as much on what physical devices can sustain as on what AI models can do. That’s why I believe thermal management is becoming a foundational technology of the edge AI era. The companies that solve this challenge will help define the next generation of intelligent devices.

Manufacturers already know this, which is why thermal management is so essential to product design. µCooling is the innovation behind the innovation – like smartphones that fold.

Check out our list list of the best product management software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

We've already had one indication that iPhone Duo sales were going rather well when shipping dates for preorders started slipping into next year, and now Apple is apparently telling retail staff that availability will be limited inside stores too.

According to Apple Store employees speaking to MacRumors, Apple has said that customers without a preorder should be warned against heading to their local outlet in the expectation of picking up an iPhone Duo on Friday, October 23.

That's the designated day when online preorders are due to start shipping out to buyers, and when — in theory — the iPhone Duo becomes available to buy in store. This latest report suggests that might not be possible right away.

It isn't clear if the instructions given to the Apple Store employees speaking to MacRumors apply across the US or globally, but set your expectations accordingly: don't assume you'll be able to walk into an Apple Store on Friday and get yourself a shiny new iPhone Duo.

Keeping up with demand

With shipping times for online preorders now slipping into 2027, it's possible there will be quite a few Apple fans interested in the iPhone Duo who are thinking about taking the walk-in retail route — but it seems stock will be very limited there too.

Before the phone was unveiled, there had been some chatter around a launch delay due to production problems, and this may be following on from that. Whatever the full story, Apple apparently can't keep up with demand for the time being.

The iPhone Duo is Apple's first foldable phone, and starts at $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,499. A quick check on the Apple site at the time of writing shows preorders scheduled to ship in January for the cheapest 256GB model in the US, UK, and Australia.

In a statement shared with CNBC, Apple had previously described iPhone Duo preorder levels as "nothing short of extraordinary". If you have decided that the iPhone Duo is the handset for you, we've rounded up the best preorder deals currently available.

Pre-orders for the iPhone Duo in Australia started on October 16 at 11pm AEST through Apple Australia, various retailers and telcos.

Prices begin at a slightly eye-watering AU$3,499 for the base 256GB model (for reference, Samsung’s equivalent Galaxy Z Fold 8 starts at AU$2,699), and go as high as AU$5,899 for the 2TB configuration.

As expected, we haven’t seen any discounts on the handset itself, but retailers and telcos have added freebies and bonuses to make it worth your while.

The standout deal we’ve seen so far is Vodafone, which is offering a AU$300 trade-in credit on top of your old device's value, which can be up to AU$1,585 depending on the model.

Telcos have also revealed the monthly instalment costs, with plans starting at AU$117.89 per month — if you’re willing to take on a longer repayment period.

The best iPhone Duo outright deals

If you’re ordering directly from Apple, financing is available via Afterpay when you pre-order the iPhone Duo, starting at AU$145.79 per month for 24 months. The trade-in values from Apple are also more generous, with up to AU$1,595 depending on the device.

Otherwise, the device is also available through a range of retailers, with the current pre-order offers listed below:

The best iPhone Duo telco deals

What’s new with the iPhone Duo?

The iPhone Duo is Apple’s first attempt at a foldable handset, adopting a shorter and wider form factor than traditional book-style folding phones. Featuring a 5.4-inch outer display with a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR inner display, the device looks somewhat like a squat iPhone mini when folded and an iPad mini when opened.

It features the new A20 Pro chipset and a titanium frame, which Apple says is reinforced by ceramic fibres. The Duo, however, also has a few core iPhone features missing, like Face ID, a telephoto camera and the action button, but is still undeniably the star of the show.

There are also some exclusive software features that look to take advantage of the larger folding display, like some new Liquid Glass animations and multitasking features. Moreover, the Duo will also get Apple Pencil support, which is a first for any iPhone.

Apple introduced the second-gen AirTag 2 at the start of 2026, bringing with it upgraded features, including being able to be found from a farther distance, and a louder speaker so you can hear it more easily — and currently, you can save 22% on a four-pack at Amazon for a limited time.

Take it from me, the AirTag is one of the gadgets that you never knew you needed until you own it. I own the first-gen model, and have them attached to a couple of sets of keys. I lost one set on a late-night walk home some time ago, and rather than feel stressed about the whole ordeal, I simply opened the Find My app the next morning and saw exactly where my keys were. A short while later, we were reunited.

As mentioned, the second-generation AirTag offers some notable upgrades over its predecessor that make it even more findable. These include a heavily upgraded ultra-wideband (UWB) chip that enables precise AirTag finding from up to 50% farther away than the previous tracker. You will, however, need an iPhone 15 or newer to take advantage of this feature. If you have an older iPhone, you’ll still get the new precision finding feature, but range is limited to around nine metres or 30 feet.

The other notable upgrade is a speaker that’s 50% louder. When you’re trying to find an AirTag, you can get it to play a sound. The first-gen model has already proven to be loud enough in my experience, but a louder version is always going to be welcome.

We found both upgrades worked a charm in our Apple AirTag 2 review.

What’s more — and perhaps my favourite feature of all — Apple has continued to employ easily user-replaceable CR2032 batteries to ensure your AirTags will keep working for years to come. I’ve owned the first-gen trackers for almost 3 years, and I’ve only replaced the battery in the one I use most (on my house keys) twice. Other trackers that have laid dormant still have their first battery inside, and I can see them on the Find My app.

If you’ve been holding off investing in Apple’s AirTag trackers, now could be a perfect time. And if you do go ahead and buy, make sure to check out the various accessories available, including key rings, straps, wallets and more.

• View more of the latest, expert-approved deals on Amazon Australia.

While it’s unclear exactly how much demand there is for the iPhone Duo, it's sure to be a popular phone — in fact, there’s a good chance it will be the best-selling foldable phone ever. But the CEO of a rival brand thinks it’s not particularly good value.

Carl Pei — the CEO of Nothing and co-founder of OnePlus — has posted a short YouTube video calling the iPhone Duo “a waste of money” due to its lack of key iPhone features. The Duo doesn't feature a telephoto camera or Face ID, and ships with a worse front-facing camera than you get with the iPhone 18 Pro.

Pei sums up the situation by saying “it’s $2,000 and costs more than an iPhone Pro with fewer features… so you’re paying more and you’re getting less.” And he’s not wrong — although the extra screen gives the Duo at least one feature not found on the Pro models.

Pei additionally highlights the Duo's folding animation as being what most people seem to be excited about, rather than its hinge or cameras (he notes that, while it’s a nice animation, “it’s just an animation at the end of the day” — i.e., not really a reason to buy the phone).

Still, he credits Apple’s attention to even the smallest details — such as that folding animation — for being the reason the Duo is likely to do so well.

Personally, I think it’s more simply because it has an Apple logo on the front — and because the vast number of iPhone users will be more likely to use a foldable that runs iOS than one that runs Android. But either way, criticisms could certainly be leveled at the phone's specs and value.

Don't get scammed

In any case, it’s likely the iPhone Duo will be in high demand when pre-orders open on Friday, and it might also be in short supply, with analyst Jeff Pu suggesting (via 9to5Mac) that “hinge constraints” are causing production slowdowns.

As such, some buyers might be tempted to take drastic steps to ensure they get an iPhone Duo on day one, which explains why pre-order bots are being advertised to help purchase the phone — with some even claiming to secure multiple units, which might appeal to resellers.

But as Francis Fong Po-kiu, honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, said to The Standard, “even if you succeed in securing the phone, the follow-up cost, including stolen personal or credit card data, is extremely high.”

After all, not only are these bots typically not free to use, but they’re likely to require your payment information to place the order — putting them in a position to then steal from you if the developers are unscrupulous. Additionally, they could include malware, giving them access to other sensitive information on your device.

So, they’re simply not worth the risk, and as Malwarebytes points out, you should also watch out for fake pre-order pages.

Instead, you should ensure you’re ordering the iPhone Duo directly from Apple or other reputable retailers, and if you want to get ahead of the game, you can both input your details ahead of time using Apple’s ‘Get Ready’ feature, and make sure you place your order as soon as pre-orders open at 5am PT / 8am ET / 1pm BST / 11pm AEDT on Friday, 16th October.

The show was highly anticipated following his Album of the Year Grammy Award for Debí Tirar Más Fotos and history-making Super Bowl Halftime Show.

But the excitement around the show wasn’t just because of the scale of the artist, it was also due to the incredibly ambitious scale of the production.

The best stadium tours have a way of making their use of technology seamless and in some cases, invisible.

You see a 100ft screen tracking the band’s movement from across the field without missing a beat, or members of the audience picked out and flashed on the giant LED walls around the venue.

None of it looks labored or complex, at least not to the general public in attendance. To them it’s all part of the magic of the show, which is exactly the point.

Media servers

Carlos “Charly” Camina is the tour’s media server engineer, and the size of the kit he oversees is much smaller than the grand scale of the show might suggest. The entire production runs on four Disguise GX 3+ servers, with a fifth GX 3 unit held in reserve as an understudy for the show’s director.

That’s down from five servers during the tour’s earlier Puerto Rico leg, despite the fact that the World Tour carries significantly more content layers and considerably bigger screens at 10,752 x 2,816px, requiring a 4K input.

The GX3+ upgrade alone roughly doubled the processing headroom for the same effects load, which is what made it possible to deliver more with a smaller footprint. The lighting runs on grandMA kit, the unchallenged global industry-standard for live event lighting control, with a grandMA light desk as the main control surface and a grandMA3 compact unit as backup.

The whole setup sits on a dedicated network split into eight isolated VLANs, a structural choice to provide containment, so that a fault in one part of the system can’t spread and collapse the whole thing. The engineering challenge on a show of this scale isn’t cramming in more and more hardware, it’s finding the smallest reliable solution that can do the job every single night, in any venue, anywhere on the planet.

Adaptability is key on any tour

The most unique piece of engineering on the Bad Bunny Tour wasn’t actually planned or commissioned ahead of the show. During rehearsals, the creative team at Sturdy suggested photographing the crowd during the opening act and then displaying those images on LED screens around the venue later on in the show. Charly’s instinct was to push back. Loading fresh, unvetted content into the live system with zero headroom for troubleshooting is the kind of risk that wise engineers know to avoid.

His solution was to keep the additional photography content out of the Disguise system altogether. Instead, he built a standalone application using HTTP Sockpuppet and OSC (Open Sound Control) to communicate with the main Disguise system, running off a laptop. A photographer hands over images for Charly to upload. When the relevant cue fires inside Disguise, it sends a request to the laptop for specific images, which are mapped to specific locations on a four-way live layout.

Charly said that the hardest part wasn’t the concept, it was the live timing: ensuring that front-of-house and the on-stage servers sync closely enough so that there’s no discernable lag, and making sure the system never repeats the same face twice in one night.

How this curveball was handled is a good example of a pattern that shows up across the whole build: rather than adding risk to a proven core system, Charly builds smaller satellite systems to support it and keeps them loosely connected. It’s a slick approach that preserves the magic and spontaneity of a seamless live experience, without risking the core build or compromising the show’s production value.

Animated CGI Frog - Why not?

The tour’s most curious element involved a Puerto Rican-inspired 3D animated frog called “Concho” rendered live using Unreal Engine and a face-tracked performer, which enabled Concho to interact directly with Bad Bunny mid-show as part of a FaceTime call. The segment needed a camera that could move freely, handheld, so the team decided to use an iPhone.

However, the phone could not have any visible external antennas. This meant the feed from the iPhone had to be captured over NDI (Network Device Interface) on a dedicated Wi-Fi network, rather than a standard wireless link that could have been easily interrupted by the tens of thousands of audience and staff devices around the arena. Charly’s team has to scan the RF spectrum every night to find clear channels before the Concho segment goes live.

The benefit of reliability

The ultimate stress test of the system came during the show’s finale where the production deployed a 40-tile feed, displayed in a grid across the main 5K screen and two IMAG screens. Together with Screens Producer Vishal Sharma and his team at All of it Now, who created all the show’s Notch content, Charly decided to route four separate 4K video inputs through a Notch block to build the grid live.

Nothing was pre-rendered or keyframed and the color-grading also took place in real-time. That final segment pushed the servers to their limit, with all four of the GX 3+ units red lining on their performance markers. Despite the load, the system held and delivered a truly spectacular end to the show.

Charly has worked with Disguise servers for over a decade. In that time he’s worked on shows of all types, from festivals like Coachella to state-of-the-art mixed-use venues like the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. With that much experience using these systems, what’s clear to him is that the value in this system isn’t in a specific creative feature. The value is knowing that if a server has an issue mid-show, he can switch to a backup with just one click and have full confidence that the backup will take over seamlessly.

For an engineer, touring a production this huge, reliability and predictability is the actual product. The breathtaking visuals that we get to enjoy as part of the audience will rightly get their applause, but the job is protecting the integrity of the show from its own scale and demands, every night, in every city, until the tour comes to an end.

The same existential threat applied to all carriers except AT&T and O2, which had exclusive launch rights to the iPhone in the US and UK, respectively.

Fast-forward 19 years, and Apple has repeatedly proven that the iPhone's popularity gives it considerable power over its carrier partners — customers are no longer loyal to the carrier providing the mobile service, but to the brand behind their favorite phone.

Apple's newest commercial venture, the Apple Upgrade program — which was announced earlier this year and is, at the time of writing, still only available in the US — is the latest dagger to the heart of major MNOs (Mobile Network Operators).

But despite being a fantastic deal for customers and Apple itself (and make no mistake: I believe it's a net positive move), the Apple Upgrade program could yet prove a double-edged sword for the mobile industry as a whole. Let me explain.

Carriers used to have ALL the power...

To understand what the Apple Upgrade program is, you have to first understand how the industry worked before the original iPhone. To say that Apple has irrevocably changed the carrier business model on numerous occasions may seem like hyperbole, but it’s hard to overstate the company's lasting effect.

Before the original iPhone, carriers were integral to a phone's success. Carriers controlled which phones were sold in stores, which phones received the bigger marketing pushes, and which were “certified” to work with that carrier.

This meant that all phone makers had to focus more on acquiescing to carrier requests — including shipping customized devices with several preloaded apps and even carrier-specific branding — than meeting their customers' needs.

In many ways, carriers were the customer rather than the end-user itself, and they proved even more integral, as each carrier also controlled when software updates were released to its phones. I remember clearly how customers would blame the phone maker for software-related shortcomings rather than the carrier, even if the software update was delayed by the carrier’s own internal testing.

The power of carriers was inevitably going to be replaced by a different model, but the iPhone had a marked effect on the power wielded by carriers in more ways than one.

... until Apple launched the original iPhone

If you’ve seen the BlackBerry movie, you’ll remember the line used to describe the original iPhone before it went on sale: it had the "highest interest of any consumer electronic item in history". To go further, its original $499 / £269 price also made it the most expensive phone in history at the time.

But contrary to industry standards at the time, the exceptional consumer interest in the original iPhone meant carriers were clamoring to stock it, rather than Apple having to entice them to sell it. This complete reversal of established norms also meant Apple was able to stamp out many of the key controls carriers had, and the effect was stark.

Let’s consider each of the previous requests that carriers would make of a phone maker. Branding on the phone itself or in the software? Gone for the iPhone. Preloaded carrier apps and other bloatware? Gone for the iPhone. A software update schedule controlled by carriers? Apple releases updates to all phones at the same time globally. Customized models? Carriers should be grateful they get to stock the iPhone at all.

However, Apple's unique position went even further. Phone makers used to have to discount phones and offer incentives, but for many years, Apple did not. Granted, we are now in an era in which Apple competes through trade-in promotions and works closely with its carrier partners, but it was the last major phone maker to embrace promotional pricing of any kind.

It's not just Apple that has benefited from these changes; as Apple established new ground rules, companies like Samsung, Google, and LG have all benefited from a different playbook than in the pre-smartphone era.

Now, with the Apple Upgrade program, Apple again holds outsized control over the customer journey. For many, this is a great program, but for other stakeholders, it’s decidedly not. Here’s why.

The Apple Upgrade program is a great deal for consumers

The Apple Upgrade Program is a leasing program provided by Apple, with financing by Klarna. It lets you lease a new iPhone, Mac, iPad, or Apple Watch and pay for it monthly over a fixed lease period (between 12 months and 36 months). At the end of the lease, you can opt to return the item to Apple at no charge or buy it out for the remaining value; the latter is a particularly attractive offer for customers.

Most lease programs have you spending more money over the course of the lease compared with buying the item outright. This arbitrage is how the financing lender makes their money, but with the Apple Upgrade program, you’ll never pay more in total than the outright purchase value.

This is crucial: Apple is effectively offering 0% financing across its range of products, and while it likely pays Klarna directly for providing these services, it does not pass any additional costs on to the customer. In essence, you can still buy any Apple item you plan to, but you now have a more flexible way to pay for it, with no credit card or specific credit limit needed.

... and also great for Apple

The current state of RAMageddon — aka the soaring cost of all technology due to the shortage of RAM modules — meant it was inevitable that Apple would have to increase its product prices, which it did by a considerable margin in both June and September this year.

Despite Apple customers traditionally being less price-sensitive than Android customers, rising prices during a global cost-of-living crisis would inevitably have impacted its financial statements and, therefore, its share price.

The Apple Upgrade program changes this reality in a big way: in the US at least, it’s now far easier for customers to buy Apple products (and more of them) than they used to be able to, and Apple itself gains far more valuable numbers to present to its shareholders: the number of customers on subscriptions; the dollar value of those sold; and the number of customers.

More than that, the Upgrade Program offers Apple predictable revenue numbers for quarters and years into the future, and allows it to launch more products across the year without worrying as much about established launch cycles and windows.

It also makes all of its new products far more accessible to the masses, which is particularly prescient given the now-confirmed $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,499 launch price of the iPhone Duo, which begins shipping next week.

However, the Apple Upgrade program is bad for carriers...

For all its positives, there are two areas where the Apple Upgrade program could have a negative effect — and both stem from its potential impact on carriers.

Like the now-discontinued iPhone Upgrade program before it, an iPhone purchased via the Apple Upgrade program is seemingly unlocked for use on any network. It still requires activation with one of the Big Three carriers — Verizon, T-Mobile US, or AT&T — at the point of sale, but once you complete said activation, you can switch to a different carrier of your choosing.

This undoubtedly reduces the need to be locked into a long-term, multi-year contract with your carrier and, crucially, removes a key source of revenue from locked devices: roaming fees. Together, they will impact carriers’ revenue, inevitably leading to several knock-on effects for the consumer.

First, customers will inevitably end up paying more for their service plans, whether through higher plan costs, higher add-on costs, or even increased out-of-bundle charges.

Second, the above will lead to an even more booming MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) market, but as we’ve seen with Mint Mobile, these MVNOs will also inevitably be acquired by the aforementioned big carriers they rely on.

The biggest impact will be felt in network technology and retail footprint. Verizon, T-Mobile US, and AT&T are publicly traded and have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders. They might pay even more for future spectrum holdings, but the adoption and rollout of future technologies could be much slower if the Apple Upgrade program takes off in the way Apple clearly hopes. This isn’t just hyperbole; we’ve already seen this happen with the 5G rollout and the LTE rollout before it.

The impact will be even more acute for those who like to frequent carrier retail stores. T-Mobile has already made some services fully digital, and, like other industries, phone retail seems to be undergoing a managed decline. Further pressure on carriers’ revenue sources will simply accelerate this shift, leaving vulnerable customers most likely to feel the effects.

So, yes, the Apple Upgrade program is a fantastic deal for most people involved, but I am concerned about the impact it will have on carrier operations, and specifically how these operations might impact consumers in the long term.

Having said all that, my next Apple purchase will almost certainly be through the Apple Upgrade program — it’s a deal that’s too good not to take advantage of, especially if you’re buying one of Apple's higher-spec models.

If you were to arrange Apple's current crop of iPhones in terms of price, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Air would sit squarely in the middle of the pack. They're more expensive than the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17e, but cheaper than the iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone Duo.

Generally speaking, these two devices are for people who want something special from their phones, but don’t quite want to spend top-end money — or simply don’t want the massive (or foldable) screens that Apple’s priciest handsets come with.

But the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Air are also quite different in a lot of ways. One delivers pro-level features and market-leading camera performance; the other offers a comfortable and stylish design. So which should you choose?

Below, we've detailed the key differences between the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Air to help you figure out which device is best for you.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone Air: specs comparison

The table below gives you a brief overview of these two handsets; then, under that, we’ll look more closely at what makes them tick.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone Air: price and availability

The iPhone 18 Pro launched in September 2026, and it’s available globally. It starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,099, for which you’ll get a model with 256GB of storage. 512GB will set you back $1,399 / £1,399 / AU$2,499, 1TB costs $1,799 / £1,799 / AU$3,299, and a 2TB model is $2,399 / £2,399 / AU$4,499.

The iPhone Air launched back in September 2025, so it’s a year older but doesn’t yet have a successor. It too is widely available, and it costs $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,899 for 256GB of storage, $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$2,299 for 512GB, and $1,699 / £1,699 / AU$3,099 for 1TB — there's no 2TB variant of the iPhone Air.

So, the starting price of the iPhone 18 Pro is $100 / £100 / AU$200 higher than that of the Air, and that difference is consistent for each configuration. Importantly, though, the Air is often on sale, so you're unlikely to need to pay full price.

It's worth noting, too, that the iPhone Air was actually priced at $999 / £999 / AU$1,799 at launch, but Apple increased its price following the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro in September, just as it raised the price of iPads and MacBooks in June due to "significantly higher memory costs."

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone Air: design

Notwithstanding their display size differences (more on that below), the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Air look similar from the front, offering flat screens, minimal bezels, and Dynamic Island cut-outs at the top of their respective displays.

The Dynamic Island on the iPhone 18 Pro is actually a touch smaller than the Air's, and it can display three Live Activities simultaneously instead of two, but this isn't a particularly consequential difference.

From the back, there are more visible differences between the two phones. The iPhone Air is made from a single slab of glass surrounded by a titanium frame, while the iPhone 18 Pro has a glass panel surrounded by an aluminum frame.

Their respective camera layouts are different too, with the iPhone 18 Pro having a much larger triple-lens block compared to the iPhone Air’s slimmer, single-lens camera island.

But the biggest design differences come in the two phones' dimensions and weights. The iPhone 18 Pro measures 150 x 71.9 x 8.8mm and weighs 211g, while the iPhone Air measures 156.2 x 74.7 x 5.6mm and weighs 165g.

Those are substantial differences — the iPhone Air is far slimmer and lighter than the iPhone 18 Pro, which is, of course, the whole point of the phone. It feels much more comfortable to hold in the hand and carry around in your pocket, despite being taller and wider.

Having a thin and lightweight phone might not matter all that much to you, in which case you probably won't care for the iPhone Air's design. But I'd urge you to at least hold Apple's super-slim iPhone in your hand before disregarding it — it genuinely is a lovely device to use day-to-day, and TechRadar's Phones Editor, Axel Metz, was surprised by how much he came to appreciate the Air's design in testing.

The iPhone 18 Pro is, of course, still an attractive and well-designed phone, but it's significantly bulkier and doesn't excite in the same way as the Air — at least on the design front.

For colors, the iPhone 18 Pro comes in Black, Silver, Glacier, and Burgundy, while the iPhone Air is sold in Space Black, Cloud White, Light Gold, and Sky Blue. So there are some differences there too.

Both phones, though, are similarly durable, offering Ceramic Shield 2 protection on the front and Ceramic Shield on the back, along with IP68 water and dust resistance.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone Air: display

The iPhone 18 Pro has a 6.3-inch 1206 x 2622 Super Retina XDR OLED screen with around 460 pixels per inch, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 3,000 nits.

On the iPhone Air, you’re getting a 6.5-inch 1260 x 2736 Super Retina XDR OLED display with roughly 460 pixels per inch, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 3,000 nits.

So the specs here are almost identical, with the main difference just being that the iPhone Air has a slightly larger display — though as noted earlier, the iPhone 18 Pro does have a smaller Dynamic Island.

Our reviews described both screens as “punchy, sharp, and smooth,” so there’s really very little to choose here. Do you prefer a bigger display, or a more compact one?

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone Air: cameras

There’s a clear winner when it comes to cameras and, unsurprisingly, it’s the iPhone 18 Pro: this device has three lenses on the back — a 48MP variable aperture main camera, a 48MP ultra-wide with a 120-degree field of view, and a 48MP telephoto with 4x optical zoom and 8x ‘optical-quality’ zoom, achieved through a sensor crop.

The iPhone Air, meanwhile, just has a single 48MP wide camera with a static f/1.6 aperture. In other words, you have far less photographic versatility with this phone, which you'll notice when filming at concerts, sports games, or basically anywhere that might have you attempting to capture a subject from far away.

That's not to say the iPhone Air is a bad camera phone — its 48MP wide camera is the same as the 18 Pro's, minus the latter's variable aperture feature (which lets you tweak how much light gets into the lens). If you use your phone's main lens for 90% of shots, you may not notice the Air's lack of versatility.

But the iPhone 18 Pro is indisputably one of the best camera phones you can buy, while the iPhone Air falls into the 'good but not great' category.

Still, the Air does at least match the iPhone 18 Pro’s selfie camera, with both devices sporting an 18MP front-facing sensor. Both can also record 1080p video at up to 240fps, though the Pro can additionally record 4K footage at up to 120fps, while the iPhone Air tops out at 60fps.

In our iPhone 18 Pro review, we described its cameras as delivering “better detail, strong low-light performance, and excellent 4x and 8x zoom.” Of the iPhone Air, we said it “delivers sharp, natural photos and impressive portraits, but lacks the versatility found on other models.”

iPhone 18 Pro camera samples

iPhone Air camera samples

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone Air: performance and software

As for power, you'll technically get better performance from the iPhone 18 Pro, with Apple's newer phone boasting — surprise! — a newer A20 Pro chipset than the iPhone Air's A19 Pro chipset.

Still, you're not likely to notice this power difference unless you plan on using your phone for heavy video editing or prolonged gaming. Both the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Air feature 12GB of RAM, so their multitasking capabilities are comparable, while scrolling, streaming, and browsing won't present a challenge to either device.

Our iPhone 18 Pro review called Apple's newer phone “fast, efficient, and ready for whatever comes next”, and we said the iPhone Air was “fast and smooth in daily use, though it can warm up under sustained heavy gaming.”

There’s even less difference between the two phones when it comes to software, as both run iOS 27. Their shared 12GB RAM capacity also means both phones get the full version of Siri AI, which includes expressive voices and advanced dictation.

However, since the iPhone Air shipped with iOS 26 at launch and is a slightly older phone, it’s possible that it won’t be updated for quite as long as the iPhone 18 Pro (read: you'll probably get six more years of updates, instead of seven).

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone Air: battery

You probably wouldn’t expect a massive battery in a phone as slim as the iPhone Air, and you’d be right not to: the Air has a dinky 3,149mAh cell, which is dwarfed by the iPhone 18 Pro's 4,288mAh one (you'll get a slightly smaller 4,056mAh battery if your iPhone 18 Pro features a physical SIM tray).

In practice, Apple claims the iPhone 18 Pro can make it through 34 hours of video playback, while it lists just 27 hours for the iPhone Air. Those figures proved accurate in our testing, and the gap between the two phones is similar for real-world use — you'll get around a day-and-a-half of life from the 18 Pro, and no more than a day for the Air.

The iPhone 18 Pro also charges faster, with Apple claiming it can reach 50% in around 15 minutes, while the iPhone Air takes twice as long — though with wireless charging, both phones can supposedly charge to 50% in 30 minutes.

In our iPhone 18 Pro review, we praised its “outstanding endurance,” while in our iPhone Air review, we said it “should last a workday, but heavy users will need to recharge.” We've used both phones extensively, and haven't found the iPhone Air's one-day battery life to be a dealbreaker — but those who don't charge their phone every night may be caught short by its lack of endurance.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone Air: verdict

If you go simply by our review scores, the iPhone 18 Pro is the better phone, achieving five stars to the iPhone Air's four. And looking at the specs, it’s clear why — the iPhone 18 Pro has better battery life, more power, and more cameras, so it’s clearly the more capable device.

However, there’s little to choose between the two phones' screens, other than the size — with the iPhone Air’s being bigger. And they run the same software too, on top of which the iPhone Air is slightly cheaper (especially if you can pick it up at a discount).

But the real reason you might want the Air is its design — it's far slimmer and lighter than the iPhone 18 Pro, which makes a difference in your hand and pocket, and also makes it the more stylish device. Whether that makes up for its relative shortcomings elsewhere will be a personal choice.

Usually, September brings a new standard iPhone, but this year was different — we didn’t get an iPhone 18, with that device reportedly set to land early next year instead.

As such, we’re in the odd situation of the iPhone 17 coexisting alongside the iPhone 18 Pro as a current-generation model in Apple's iPhone lineup.

It goes without saying that the iPhone 18 Pro is the better phone — it’s both newer and a Pro model, duh! — but just how much better is it really? And how much more does it cost? We’ve answered those questions in the comparison below.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: specs comparison

Before we examine every major detail of these phones, the chart below will give you a brief overview of their core specs and how they compare.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: price and availability

The iPhone 18 Pro was announced in September 2026, and it’s available now. This being an iPhone, you can buy it in most parts of the world too.

The cheapest version of the 18 Pro comes with 256GB of storage and costs $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,099, but you can also get a model with 512GB of storage for $1,399 / £1,399 / AU$2,499, one with 1TB of storage for $1,799 / £1,799 / AU$3,299, or a massive 2TB configuration for $2,399 / £2,399 / AU$4,499.

The iPhone 17 launched a year earlier, in September 2025, and is similarly widely available. This device starts at $899 / £899 / AU$1,549 for 256GB of storage, rising to $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,949 for 512GB of storage. But those are the only two configurations, so you can’t get the iPhone 17 with 1TB or 2TB.

That price, then, makes the iPhone 18 Pro $300 / £300 / AU$550 more expensive than the iPhone 17 in both their 256GB and 512GB configurations, with the iPhone 18 Pro getting more expensive still if you choose a 1TB or 2TB model.

Incidentally, the iPhone 17 was actually priced at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 at launch, but Apple increased its price following the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro in September, just as it raised the price of iPads and MacBooks in June due to "significantly higher memory costs."

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: design

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 17 don’t have drastically different designs — both have flat screens protected with Ceramic Shield 2, and both feature a Dynamic Island cut-out near the top (though the iPhone 18 Pro’s cut-out is smaller and can display three Live Activities simultaneously, versus two on the iPhone 17).

Both also have aluminum frames, similarly curvy corners, and an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. But they differ a bit more from the back, as while the iPhone 17’s rear panel is made of glass, the iPhone 18 Pro has a glass panel surrounded by aluminum.

The iPhone 18 Pro also has a large, horizontal camera block, while the iPhone 17 has a smaller vertical one.

They differ in weight and dimensions, too, with the iPhone 18 Pro being larger and heavier at 150 x 71.9 x 8.8mm and 211g, while the iPhone 17 measures 149.6 x 71.5 x 8mm and weighs 177g.

They're also available in different colors: the iPhone 18 Pro comes in Black, Silver, Glacier, and Burgundy, while the iPhone 17 comes in Black, White, Mist Blue, Sage, and Lavender.

Still, these are both stylish, premium phones, with our iPhone 18 Pro review praising its “fantastic” new colors, and our iPhone 17 review praising that phone's “durable build” — though in both reviews, we noted that they look similar to their predecessors, so there’s not much new here.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: display

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 17 both have a 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED screen with a 1-120Hz refresh rate, a 1206 x 2622 resolution (coming in at roughly 460 pixels per inch), and brightness that peaks at 3,000 nits.

So, they’re basically identical here, with the only significant difference being that the iPhone 18 Pro has a smaller cut-out for its Dynamic Island — which, as mentioned, also allows it to display up to three Live Activities simultaneously, whereas the iPhone 17 is limited to two.

Still, this is a small difference, and both phones have great screens, with our iPhone 18 Pro review describing its display as “punchy, sharp, and smooth,” while our iPhone 17 review praised its “excellent visuals.”

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: cameras

With the iPhone 18 Pro, you get a 48MP wide camera with a variable aperture that can move between f/1.48 and f/4.0.

That variable aperture is arguably the main camera upgrade this year — it lets you control how much light gets into the main sensor, and therefore how much of a given background you want to keep in focus — but the phone also has a 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree field of view, and a 48MP f/2.8 telephoto camera with 4x optical zoom and 8x ‘optical-quality’ zoom.

The iPhone 17, on the other hand, has a 48MP wide camera with a static f/1.6 aperture and a 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide with a 120-degree field of view.

So the two phones have similar ultra-wide snappers, but the iPhone 17 doesn’t have a variable aperture on its wide camera, nor a dedicated telephoto lens, making it a far less versatile shooter — especially as it also lacks the pro camera controls offered by the iPhone 18 Pro.

Both phones, however, do have an 18MP f/1.9 Center Stage selfie camera that uses subject tracking to automatically keep you in the frame, and also lets you switch between portrait and landscape modes. All current-generation iPhones except the iPhone 17e have this same selfie camera.

When it comes to video, both the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 17 can film 1080p video at up to 240fps — though the former can also shoot 4K video at up to 120fps, whereas the iPhone 17 tops out at 60fps there.

In our iPhone 18 Pro review, we said its cameras deliver “better detail, strong low-light performance, and excellent 4x and 8x zoom,” while in our iPhone 17 review, we praised its “two excellent cameras.” So both phones are good for photography, but the iPhone 18 Pro is clearly the better of the two.

iPhone 18 Pro camera samples

iPhone 17 camera samples

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: performance and software

The iPhone 18 Pro has an A20 Pro chipset paired with 12GB of RAM, while the iPhone 17 has an A19 chipset (not the ‘Pro’ version) paired with 8GB of RAM. So, for both chipset and RAM, the iPhone 18 Pro has a substantial edge.

Apple claims that the CPU and GPU in the A20 Pro are up to 20% and 60% faster, respectively, than the A19 Pro in the iPhone 17 Pro, so the gains are likely even larger versus the iPhone 17's A19 chipset. In other words, the 18 Pro is the more capable device for gaming, using AI, or whatever else you plan to do with your phone.

Still, the iPhone 17 is no slouch — our review said its A19 chip is “plenty fast for now and should last well into the future.” We said something similar about the iPhone 18 Pro, describing it as “fast, efficient, and ready for whatever comes next.” In truth, most people won't ever need as much power as the A20 Pro chipset offers, and the A19 remains a supremely capable chipset for everyday tasks and light mobile gaming.

For software, both phones currently run iOS 27, but the iPhone 17 originally shipped with iOS 26, so it might not be updated for as long (Apple pledges around seven years of updates to each new model).

The iPhone 17 also lacks a few software and AI features found on the iPhone 18 Pro, such as more expressive voices for Siri, which rely on the Pro’s better hardware. You can read more about those specific features in our Siri AI compatibility explainer.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: battery

The iPhone 18 Pro has a higher-capacity battery than the iPhone 17, with you getting either a 4,288mAh one (if you’re in the US or other regions that sell an eSIM-only model), or a 4,056mAh one elsewhere. The iPhone 17’s battery is a lower-capacity cell than either of those, at 3,692mAh in all regions.

So you won’t be surprised to learn that the iPhone 18 Pro also has better battery life than the iPhone 17. According to Apple, it can deliver up to 34 hours of video playback, while the iPhone 17 can manage 30.

In our reviews, we found that the iPhone 18 Pro exhibited “outstanding endurance,” while the iPhone 17 can “last all day.” So both are respectable here, but only the iPhone 18 Pro excels and will get you through a day-and-a-half of use.

And the Pro charges faster too — it can reach 50% charge in 15 minutes, according to Apple, with the iPhone 17 taking 20 minutes. Though if you use MagSafe, they both take 30 minutes.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: verdict

Ultimately, the iPhone 18 Pro is a better phone than the iPhone 17 in most ways — it’s significantly more powerful, has more and better cameras, a longer-lasting battery, faster charging, and some software features the iPhone 17 lacks.

There’s little to choose between their screens, and they both have premium builds, but those are about the only areas where they’re close to equal.

However, the iPhone 18 Pro is also quite a lot more expensive than the iPhone 17, and while it’s better in most ways, the iPhone 17 is still no slouch. So you should ask yourself whether you really need all the Pro’s bells and whistles, because for a lot of people. the iPhone 17 will do just fine (even despite its price increase, it's still the best-value iPhone Apple has ever released).

The iPhone 18 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra are the top non-foldable phones from Apple and Samsung, respectively. They both feature top-tier chipsets, big, beautiful screens, and several capable cameras — and they also cost a lot as a result.

But while, superficially, these two phones have a lot in common, they are, in many ways, quite different, so if you’re deciding between them in your search for the best phone of 2026, there are several factors to consider.

Below, then, we’ve detailed the specs and features of the iPhone 18 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra to give you a clearer idea of how they compare.

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: specs comparison

Before we look closely at the key features of these two phones, here's how they stack up in terms of specs:

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: price and availability

The iPhone 18 Pro Max was launched in September 2026 and is now available globally, while the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra landed in February 2026 and is also now widely available across the world.

For pricing, the iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$2,299, for which you get 256GB of storage. There are other options too, though, including $1,499 / £1,499 / AU$2,699 for 512GB, $1,899 / £1,899 / AU$3,499 for 1TB, and $2,499 / £2,499 / AU$4,699 for 2TB.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra will set you back $1,299.99 / £1,279 / AU$2,199 for a 256GB model, $1,499.99 / £1,449 / AU$2,499 for 512GB, or $1,799.99 / £1,699 / AU$2,649 for 1TB.

So their starting prices are either similar or identical, depending on where you are, but as you move up the storage capacities, the gulf in price widens, with the iPhone 18 Pro Max being the more expensive model — and that’s before you even get to its 2TB configuration, which isn’t a capacity that's available for the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: design

The iPhone 18 Pro Max has a similar design to the iPhone 17 Pro Max, with a large camera island on the back (housing three lenses) and a Dynamic Island cut-out in the screen — though the latter has shrunk since the previous model.

The frame is made of aluminum, and the back has an aluminum section and a glass part. The phone is also water-resistant to depths of six meters for up to 30 minutes, and it measures 163.4 x 78 x 8.8mm and weighs 249g.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a slightly more angular design with less curvy corners, but it too has a large camera block on the back — though it’s arranged vertically, rather than horizontally as on the iPhone.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra also has a smaller punch-hole cut-out on its screen, and it uses aluminum for the frame and glass for the back. It has the same water resistance rating as the iPhone 18 Pro Max — namely IP68 — but it's only actually tested for depths of up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes.

The Ultra comes in at 163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9mm and weighs 214g, so it’s actually lighter and slimmer than the iPhone 18 Pro Max — despite finding room for a slot to house its included S Pen Stylus.

Finally, their colors also differ, with the iPhone 18 Pro Max being sold in Black, Silver, Glacier, and Burgundy shades, while the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is available in Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, Black, White, Silver Shadow, and Pink Gold.

In our iPhone 18 Pro Max review, we described Burgundy and Glacier as being “two fantastic new colors”, but noted that little else had visually changed since the previous model, the iPhone 17 Pro.

In our Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review, we similarly noted that it’s an “incremental update that slims the phone down, makes it lighter, and just a little bit softer around the edges.”

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: display

The iPhone 18 Pro Max has a 6.9-inch 1320 x 2868 OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 3,000-nit peak brightness, and around 460 pixels per inch.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a 6.9-inch 1440 x 3120 AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 2,600-nit peak brightness, and roughly 500 pixels per inch.

So, the two phones have the same size screens, the same refresh rates, and both use OLED displays, but Samsung’s phone has a marginally higher pixel density, while Apple’s has a slightly higher peak brightness.

In our reviews, we praised both displays highly, saying that the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s was “punchy, sharp, and smooth”, and the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s was “a fantastic 6.9-inch AMOLED that makes every image pop.”

In terms of their screen specs and quality, then, there’s little to choose between them, but the Galaxy S26 Ultra has a trick up its sleeve in the form of Privacy Display — a feature that blanks out some or all of the screen when not viewed front-on, so people can’t as easily snoop. This is a great feature that our reviewer called “a one-of-a-kind innovation that actually does what it promises.” The iPhone 18 Pro Max has no such feature.

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: cameras

For a comprehensive breakdown of how the camera systems on these two phones compare, check out our detailed iPhone 18 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra comparison. In essence, though, both of these phones excel at photography.

Headlining the iPhone 18 Pro Max's camera array is a 48MP main sensor with a variable aperture that can move between f/1.48-4.0. That basically means you can control how much light gets into the sensor and therefore how much of your photo stays in focus — the more light you let in, the blurrier the background, and the less light you let in, the more of your scene stays in focus.

Variable apertures are a rarity on phones, and so the functionality of such a feature may take some getting used to if you've never played around with aperture before, but its existence on the iPhone 18 Pro Max gives you more creative control over your shots.

The iPhone also has a 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree field of view, a 48MP f/2.8 telephoto with 4x optical zoom — plus 8x "optical-quality" reach — and an 18MP f/1.9 front-facing camera.

The latter also offers automatic subject tracking and the option to switch between portrait and landscape modes in one click, which is definitely a nice-to-have feature.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, meanwhile, has a 200MP f/1.4 main camera, a 50MP f/1.9 ultra-wide with a 120-degree field of view, a 50MP f/2.9 telephoto offering 5x optical zoom, and a 10MP f/2.4 telephoto with 3x optical zoom, plus a 12MP f/2.2 camera on the front.

So you get an extra lens on the S26 Ultra, giving you more telephoto versatility, but there’s no variable aperture here.

iPhone

Samsung

In terms of photo quality, the iPhone 18 Pro tends to capture scenes as they are, using more neutral, realistic colors, while the Galaxy ups the saturation for slightly more stylized shots.

iPhone

Samsung

When it comes to zoom, the S26 Ultra is the more versatile shooter of the two, not only because you get two optical zoom distances instead of one, but also because it lets you zoom digitally up to 100x, while the iPhone stops at 40x.

To be honest, we'd never recommend zooming much beyond 30x anyway, but the Galaxy does at least give you the option to do so, and its 3 and 5x optical zoom ranges are slightly more usable than the iPhone’s 4x range.

iPhone

Samsung

Macro photography is pretty similar on both phones, though that aforementioned color difference does come back into play, and again, we'd choose the iPhone for selfies.

Remember: check out our detailed iPhone 18 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra comparison for more pictures and thoughts on how these two phones stack up in terms of photography.

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: performance and software

Neither of these phones is lacking in power, with the iPhone 18 Pro Max having a top-end Apple A20 Pro chipset and 12GB of RAM, while the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a similarly capable Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and either 12GB of RAM or — in the 1TB model — 16GB.

Our iPhone 18 Pro Max review described its chipset as “incredibly fast, efficient, and ready for whatever comes next,” while our Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review described the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 as delivering “snappy performance in every task.”

Both phones also have a vapor chamber to help keep them cool under pressure, so there isn't much to choose between them in terms of gaming performance.

The same can't be said of their respective software.

The iPhone 18 Pro Max runs on iOS 27, while the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra runs on Android 17 (having originally shipped with Android 16).

The two OS packages are similarly accomplished — especially now that Apple has finally launched Siri AI — and both phones will likely receive many years of updates, with Samsung committing to seven major Android updates and Apple typically offering the same amount for its iPhones.

That said, iOS and Android are very different. The former offers a clean, uniform layout and focuses on privacy and security, while the latter is an open-source system offering deep customization options and more granular control. If you're reading this, you probably already know which software you prefer.

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: battery