iPhone Duo’s Apple Pencil compatibility and under-screen camera highlighted

Apple has just introduced its first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo.

I’ll skip over the important things you’ll see everywhere about this model, like its form factor, new processor, and updated operating system, and jump right into some less-discussed features you’ll want to know about.

Three things I’m looking forward to

Apple Pencil Compatibility

The passport-shaped iPhone Duo opens to reveal a good-sized 7.6-inch OLED display, giving you plenty of room to multitask with two apps side by side and work on a larger canvas than with a regular phone.

If we add to this compatibility with the $79 Apple Pencil (coming later this year), we have a very useful tool for writing, taking notes, drawing and annotating.

This means you basically have an iPad Mini that you can carry in your pocket, along with the ability to use all the high-quality apps that support detailed pen input, like Notability, Apple Freeform, and ProCreate.

In short, an Apple Pencil outperforms generic stylus with near-instant response time, advanced pressure sensitivity to vary line thickness when you draw, and palm rejection (so you don’t have to worry about your hand accidentally touching the screen while using it).

An under-screen camera for video calls

While some Android phones have had this for years, starting with the ZTE Axon 20 in 2020, Apple has finally managed to hide a camera under the screen.

The FaceTime camera integrated into the 7.6-inch interior screen is practically invisible. Apple hasn’t specified what resolution it shoots at, but it promises you can make 1080p video calls with it, and its Center Stage feature will center you in the frame even if your face isn’t directly in front of the f/1.8 aperture lens.

This is by no means a main camera; instead, there’s a 12-megapixel cutout camera that you can use on the external display. But it’s good to know that you also have this option when you want to FaceTime on a larger screen. Under-screen cameras disappeared for a while because they simply couldn’t be as good as those that can be placed in a notch or cutout, but this is a good use of the technology.

Case with stand

You can set the Duo in a “sitting” position (with half flat on a surface) or a “standing” position (like an A-frame house) for watching videos, and that’s fine. But if you want to use the large internal screen hands-free, you’ll want to get this accessory.

Apple’s iPhone Duo Folio with Kickstand does what it says on the tin: it adds a way to prop the device up on a table, so you can enjoy the full 7.6-inch screen you bought it for.

The case features custom fabric to maintain a slim profile and magnets to keep the kickstand in place. The nice thing about this design is that when the kickstand is not in use, it sits flush with the rest of the case. Plus, you can set it at several different angles to read or watch things. Oh, and it supports Qi2 wireless charging.

This one costs $129, but I imagine third-party accessory brands will have cheaper alternatives soon.

Two things that disappoint me

The camera setup misses out on variable aperture and a telephoto lens.

In addition to the Duo, Apple announced the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models. They both get two things that the duo misses out on.

The first is an aperture control on the main 48-megapixel rear camera. This allows you to switch between four aperture settings, meaning you’re opening or closing physical leaves in front of the lens.

At the widest aperture of f/1.8, you have the maximum amount of light reaching the lens and a shallow depth of field that can create bokeh in the background. If you close the opening, you will let in less light. This can be useful when you want to focus more of the frame and have more control over the light when shooting in brighter environments. It sure would have been nice to see this on the Duo.

Like the iPhone 18 Pro, the Duo has a 48-megapixel main camera, along with a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera. But unlike the 18 Pro, there is no telephoto lens here. That means you won’t get a zoom lens that can range from 100mm to 200mm focal lengths for capturing subjects from far away.

Of course, an ultra-wide camera is probably more useful than a tele as a secondary camera, but since this is a flagship phone, you don’t expect to have to compromise on something like this.

No face ID

Apple skips Face ID technology to protect your phone using facial recognition on the Duo. Instead, it has a Touch ID fingerprint sensor built into the side button for logging into apps, enabling payments, and so on.

For the price, you’d think Apple would have included all the features it’s seen on previous phones in this one. It’s not a deal breaker by any means, but Apple has had a lot of time to figure out how to support Face ID here.

The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 for the 256GB model and goes up to $3,199 for the 2TB variant. That’s $800 more than the base iPhone 18 Pro, so you really have to want this for the price to make sense.

Source: apple