Not sure about this one.

I’m probably the last person to pontificate on the merits of the new folding iPhone, as I remain quite happy with my 6 year old iPhone 12 Pro Max. Sure it wants me to replace the battery, now at 78%, but it’s still only 50% discharged by day’s end, so why bother? In any case I watched yesterday’s iPhone rollout to see what the new CEO, John Ternus, is all about, as much as to learn about the Duo. (He’s standard Apple corporate issue – slim, neat hair, casual clothing and mercifully no tattoos).

The format of the presentation was dismaying. Lots of reverse zoom shots of landscapes, seemingly irrelevant to the products displayed and, sadly, like Cook before him, Ternus simply headlined the newest gadgets, handing off the presentation details to subordinates. Missing are the days when Steve used to do the complete rollout himself, suggesting a passionate involvement with all aspects of a new machine. And, of course, that image was accurate. Just watch the original iPhone introduction to see what I’m going on about.

Ternus with the Duo.

First, the pricing is actually reasonable. Given that you get a screen, once unfolded, which is larger than that in a Pro Max iPhone and almost as large as that in an iPad mini, you would have to spend $1,300 for the iPhone and another $500 for the Mini (offensive pricing, that) for a total of $1,900. The Duo retails at $2,000 so the cost of integration of two handy devices is just $100.

But the big question is: Who needs this? You want an iPhone to be as small as possible for portability and an iPad as large as possible for readability. Here you get a device which is bulky and sort of largish, defeating both goals.

On the technology front there’s no question that this is a tour de force. How Corning (?) managed to come up with bendable glass (is it glass or plastic?) is astonishing and the hinge in the Duo is comprised of over 100 parts and delivers a seemingly invisible seam when unfolded. And you can bet that Apple spent years making sure it holds up to repeated opening and closing. Do that 10 times a day and after 5 years you have 18,250 or so actions and I would guess that Apple has torture tested the device to far more repetitions than that. So quality and durability are unlikely to be issues. There’s no telephoto lens, presumably owing to space issues and no face recognition. It’s back to Touch ID, probably for the same space constraint reasons.

Serious photographers will opt for the three lens Pro or Pro Max, the latter now with a variable aperture standard lens. Serious readers will opt for a full sized iPad. But who needs the Duo?