Samsung released the first Galaxy Fold in 2019. Honor, Google, Motorola and Oppo followed, and the designs have grown slimmer, lighter and more durable. Seven years on, Apple has joined them with its first folding phone, the iPhone Duo, unveiled at the company’s annual September event – and it arrives as the category shrinks rather than grows.

The Duo costs $1,999 (AED 8,499 in the UAE) for 256GB of storage, with preorders opening on October 16 and sales starting on October 23. It launches alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max but, for the first time, without a base model: the iPhone 18 is now expected in spring 2027.

Closed, it has a 5.4-inch screen. Unfolded, it offers a 7.6-inch display close to the iPad Mini’s and is, Apple says, the thinnest iPhone ever. The frame is titanium, the front is Ceramic Shield 2 glass, and it carries an IP68 dust- and water-resistance rating that, until now, only Google’s folding Pixels could claim.

There are trade-offs: Face ID is missing; Touch ID sits in the side power button instead. The two 48-megapixel rear cameras also come without a telephoto lens. However, the battery is the biggest Apple has ever put in an iPhone, rated for up to 24 hours of mixed use.

According to Nabila Popal, senior research director at IDC, the foldable category has declined for five straight quarters, by 13% year over year, and will account for around 2% of the global smartphone market by the end of this year. Apple, she says, could capture up to 30% of the foldable market by the end of 2026. In a recent IDC survey, 60% of consumers said they were not likely to buy a foldable at their next upgrade; asked whether they would if Apple released one, almost 33% said they “absolutely” would.

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“Apple has such a strong market pull,” Popal told journalists. “Coming into foldables, it’s going to create overall excitement for the category. And it’s good for the consumer too”.

She calls the Duo “guaranteed to be a blockbuster” despite the price. “Yes, there’s going to be sticker shock, but Apple caters to a very high-end consumer segment who can afford it,” she says.

Folding phones remain notoriously prone to damage and difficult to fix. Elizabeth Chamberlain, director of sustainability at iFixit, told reporters her team has never taken apart one it would call truly repairable.

“Manufacturers have come a long way since the Galaxy Fold first dropped,” she says. “But the gains in durability haven’t come with gains in repairability”.