Apple’s first folding phone has an early problem. Owners on Reddit report the iPhone Duo’s inner screen cracking when they open it, sometimes during setup. WIRED reports that Apple acknowledged an issue affecting the inner display on “a small number” of units and told users to contact AppleCare for a replacement. When problems do appear, they seem to show up quickly rather than days later.
Why it might be happening
iFixit’s teardown offers a theory, not a confirmed cause: a display cable crosses the middle of the hinge, and in its stress simulation the hinge’s center support bar doesn’t move out of the way as the screen folds, creating a pressure point in the middle of the display.
iFixit gave the phone a provisional repairability score of 5 out of 10, its highest yet for a foldable. The battery, back panel and outer screen are relatively easy to replace. The inner display is the hard part, and Apple’s inner screen repair costs $999 out of warranty, according to WIRED.
If your screen cracks: quick fix steps
- Stop folding it. Repeated opening can spread the crack.
- Back up the phone to iCloud or a computer right away.
- Photograph the damage and note when it happened, especially if it was during normal use.
- Contact AppleCare and mention Apple’s acknowledged inner-display issue. Apple’s guidance is a replacement.
- Don’t peel anything. The inner screen has a thin matte nano-texture layer, and Apple’s support pages say not to remove it.
- Skip DIY for now. Apple publishes a repair manual, but iFixit calls the inner display the most fragile, hardest part to replace.
A quick foldable policy for IT
- Track purchase dates. Early failures show up fast, so log when each device was set up and handle claims within the return or warranty window.
- Require cases and AppleCare (or your carrier’s equivalent) for any $1,999 device on the company plan.
- Keep a loaner. Replacement can take days; have a standard phone ready.
- Pause bulk rollouts of first-generation foldables until the issue is clearly resolved.
