Apple has acknowledged a problem with the folding inner screen on some units of the iPhone Duo, its first foldable phone, after early buyers reported cracks and visible creases within days of the $1,999 device going on sale.

Apple told Bloomberg it was “aware of an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units,” TechCrunch reported on October 26. The reports did not say how many devices are affected, and the statement as reported did not describe a repair or replacement plan. TechCrunch said it had asked Apple for comment.

What buyers are reporting

According to Bloomberg’s reporting, as summarized by TechCrunch, some early owners said their screens cracked within hours or days of use. Some described hearing a loud crunching noise before a crack appeared, while others reported display malfunctions.

404 Media reported that owners are seeing creases running down the middle of the folding screen, and that some devices have cracked along that same line. Social media users have nicknamed the problem “crackgate,” the outlet said. Neither outlet gave a count of complaints, and the accounts are drawn largely from owners’ posts and early reports.

The device

Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo on September 9 at its “Surprise and Shine” event, according to TechCrunch’s launch coverage, which put the price at $1,999 with 256GB of storage. Preorders opened on October 16, and the phone arrived in Apple Store locations worldwide on Friday, October 23, Apple said, with launch-day events at stores including Fifth Avenue in New York, Covent Garden in London, BKC in Mumbai and Jing’an in Shanghai.

In its preorder announcement, Apple said the inner display is 50% larger than that of the iPhone 18 Pro Max; measured as a standard rectangle, it is 7.58 inches diagonally, according to the company’s footnotes. The outer display measures 5.4 inches and offers 90% of the screen area of the iPhone 18 Pro, Apple said. The company described the phone, when opened, as “the thinnest iPhone ever,” said it uses a “precision-engineered hinge” and stated that “iPhone Duo is also built to last.” It runs on Apple’s A20 Pro chip, has a dual-battery design and carries an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, Apple said. It comes in two finishes, star white and night sky.

At the September event, Apple said a custom nanotexture finish hides the crease and that the hinge uses grade 5 aluminum and more than 100 special components for smooth folding and durability, TechCrunch reported. Those are the company’s claims.

Why it matters

For buyers, the folding inner display is the defining feature of a $1,999 phone that Apple’s own launch materials call “the first foldable iPhone.” Apple’s acknowledgment confirms there is an issue, but the reports did not include guidance for owners on how affected units will be handled. Some buyers camped overnight outside Apple stores to get the phone at launch, 404 Media reported. Apple offers AppleCare+ coverage for the device in markets where it is available, according to its preorder announcement.

For Apple, the reports land at the start of its entry into a category where rivals have struggled with similar problems. TechCrunch noted that many earlier foldables had comparable durability issues and that Apple had said it solved long-standing difficulties of foldable design. Foldables made up less than 2% of overall smartphone shipments, according to research firm Counterpoint, cited by TechCrunch at the time of the launch.

What to watch

The next steps to watch are whether Apple publishes repair or replacement instructions for affected owners, whether it discloses how many units are involved, and whether the problem is traced to a specific production batch or to the design itself.

The caveats

Apple’s statement was reported by Bloomberg and relayed by TechCrunch. Accounts of cracking and creasing come from early owners and have not been independently tested, and none of the reports quantify how common the problem is among the units sold.

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