By Caitlin McGarry, Caitlin McGarry is an editor overseeing technology coverage. She has written about personal tech, with a focus on Apple, for more than a decade.
I thought the iPhone Duo would ruin my life.
Dramatic? Obviously. But I’m actively trying to use my phone less, and I worried that the Duo, a foldable phone with a smaller exterior screen that opens to become a tablet, was tailor-made to revive my addiction just as my screen time had begun to inch down.
In my hands-on time with the device at Apple headquarters in September, the Duo felt genuinely marvelous to use. That feeling is rare — tech products are no longer that exciting.
“I’m going to want to use this thing all the time,” I told my friends and colleagues.
But in my week of testing the Duo before it went on sale, I found the opposite to be true. Though it has a gorgeous interior display with an eye-pleasing matte finish, I actually preferred using the device in what I call Little Phone mode. And I found myself using it less than I expected.
Here’s what I discovered:
Having two screens in one device is really useful. Apple’s first foldable iPhone is a passport-sized phone that unfolds into a small tablet. The matte interior display is excellent for watching movies, multitasking, or doing laptop tasks. The smaller outer screen lets you quickly interact with notifications without getting sucked into social media.
The software is elegant. Transitioning between the outer screen and the inner display is seamless.
But the app experience isn’t always great. The apps you use the most might not be optimized for the Duo’s wider screens yet. I expect that to change quickly; over my weeklong testing period, more apps were optimized almost every day.
It’s great for anything you use a tablet for. Following recipes, making video calls, streaming TV, planning trips — if you get a Duo, you don’t need an iPad.
It’s expensive. $2,000 is a lot for a phone. But it’s really nice.
Apple’s first foldable iPhone is a genuine marvel to use. Its passport-sized outer display is perfect for quick tasks, and it unfolds into a tablet that makes an excellent entertainment device. But it lacks a telephoto lens, many apps aren’t yet optimized for its wider screens, and it will cost you.
