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Some early owners of Apple's iPhone Duo foldable have reported cracked inner screens near the hinge since the phone reached customers on October 23, 2026. According to MacRumors, most of the faults sit along the hinge and typically show up as a line of bright pixels across one side of the display. The number of affected units and the cause are not known.
Key facts
- One Australian owner said the screen cracked after about six hours and fewer than 20 openings, with no prior marks on the screen or hinge.
- Apple replaced that phone on the spot at an Apple Store, per MacRumors.
- Digital Trends says reports have come from Australia, the U.S., Canada and China.
- The iPhone Duo costs $2,000, according to Android Authority.
- Hinge failures from normal use should fall under the one-year warranty, and buyers get two weeks to return the phone, MacRumors reports.
What the reports show
The most detailed account comes from a Reddit user who said they felt something near the internal hinge while opening the phone, then heard an audible crack. The user left with a replacement, and the account was cited by both MacRumors and Android Authority.
Android Authority adds that a Reddit user compiled images from Chinese communities showing damage in almost the same spot along the crease. MacRumors cautions that the backstory of most of those images is unknown, that several come from demo devices in China, and that user damage may be a factor.
Why it is not yet a verdict
The sources agree the evidence is thin. Reviews published before launch did not report cracking, according to Android Authority. It says YouTubers Tim Pan and Joanna Stern ran multi-fold tests in which the screen and hinge showed wear after thousands of folds but did not crack. MacRumors calls that a small sample.
Digital Trends notes that commenters have floated explanations including pinching of the display near the hinge, assembly tolerances or a faulty hinge component. At least one failure happened while the phone was being opened, not closed. None of these theories is confirmed.
Digital Trends also points out that foldables are hard to build. It says Samsung has refined its Galaxy Z Fold hinges and displays for years, yet display failures have been reported from the Z Fold 2 through the Z Fold 7.
What to watch next
The key signal is whether failures keep clustering at the same spot on the hinge. Digital Trends says that pattern would make the situation more concerning, while a scattering of isolated cases would point to ordinary early defects. MacRumors expects some failures given how many people received phones on launch day.
Apple had not publicly addressed these specific reports at the time Digital Trends published on October 24. MacRumors suggests Apple is likely collecting failed units to study failure points, which could lead to manufacturing changes. Buyers who see damage have a one-year warranty and a two-week return window to rely on.
