Quick Luddite Notes

🍎 The new iPhone Duo is pure shit

Tom’s Guide: The iPhone Duo just came out, and owners are already seeing screens crack at the hinge. And for $2,000 too...

Apple’s long-awaited foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, came out this week, and already the cracks are starting to show. And I mean that literally: Some iPhone Duo early adopters are already running into issues that cause the display to crack along the entire hinge. Photos shared on Reddit show the iPhone Duo’s inner display cracking from top to bottom alongside the hinge — exactly where the device folds — less than 24 hours after launch.

It’s still not entirely clear what’s causing the issue, but photos of cracked iPhone Duo displays circulating on social media show a consistent pattern. A large crack appears on the inner display along the hinge, causing a pixel issue that produces a bright white line down the right-hand side of the screen. Early iPhone Duo adopters from the U.S. to China and Australia are seeing the same issue crop up, so it doesn’t appear limited to any specific market.

After about six hours of use, one Reddit user in Australia said they “heard an audible crack, and the screen broke right along the hinge.” They estimated they’d probably opened it less than 20 times so far. ...

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Despite its IP68 rating for dust resistance, dust made its way into the hinge through multiple entry points, overpowering the magnets designed to keep the phone closed. A subsequent bend test resulted in a permanent green line across the inner display, which eventually stopped responding altogether.

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“I’ve been testing these folding phones since the first generation seven years ago – most do survive,” said Zack Nelson. “The iPhone Duo did not.”