An iPhone Duo owner opened his new foldable phone for a friend after 6 hours, and it snapped along the hinge before Apple issued a response

Apple has addressed reports of cracked screens on its new iPhone Duo just days after the foldable phone launched. The company is now telling affected owners what to do if their inner display breaks.

As reported by UNILAD, the iPhone Duo debuted on Friday, October 23, and user complaints began surfacing soon after. On a Reddit thread dedicated to the device, several people claimed their screens had already cracked, some within hours of getting their hands on it.

One user wrote, “Had my iPhone Duo for about six hours and had probably opened it fewer than 20 times. I was showing it to a friend, and as I opened it, I felt something around the internal hinge, underneath the screen.” They added, “As I continued opening it, I heard an audible crack, and the screen broke right along the hinge.”

Apple’s fix for cracked screens is a straight replacement

The user also claimed there were “no marks or damage on the inner screen’s surface or the external hinge to suggest anything had been caught or damaged.” Apple has since said it is aware of the issue, with a representative telling CNBC, “We are aware of an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units.”

The representative added, “If users experience issues with their iPhone Duo display, they should contact AppleCare for a replacement.” The foldable arrives months after Apple prepared a cheaper iPhone launch earlier this year.

Mark Hall, a Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment disposal expert at BusinessWaste.co.uk, noted that foldable phones add a flexible screen and a moving hinge to a device most people expect to use daily for several years. He said newer foldables have become more reliable and Apple may improve things further, but durability is still “one of the biggest things to watch.”

Hall also raised concerns about foldables needing to be replaced sooner than normal smartphones, noting that when millions are sold, even cutting a year off their lifespan means a large amount of tech reaching recycling sooner. He added that if repairs cost too much, people may replace their devices sooner than they otherwise would.

Hall said manufacturers need to focus on building these devices with longevity in mind instead of keeping up with trends. He added that making repair costs more affordable would keep them in use longer.

iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens called the iPhone Duo “an incredible, fragile, wild feat of engineering” in a post on X, adding that his team “found a world of innovation inside.” He wrote that the hinge “is actually dozens of parts, with ludicrous precision,” and that “a manufacturing variance or grain of sand can kill the fragile display panel it protects.”