Abstract:
Leakage, black screen, white lines. The screen of Apple's most expensive model in history broke within two days of purchase. On October 23, Apple’s first foldable screen iPhone Duo officially went on sale. Pricing starts at 15,999 yuan, making it the most expensive model in Apple’s history. On the day of the launch, many users queued up, purchased on behalf of others, and even purchased from scalpers at increased prices. The purchase price of scalpers outside the market has also risen, with a premium of nearly 3,000 yuan per unit at one time.
The dramatic thing is that the heat faded extremely quickly. The scalper premium plunged rapidly, narrowing from 3,000 yuan to only a few hundred yuan.
The trigger was very direct. The reputation of the new phone took a turn for the worse - many consumers who bought the iPhone Duo at a higher price encountered screen failures on the day they got the new Apple phone.
Some of the first batch of users reported that the screen suddenly leaked during the normal opening and closing process of the phone; some even had white lines running through the hinges within an hour of receiving the new phone, claiming to have set a new record for the "fastest damage" of the iPhone Duo... Many solid users have turned from pink to black.
The inner screen of the iPhone Duo I just purchased is shattered/Source: Xinmin Evening News
As a long-term benchmark in the mobile phone industry, Apple’s bet on the iPhone Duo is seen as a key piece of the puzzle in its impact on the foldable market. The outside world expects it to regain the influence it had during the Steve Jobs era and become a latecomer to the folding market. At present, it seems that this expectation is being dashed.
1
The screen is broken and repair costs 7998 yuan
Ran Qi is one of the earlier consumers who encountered problems.
After the new Apple phone was officially released, he rushed to the local mobile phone store to purchase it.
Ran Qi chose the 512G version model, which is priced at 17,999 yuan on the official website. Since it is not an officially authorized store, he has to add 2,000 yuan to the price. He was willing to pay more for a taste.
On the morning of October 25, when Ran Qi opened the phone from folding mode, he found a large leak above the crease of the inner screen and a small dot on the left side of the screen. He contacted the store for after-sales service. But the frustrating thing is that his phone must be sent to a repair center for testing to know whether it will be repaired or replaced directly.
Leakage appears above the crease of the inner screen/photo provided by the interviewee
Before that, he had to wait for a special after-sales box. Ran Qi told reporters from Yan Finance that the repair program ID for his mobile phone has been established, but the progress is stuck on the waiting box. "Foxconn requires that iPhone Duo must be sent back in a special box and cannot be sent back casually."
Ran Qi’s experience is not an isolated case. Another consumer, Yao Shou, is also waiting for a long time.
"It may not have opened and closed three times before it cracked with a 'bang' sound." Yao Shou told a reporter from Yan Finance. On October 27, she purchased this foldable model. Within an hour of purchase, the screen malfunctioned. In the picture he shared, the left half of the screen can no longer light up. On the lower side of the right half, from the middle hinge to the edge of the screen, there are obvious dead pixels and white lines running through it.
The interior has been penetrated by white lines/photo provided by the interviewee
Yao Shou said that she had sent her phone for repair. But like Ran Qi, she still needs to wait for the appraisal to be completed before she can be responsible for replacement or return. The inspector told him that it would take about 3 to 4 weeks to complete the identification work.
It is understood that the reason why the screen failure needs to be identified before it can be returned or exchanged for after-sales service is mainly to distinguish whether it is caused by quality problems of the mobile phone or human factors. Many mobile phone repair merchants told Yan Finance reporters that if it is caused by human factors, even within the warranty period, return or repair services will need to be handled at their own expense.
Yan Finance reporter asked Apple store employees as consumers. The employee said that iPhone Duo comes with a one-year warranty by default, but it only covers non-human quality issues. The employee further stated that if the screen has problems such as dead pixels or liquid leakage, it needs to be checked first to see if it is caused by external force; if it is broken manually, you will have to deal with it at your own expense. The cost of replacing the iPhone Duo screen is about 7,000-8,000 yuan.
After inquiry, according to the maintenance service on Apple’s official website, the estimated screen repair prices for iPhone Duo are 3,198 yuan for the external screen and 7,998 yuan for the internal screen. For folding screens, the outer screen is the single-sided screen when the phone is folded; the inner screen is the larger screen after the phone is unfolded. Currently, most of the screen failures shared by consumers on the Internet are basically caused by the internal screen.
If the price of the iPhone Duo with the lowest configuration is calculated, which is 7,998 yuan, then the repair price of a screen is almost half of the selling price of the phone. If it is at one's own expense, it is indeed a considerable expense for consumers. More importantly, there is a blurred line between self-paid repairs and free returns and exchanges, "waiting for inspection."
Liu Qi, an assistant researcher at the Anbang Think Tank (Chengdu) Research Center, told Yancai Finance reporter that for Apple, it has reason to spend time investigating the causes of screen failure problems, and how much internal production and external factors account for it. However, when the first-generation folding machine is launched, Apple should provide more after-sales service for such problems - this is crucial to maintaining the stability of market reputation, including the next generation of folding machines.
“We cannot focus on the small profits in front of us, give up market reputation, and give up trust in the hearts of consumers.” Liu Qi said.
Currently, Ran Qi has submitted a report at 12315. Ran Qi said that he has been an Apple ecological user for more than ten years, and his last mobile phone was the new iPhone 18 Pro Max. However, after encountering screen failure, he was also disappointed with Apple's service.
He believes that as Apple’s first foldable model, coupled with its high price, Apple should improve related technologies and services before officially launching it, and “should not let us be the subject of trial and error.”
2
Why is it broken?
As the most expensive Apple mobile phone in history, why does the screen get damaged after opening it a few times?
As of now, Apple has not announced an official reason. However, many features point to the hinge design issues of this phone.
The hinge is one of the core mechanical structures of folding screen mobile phones. It is responsible for supporting the screen, achieving opening and closing movements, and also limiting the bending radius of the screen. The hinge directly determines the force distribution of the screen when it is bent. If the design is improper, the screen may easily cause cracks, delamination and other failures during use.
From what consumers have shared, the damage is mainly concentrated near the crease area of the inner screen. Some consumers discovered leakage after opening and closing normally, and some consumers heard abnormal noises and then the screen failed. That said, the problem doesn't necessarily occur after a drop, water intrusion, or significant external force, making it more of a structural reliability issue.
On social platforms, different consumers have different damage situations
After the release of the iPhone Duo, iFixit, a third-party disassembly agency, used disassembly images and CT scans to simulate and infer that for Apple’s foldable model, if the support structure of the hinge does not “give way” as designed when folded, local pressure may be formed at the crease, causing stress concentration.
TrendForce Consulting also mentioned in a report that the internal screen of iPhone Duo is composed of multi-layer materials such as cover plate, optical glue, OLED display and packaging. When unfolded, the waterdrop-shaped hinge should hold the screen in time and make room when closed. If the setback of the central support is insufficient, additional contact will develop locally.
Similarly, Liu Qi also believes that the problem lies between the cache structure and the hinge.
However, he pointed out to Yan Finance that the screen failure problem of Apple's folding screen is not a "black swan" incident, but is actually in line with industry rules.
Before Apple launched the folding screen, the folding screen of Android models had been struggling with hinge issues for a long time - as a precision-machined component, hinges require a long enough verification cycle and a sufficient number of verifications. For Apple, which entered the folding screen track relatively late, unlike Android, Apple also has new influencing factors in product verification.
On September 9, 2026, the folding screen mobile phone iPhone Duo was photographed in Cupertino, California, USA/Source: Xinhua News Agency
Liu Qi classified the factors affecting the quality control of Apple’s folding screens into three categories.
First, as a latecomer, if Apple wants to seize the market that Samsung and Huawei have already educated, it must make it lighter, thinner, and with lower creases. Otherwise, Apple will lose its competitive advantage. “But lightness and thinness means higher quality control risks.”
Second, Apple has a fixed release and mass production window. Apple needs new products to support the confidence of the capital market. No matter how complicated the folding screen is, it has to keep up with the pace, and the product verification cycle can easily be compressed.
Thirdly, as its first folding screen, the suppliers of ultra-thin glass and customized hinges involved by Apple this time are not manufacturers that have been in the Android folding screen system for many years. Although Apple's supply chain management capabilities are very strong, the integration of new suppliers and new models still requires room for trial and error.
Liu Qi also reminded that taking Android as an example, Android's folding screens usually need to be iterated to two or three generations before the yield rate becomes stable; Apple's past candy bar models have a yield rate of over 90% for a long time, and the first generation of folding screens cannot reach this level overnight.
Visitors are looking at the internal structure of a folding screen mobile phone/photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cheng Min
TrendFore expects that next, Apple will make engineering improvements in the collaborative control of hinge stroke, support height and other components. Liu Qi also said that from the production side, Apple should adjust its process and quickly iterate parts to optimize yield. At the same time, he also added that Apple also needs to clarify a reasonable warranty plan as soon as possible and extend the shelf life to avoid affecting its reputation.
On October 26, Apple issued a statement about iPhone Duo. Apple stated that it has noticed that a small number of iPhone Duo devices have internal screen problems, and users who encounter display problems should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
3
Can a "latecomer" still be able to "control others"?
In fact, when Apple entered the folding screen market, Android and other camps had already been working on the folding screen track for many years.
OPPO once made the water drop hinge the mainstream of the industry;
Huawei has launched a "three-fold" folding model focusing on ultra-high-end products;
Samsung integrates titanium alloy solution into folding screen;
Other manufacturers are also making efforts in various aspects such as thinness and lightness, imaging, and cost-effectiveness.
Currently, in the folding screen market, especially China’s folding screen market, Apple is not facing a blue ocean waiting for enlightenment, but a group of veterans who have already taken the lead and are fiercely competitive.
At the 2025 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, people check out Huawei's three-fold screen mobile phone/Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Dingzhe
Data shows that in 2025, China will ship approximately 8.92 million folding screens, a year-on-year increase of 42%, with Huawei accounting for more than 70%. In terms of the global market, there will be approximately 19.83 million folding screens in 2025, with Samsung accounting for approximately 35% and Huawei accounting for approximately 23%.
It can be seen that it is not easy for Apple’s folding screen to get a share of the share of existing manufacturers.
A data from TrendForce predicts that global foldable mobile phone shipments will be approximately 20.2 million units in 2026, a slight increase of 0.5% from 2025; excluding Apple, Android and other brands will total approximately 15.2 million units, a year-on-year decrease of more than 20%. The agency predicts that Apple will ship about 5 million iPhone Duo units in 2026, with a market share of about 24.8% in the first year.
This means that what Apple gained in the first year was not the increase, but the adjusted stock share of the Android camp, which did not fully open up a new market.
Global folding mobile phone market share estimate/Source: TrendForce
Since the market has matured, why did Apple come now?
Liu Qi believes that on the one hand, it is difficult to create surprises with the innovativeness of the original iPhone, and the marginal cost of original technology iterations has gradually become higher.
On the other hand, as a listed company, Apple needs to prove new growth points to shareholders and seek new room for performance growth, especially since new CEO John Ternus took office. The folding screen meets these three conditions: the form changes are intuitive, the supply chain has an upgrade story, and the price can also undertake high-end stratification. Although the current folding screen head market share has been occupied by Samsung and Huawei, the remaining market share is still a suitable space for performance growth.
“Apple’s biggest advantage comes from its credibility. Its credibility comes from its supply chain advantages and its global brand.” Liu Qi explained to Yan Finance reporters Apple’s advantages in entering the folding screen market.
On October 23, 2026, consumers experienced the new folding screen mobile phone iPhone Duo at an Apple store in Chaoyang District, Beijing/Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Qinghao
Liu Qi said that as a counterparty, Samsung’s resources are gradually tilted towards AI and computing power, while other manufacturers’ international layout is not as good as Apple’s. In the future, the folding screen market is expected to form a pattern of dislocated competition.
The iPhone Duo’s start was not smooth.
It encountered the natural yield problem of mass production of new products, encountered Android competitors who had been leading in the field for many years, and encountered a consumer market that seeks innovation but is fiercely competitive.
Although the story of folding screens is nothing new, Apple’s long run into the folding screen track has just begun. The performance of the first-generation product cannot directly define the final outcome of iPhone Duo. But this turmoil is undoubtedly a warning for Apple to launch new businesses: new products and new growth must ultimately return to the product itself, the supply chain process, and the rights and interests of users.
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