Apple Knows What the iPhone Duo Is Missing, but Fixing It Will Take Years

iPhone Duo was launched globally last week as Apple's first book-style foldable. The smartphone is not only the Cupertino-based tech giant's first foldable, but it also has a unique shorter and wider passport-like form factor compared to conventional book-style foldables, competing directly with this year's Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8. The debut of the iPhone Duo marked the return of the Touch ID sensor, as the tech giant had to remove the Face ID sensor, which uses facial recognition to unlock it, because of the phone's size. Now, a report highlights that Apple could bring the Face ID sensor to the third-generation model of the foldable.

Third-Generation iPhone Duo Could Launch With These Upgrades

In the latest edition of his weekly newsletter ‘Power On', Bloomberg's Mark Gurman predicts that the Cupertino-based tech giant could bring major upgrades to its book-style foldable with its third-generation model. First, Apple might bring back the Face ID sensor to the iPhone Duo's third-generation model. Moreover, the foldable might also get the telephoto camera upgrade in the same generation.

Gurman explains that these two upgrades for the iPhone Duo are the “top two priorities” for Apple. However, it is difficult for the tech giant to equip a telephoto camera and a Face ID sensor in the handset because of the 5.2mm thickness when unfolded, which also makes it the thinnest iPhone model yet. Both components reportedly require more depth, making it a “physics problem”.

He predicts that Apple will be able to solve this problem with the third-generation iPhone Duo, which could be launched in 2028, if Apple decides to launch the second-generation model next year. Apple is expected to use a combination of “further component miniaturisation and advances in artificial intelligence”, allowing it to “use smaller, less sophisticated depth-sensing and camera hardware”, virtually solving the shortcomings.

To recap, the iPhone Duo was launched in India and other global markets on September 9 at a starting price of Rs. 2,99,900 for the base 256GB storage variant. The phone sports a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR foldable display on the inside, along with a 5.4-inch Super Retina XDR cover display. The iPhone Duo is equipped with the new A20 Pro SoC, which is built on a 2nm process.