The first foldable device from Apple, the iPhone Duo, is officially available as of today, although availability mostly depends on how quickly you were able to place your pre-order.
The iPhone Duo comes with what some might consider trade-offs, including the fact that it has Touch ID in the power button instead of Face ID due to its thin design, limiting the internal space available for the Face ID sensor.
With the “Rest finger to Open” option turned on in Settings>Touch ID, when you place your finger on the sensor for a short amount of time, the phone unlocks, and you can view your notifications; while keeping your finger on the sensor for longer takes you to the home screen. This is done intentionally for users to be able to check their notifications. Users can turn this option off, but even then, it is practically slower than Face ID, because it is still multiple steps to go to the home screen. With Face ID, you can simply swipe up from the bottom of the Lock screen, and the authentication is done simultaneously with the animation.
Marques Brownlee said in his recent video on YouTube under the channel MKBHD, “Well, this phone also doesn’t have Face ID…With iPhone Duo, Apple built in a delay with every single unlock, so you can tap with your registered finger. It pauses on the lock screen for a beat, and then if you keep holding, then it unlocks. It’s technically smart, like it’s giving people a chance to check their notifications real quick before it goes and unlocks it. And if they want to deliberately hold it longer, it’ll unlock, but as someone who’s used to the instant unlocks from Face ID. I was like, I need to find a way to turn this off, and I did not find that…I really think Face ID is going to be the number one thing people miss coming from other iPhones.”
Arun Maini from Mrwhosetheboss said, “But the more that I use this, the more I notice how it is worse in a bunch of small ways, and they add up. Touch ID is not a tap. It’s a hold, so it feels like a tiny bit of extra friction 50 times a day“
Aaron Zollo from Zollotech said, “Hopefully they improve the speed or change this in a future software update to just make it much faster”
The Verge said, “One other thing to get used to is simply unlocking the phone… But a week is long enough to get used to Touch ID life again, and it’s mostly painless once you remember you’re supposed to be using it.”
On the contrary, Joanna Stern said, “Face ID. I cannot tell you how deeply I miss you. Please come back. Even after a week, I’m still fumbling to unlock this thing. And yes, I’ve enrolled the max of five fingers. I’m running out of fingers to blame here…There’s one saving grace. There’s a setting that allows your Apple Watch to automatically unlock the Duo.”
With Touch ID on Home Button iPhones, if the “Rest Finger to Open” option is turned on, going into the Home Screen is instantaneous.
Hopefully, Apple modifies the feature in the next software update, probably with iOS 27.2 releasing next week or with an additional iOS 27.2.1 update.
The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 for 256GB, $2,199 for 512GB, $2,599 for 1TB, and $3,199 for 2TB. It comes in two different finishes: Star White and Night Sky.
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