Foldable Launch Snags Put Apple's New CEO Under Scrutiny as iPhone Duo Cracks Surface

iPhone Duo

A wave of screen-failure reports around iPhone Duo has arrived at an awkward moment for Apple, turning the product launch itself into an early leadership test.

Apple has acknowledged that a small number of iPhone Duo devices have experienced inner-display damage since the handset went on sale last Friday. "We have noticed that a small number of iPhone Duo devices have issues with their inner displays. If users encounter iPhone Duo display faults, they should contact AppleCare to request a replacement," the company said.

Over the past week, social media posts from locations around the world showed a recurring pattern: after the phone was unfolded, a horizontal crack ran from near the top of the inner screen down to about two-thirds of its height.

The full scale of the problem remains unclear, and the episode has been dubbed Screen CrackGate. It also adds pressure on Apple's new CEO, John Ternus, who replaced Tim Cook last month. Investors had expected him to energize the product roadmap, and he will chair Apple's quarterly earnings conference call for the first time on Monday.

So far, Apple has not announced a recall for iPhone Duo. For Apple, a recall would be highly unusual, because the company has traditionally handled product defects through repair and replacement programs.

Inner screen breakage

iPhone Duo, which launched this month, is priced at more than $2,000 and marks the most substantial design shift in the nearly 20-year history of iPhone. Apple entered the foldable smartphone category seven years after Samsung introduced its first Galaxy Fold device.

Meme-like images mocking iPhone Duo circulated on X.

Reliability concerns are not unique to Apple. In 2019, when Samsung unveiled a foldable phone using then-new display technology, some review units suffered broken screens, exposing defects in the early stage.

Why Apple Has Been Wary of Foldables

Ternus said Apple had delayed a foldable iPhone because it did not want to offer a product that felt cheap and shoddy. Instead, the company chose to tackle complex engineering problems needed to create a smooth, flat inner display and a durable hinge.

The Screen CrackGate label also echoes another high-profile iPhone stumble: AntennaGate. In 2010, iPhone 4 users reported dropped calls and weak signal strength. Steve Jobs initially attributed complaints to gripping the phone in the wrong way, although Apple later provided cases free of charge to address the issue.

Analysts See Possible Hinge or Support Issues

Francisco Jeronimo, vice president at market research firm IDC, said the problems seen with iPhone Duo indicate that "even a company with Apple's formidable engineering resources and supply-chain management capabilities still has to feel its way carefully in foldable devices".

He added that online reports of cracked iPhone screens have shown a high degree of consistency, suggesting "there may be some sensitivity in the hinge tolerance design, or that the display may not be adequately supported during folding".

Samsung quickly moved to capitalize on the situation, running advertisements that highlighted its own lighter and thinner devices and stating that it is years ahead in the foldable market.

A former Apple display engineer familiar with Apple's design and manufacturing process said the most likely explanation is that only a very small number of devices are affected. Because such defects are rare, they can be difficult to identify during testing. "Even if 1,000 devices are tested in one batch, at least one faulty device must appear before the root cause can be traced," the engineer said.

The same engineer said the issue may also involve a particular batch of defective components from one manufacturer.

The launch troubles did not begin with the crack reports. Early iPhone Duo buyers had already encountered order delays. Apple blamed unprecedented demand and pushed expected delivery dates into next year.

Before iPhone Duo encountered this challenge, this year's iPhone launch also produced another issue: some AT&T customers who bought iPhone 18 Pro Max experienced a permanent cellular-network disconnection. Apple later released a software fix to prevent the problem from affecting more devices.

For now, the question is not whether Apple can replace a small number of damaged panels through AppleCare, but whether the company can reassure users that iPhone Duo can survive daily folding.