A $2,000 phone that breaks before you can use it
Apple’s foldable iPhone faces early reliability issues, with repair costs nearly matching the price of the device.
The story
Some iPhone Duo owners report their foldable screens cracked shortly after unboxing, with Apple acknowledging the issue and offering replacements. iFixit suggests the problem may involve the hinge mechanism or manufacturing defects.
Source: fortune.com
Our reading
The iPhone Duo’s hinge is so intricate that it requires more than 100 components, but the same mechanism that lets the screen fold also seems to be the one that cracks it. Apple says the issue is rare, but the repair cost—$999—makes it feel less like a fix and more like a penalty for being early.
It’s not just the price that’s steep; it’s the logic. A phone that’s supposed to be the future of mobile computing is now a cautionary tale about the cost of being first. If you’re lucky enough to get a replacement, you might wonder if the next one will last longer—or if you’ll just be paying again.
Apple’s solution is to call AppleCare, as if the problem is a minor glitch rather than a design flaw. But for those who paid nearly $2,000 for a phone that could crack before they even had a chance to use it, the real question is: who’s really in control here?
