Nothing CEO Carl Pei has branded Apple’s $1,999 iPhone Duo a waste of money, pointing to its missing Face ID and telephoto camera. His facts check out, but he is also a rival CEO. Here is what the criticism gets right, what it misses, and whether the Duo earns its price.
PetaTech24 Technology Desk | October 16, 2026
Carl Pei does not think much of Apple’s first foldable. In a video posted to Instagram and YouTube, the Nothing CEO called the $1,999 iPhone Duo “a waste of money,” arguing that buyers pay $700 more than the iPhone 18 Pro Max for fewer features.
His caption summed it up even more bluntly: “$2,000 is a lot for a bigger screen and a fancy animation.” The three gaps he named are real and confirmed by Apple’s own spec pages: no Face ID, no dedicated telephoto camera, and a weaker selfie camera than the $1,199 iPhone 18 Pro.
But context matters. Pei runs a rival phone company that sells no foldable, and he has been criticizing foldables since 2023. PhoneArena pushed back on his take, Apple has reportedly raised Duo production orders by 30 percent, and the Duo does things no slab iPhone can. So is Pei right? Let us check each claim against the record.
The Short Version
- Nothing CEO Carl Pei called the iPhone Duo “a waste of money” in an Instagram and YouTube video, citing its missing Face ID, lack of a telephoto camera, and weaker selfie camera.
- The Duo costs $1,999 (256GB) in the US and €2,299 in Germany. Pre-orders opened October 16, 2026, with sales starting October 23 in more than 70 countries.
- Apple’s spec pages confirm the gaps: Touch ID instead of Face ID, dual 48MP rear cameras with no telephoto lens, and a 12MP outer front camera versus 18MP on the iPhone 18 Pro.
- The counter-case: the same A20 Pro chip, a 7.6-inch folding display, titanium build, IP68 rating, and Apple Pencil support. Apple has reportedly raised Duo production orders by 30 percent.
- Pei is a rival CEO whose company sells no foldable, which colors his criticism without erasing the facts behind it.
Why This Matters
This is the first serious stress test of the $1,999 foldable value proposition from an industry insider. Pei is not a random commentator; he built OnePlus and now runs Nothing, so his critique carries weight with enthusiasts even when it serves his interests.
The Face ID omission is historic on its own. The Duo is the first iPhone since the iPhone X in 2017 to ship without Face ID, which makes the biometric downgrade symbolic as well as practical.
Most importantly, Pei framed the exact question every potential buyer must answer: are you paying for a bigger screen, or for a better phone? The two are not the same thing.
Pei’s Case, Claim by Claim
No Face ID on a $1,999 phone
Pei’s first point is factual. The Duo unlocks with Touch ID in the side button, and Apple has not officially explained the omission. The widely reported reasons are physical: at 5.2mm unfolded, the TrueDepth module is hard to fit, and a foldable used open or closed would theoretically need two Face ID sensors, one per display. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Face ID is a priority for future foldables, possibly arriving with the third-generation Duo rather than the Duo 2.
Camera compromises
Also confirmed. The Duo carries a 48MP Main (f/1.6) and 48MP Ultra Wide, with no dedicated telephoto lens, only a 2x optical-quality crop, and no variable aperture, which stays exclusive to the iPhone 18 Pro line. The 12MP outer front camera trails the 18MP unit on the $1,199 iPhone 18 Pro, there is no LiDAR scanner, and the manual Pro camera controls are missing too. PetaPixel adds that the main sensor itself is a step below the 17 Pro’s hardware.
“$2,000 for a bigger screen and a fancy animation”
This part is rhetoric, not fact. Pei argues that online praise fixated on the folding animation rather than the hinge engineering, and that such software polish can be replicated quickly. Whether a 7.6-inch display with true multitasking is worth $700 over the 18 Pro Max is a value judgment, and reasonable buyers will land on both sides of it.
The Counter-Case: What the Duo Actually Offers
Pei’s critique is sharpest on cameras and biometrics, but it says little about what the $1,999 does buy. The Duo runs the same 2nm A20 Pro as the iPhone 18 Pro, with the Apple C2 modem, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, so buyers are not paying flagship money for mid-range silicon.
The displays are the real product. The 7.6-inch inner panel offers roughly 50 percent more screen area than the 18 Pro Max, with a nano-texture finish and a crease reviewers describe as nearly invisible, while the 5.4-inch outer screen covers about 90 percent of a standard iPhone’s area. Add the titanium frame, an IP68 rating that is rare among foldables, and Duo-exclusive software like Split View multitasking, Duo Preview and Smart Take, and the package looks less like an overpriced phone and more like a phone plus a small tablet.
PhoneArena’s own pushback is worth hearing: after testing many foldables with strong camera systems, its writer never used any of them as a primary camera phone, suggesting most foldable buyers rank the big screen above the zoom lens. And the market is voting with orders: supply-chain reports say Apple raised Duo production by 30 percent, though Apple has not confirmed the figure.
FAQ
Why does the iPhone Duo not have Face ID?
Apple has not given an official reason. The widely reported explanations are the 5.2mm unfolded thinness, which leaves little room for the TrueDepth module, and the dual-screen problem of needing two sensors. The Duo uses Touch ID in the side button instead. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports Face ID is a priority for future foldables, possibly the third generation.
Is the iPhone Duo worth $1,999?
It depends on what you value. If the camera and Face ID top your list, Pei has a point: the $1,299 iPhone 18 Pro Max gives you more of both. If you want the largest iPhone display ever made with true multitasking, no slab phone offers what the Duo does. That is the trade-off, and it is genuinely personal.
When does the iPhone Duo release?
Pre-orders opened October 16, 2026, and the phone goes on sale October 23 in more than 70 countries, with 28 more countries following on October 30.
Does the iPhone Duo have a telephoto camera?
No. It has a 48MP Main and 48MP Ultra Wide, with a 2x optical-quality crop from the main sensor and up to 10x digital zoom. The dedicated telephoto lens stays exclusive to the iPhone 18 Pro models.
Will future iPhone foldables get Face ID and a telephoto lens?
According to Mark Gurman, both are priorities for future iPhone Duo models, but they are unlikely to arrive with the Duo 2. The third generation is the earliest realistic window, and that remains reported rather than confirmed.
The Takeaway
Pei’s facts check out. The Duo really does lack Face ID, a telephoto lens and the 18 Pro’s selfie camera, and it really does cost $700 more than the 18 Pro Max. On the spec sheet alone, his criticism lands.
But “waste of money” is a verdict, not a fact, and it comes from a rival CEO whose company sells no foldable. The Duo buys the largest iPhone display ever made, the same flagship chip as the Pro line, and a genuinely new form factor with software built for it.
Buy it if you want a phone that unfolds into a tablet and can live with first-generation compromises. Skip it if the camera and Face ID sit at the top of your list. Either way, Pei did buyers a favor: he named the trade-offs out loud that the folding animation was designed to make you forget.
Sources / Attribution
- PhoneArena, “iPhone Duo is a waste of money” Carl Pei, Nothing CEO says, October 12, 2026.
- MacObserver, iPhone Duo FAQ: 12 Quick Answers on Price, Size, Cameras, Face ID, Pencil and Release Date, September 2026.
- MacObserver, iPhone Duo vs iPhone 18 Pro Camera: Variable Aperture and Telephoto vs Dual Fusion, 2026.
- PetaPixel, The Beautiful iPhone Duo Has Serious Camera Compromises, September 10, 2026.
- TechRepublic, iPhone Duo Cheat Sheet: Price, Specs, Features and More, 2026.
- TechCabal, iPhone Duo pre-order opens October 16: Price and time, October 14, 2026.
- Phandroid, Nothing’s CEO Says Apple’s $1,999 iPhone Duo Is a “Waste of Money”, October 13, 2026.
- LiveMint, ‘iPhone Duo is a waste of money’: Nothing CEO Carl Pei slams Apple’s $1,999 foldable, 2026.
- Neowin, Nothing’s CEO Says Apple’s $1,999 iPhone Duo Is a “Waste of Money”, October 12, 2026.
- MacObserver (DE), Preis des iPhone Duo in Deutschland und Frankreich: ab 2.299 Euro und 2.339 Euro, September 2026.
- comparos.in, iPhone Duo: Apple’s First Foldable Phone, Full Details, 2026.
