The New York Times iPhone Duo Review: What We Can and Cannot Verify
Apple’s first foldable reached stores on October 23, 2026, with a New York Times review in the same cycle. This article explains what that coverage establishes and what remains unverified.
The iPhone Duo review published by the New York Times on October 23, 2026, is the review this article set out to examine. It comes from the paper’s consumer technology writer Brian X. Chen, and it arrived as Apple’s first foldable reached buyers after preorders opened on October 16. That much is established by secondary coverage of the Times.
The full Times review text sits behind the paper’s paywall, and this newsroom could not read it directly. No verdict, score, or quotation from it is reproduced here, because none could be verified from the original text.
In Brief
- Apple’s first foldable, the iPhone Duo, went on sale on October 23, 2026, after October 16 preorders.
- The New York Times published a review by Brian X. Chen in the same cycle, with launch coverage describing fans queuing for hours, per Tech Insider.
- Paywall blocked direct reading of the Times review, so its verdict is not quoted or scored.
- Wider reviews agree on hardware, split on software, price, and daily friction.
- The Duo starts at $1,999 in the United States for 256GB and at 2,299 euros in Germany.
iPhone Duo Review: What the Times Actually Published
The verifiable core is smaller than the headline suggests, and that is the point. Tech Insider’s October 24, 2026 roundup states that the Times reported fans lining up for hours outside Apple stores around the world on October 23, and that the paper pointed readers to Chen’s review. The same roundup says it does not characterize Chen’s verdict beyond noting that the review exists. PetaTech24 follows the same discipline in this iPhone Duo review roundup.
One further detail comes from Six Colors. Its editor wrote that he was sympathetic to reviewers like Chen, who apparently had to review the phone in a day, while embargoed reviews published the Wednesday before launch were based on a week of use. That is Six Colors’ characterization, not a Times statement.
Earlier Times material should not be confused with the October review. Syndicated coverage of Chen’s September hands-on described the Duo as extremely thin when opened and, folded shut, almost dainty and about passport sized. The Times also published a separate September piece by Chen asking why the Duo costs $1,999.
iPhone Duo Review: Where Other Reviewers Agree and Split
Because the verdict in the iPhone Duo review could not be verified in full, the wider review field holds the checkable consensus. TechRadar’s Lance Ulanoff called the Duo a fully realized folding smartphone, praising the hinge, the matte inner screen, and the titanium frame. Engadget’s Cherlynn Low, as quoted in a Cult of Mac roundup cited by Tech Insider, said it sidestepped most growing pains a new gadget class might encounter.
The skeptical camp is just as clearly documented. The Verge’s Nilay Patel and Allison Johnson, as quoted through a MacRumors roundup cited by Tech Insider, called the Duo expensive, full of compromises, and incredibly frustrating at times. CNN Business, on October 21, called it Apple’s coolest phone in years and built its caveat around the price. The split is not about hardware. It is about whether software maturity, price, and daily friction justify it.
The Tablet Test: Two Screens, One Compromise
Open the Duo and the pitch is obvious. A 7.6 inch inner display, which Apple says is 50 percent larger than the iPhone 18 Pro Max panel, turns the phone into a small tablet. TechRadar’s reviewer found reading and video better with the extra space, and said the matte finish made the crease virtually invisible in daily use, though not completely gone.
The compromise arrives with the apps. Six Colors reported that some favorite iPad apps opened on the Duo in a narrow, unoptimized rectangle because they had not been explicitly updated for it. Its point was blunt: even when open, the Duo is not an iPad, it is a tablet-like iPhone.
Daily friction shows up in smaller places too. TechRadar noted that the dock moves to the side of the 5.4 inch outer screen, shrinking app width. Daring Fireball’s John Gruber wrote that the folded phone never stopped feeling heavy. Face ID is gone in favor of a Touch ID side button, and there is no telephoto lens, only a 2x crop.
The Price Question, in Dollars and Euros
In the United States the Duo starts at $1,999 for 256GB and rises to $3,199 for 2TB. In Germany the 256GB model starts at 2,299 euros and the 2TB model reaches 3,799 euros, while France starts at 2,339 euros. Those European figures come from reporting on Apple’s store pages and include local tax, so they should not be converted into a second US price.
The honest comparison is against a phone plus a small tablet, the pair the Duo claims to replace. For a buyer who already carries both, $1,999 reads differently than for a buyer who only wanted a phone. For the second group, the iPhone 18 Pro line, starting at $1,199 in the United States, remains the more straightforward purchase. Apple’s battery figures, up to 31 hours inner and 44 hours outer video playback, are manufacturer claims, not lab results.
The Bigger Picture
Apple waited years while Samsung, Google, Motorola, and others sold folding phones. Syndicated coverage of the Times noted that foldables still account for less than 2 percent of global mobile sales, citing IDC data. Launch reports described online inventory selling out within minutes, though Apple has not published unit sales, and this article does not guess at one.
What to Watch Next
Three things will settle the open questions: app updates, controlled battery and durability testing, and supply. Buyers should also watch the digital pen support TechRadar reported as expected by November but not available during its testing period.
Quick Answers
Is the New York Times iPhone Duo review positive or negative? That verdict could not be verified here, because the full text sits behind the Times paywall.
Does the Duo replace both a phone and a tablet? For some buyers, yes, with conditions: daily apps already optimized for its inner screen, a liking for two apps side by side, and acceptance of Touch ID and a 2x crop instead of a telephoto zoom.
How much does the Duo cost? It starts at $1,999 in the United States for 256GB and at 2,299 euros in Germany, rising to $3,199 and 3,799 euros respectively for 2TB. Confirm the exact price on Apple’s store page for your country before ordering.
Should most iPhone owners buy it now? Only if the folding screen solves a real daily problem, such as reading, split-screen work, or replacing a small tablet. Otherwise, a conventional iPhone 18 Pro remains the more straightforward choice.
The Takeaway
The New York Times iPhone Duo review matters as a signal, not as a score we can quote. Its existence, launch-day timing, and pricing question confirm that Apple’s first foldable is being judged as a serious product. But a review that cannot be read cannot be relied on for a verdict.
PetaTech24’s assessment is conditional. Buy the Duo if you will use the inner screen every day and the phone-plus-tablet math works for you. Wait if your daily apps are still unoptimized, if you rely on Face ID or a long zoom, or if weight and pocket comfort matter more than screen space.
Sources / Attribution
- The New York Times, Brian X. Chen, iPhone Duo review, October 23, 2026 (paywalled): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/23/technology/personaltech/iphone-duo-review-tablet-smartphone.html
- TechRadar, Apple iPhone Duo review by Lance Ulanoff
- Six Colors, iPhone Duo 24 hours in the Splash Zone
- Tech Insider, iPhone Duo Review Roundup, October 24, 2026: https://tech-insider.org/iphone-duo-review-roundup-nyt-lines-five-critics-2026/
- The Mac Observer, iPhone Duo price in Germany and France: https://www.macobserver.com/tips/round-ups/iphone-duo-price-germany-france/
Transparency note: this is a review roundup built around the New York Times iPhone Duo review, not a republication of it. No quotation, score, or verdict from the Times review is included, because the original text could not be verified.
