Teardown site iFixit took the iPhone Duo apart to see what’s inside, how it holds up to dust, and how repairable it is. There is a video describing the teardown, as well as a blog post summarizing it.
Before opening the Duo, iFixit flooded it with fluorescent dust. The iPhone Duo has an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, which means it is dustproof. iFixit found dust in the USB-C port, speaker mesh, and frame, but few particles reached the device’s internal components.
Particles have infiltrated the hinge, causing it to crack, which could damage the screen. The hinge of the iPhone Duo collected less dust than that of the Galaxy Z Fold8 or Pixel 11 Pro Fold in similar tests. iFixit said the result was “encouraging”, but suggested it wasn’t a great device for the beach as dust still accumulated on the moving parts. YouTuber JerryRigEverything also performed a dust test where particles entered the hinge and caused the magnets that hold the phone closed to fail.
iFixit was able to easily remove the cover layer, which is what Apple wanted. Apple has made the nano-textured cover layer simple to remove so it can be replaced inexpensively, but you’re not supposed to remove it yourself. With AppleCare+, replacing the cover layer costs $19, and $49 without it.
The iPhone Duo uses the battery adhesive Apple introduced with the iPhone 16, so a small electrical charge loosens the adhesive and allows the batteries to be removed. iFixit said it was the “best battery removal experience” in a foldable to date.
The outer screen was easy to remove and iFixit said the construction was “robust”, which is a plus for repairability since most internal repairs have to go through the outer screen. The interior screen trim comes off with heat, but there’s a lot of adhesive to go through to remove the interior panel.
Apple describes the iPhone Duo’s internal display as a stack of 10 layers, and iFixit was able to remove some layers to examine them under a microscope.
The iPhone Duo uses a non-stacked motherboard, and it’s the first iPhone to do so since the iPhone 8. The single-layer design is Apple’s way of keeping the Duo thin.
iFixit has commented on some of the display failures people have seen, suggesting they could be caused by pressure, a trapped particle, repeated bending, or a manufacturing defect. The screen may not have physically broken, as a wiring problem can cause the same effect.
Where most faulty units have problems is the hinge has a different shape. The breaking point is also near the passage of the accordion cable and the meeting point of several edges, which could lead to a concentration of stresses there. From iFixit:
To see where stress builds up following folding, we built a 3D hinge model from disassembly footage, patents, and CT scans, then compared it to the locations of reported damage. The breaks cluster near the transition between the space for the pass-through flex cable and the center hinge bracket. The damage we see in the photos is not where the display cable passes through the hinge, but slightly lower down, at a point where several edges come together and change the way the thin display is supported when it folds.
iFixit said it could also be the curved hinge rails that follow the screen’s pivot points. The curved rails can lift up above the flat hinge plates when the phone closes, and a rail aligns with the damage. It’s possible that a hinge component that’s supposed to retract won’t, but there’s no clear answer. The site offers an interactive scanner of the iPhone Duo hinge that shows how brackets, cables and components fit under the screen for anyone who wants to take a look.
With a repair manual available on day one, an option to remove the outer screen intact, and batteries that release with an electrical charge, iFixit gave the iPhone Duo a tentative repair rating of 5 out of 10. The inner screen and hinge assembly are the biggest vulnerabilities, costing Duo points. “It’s the most repairable foldable smartphone we’ve seen so far, and it’s still going to be difficult to repair,” iFixit said.
The Galaxy Z Fold8 and Pixel 11 Pro Fold both scored 4 out of 10.
Gn tech
