I Worked for a Whole Day Using Only the iPhone Duo. Here’s How It Went

The iPhone Duo, Apple's new 7.6-inch dual-screen device, was used for a full day of work in this report. The author, who wrote the entire review on the phone, found it to be a viable alternative to using two separate devices for certain tasks. Utilizing the Bear note-taking app, which was well-optimized for the Duo's larger screen, the author completed their work with minimal issue.

However, they did encounter some challenges, particularly with smaller tasks that required tapping on the touchscreen or using a Bluetooth mouse and trackpad, which required additional steps using iOS's AssistiveTouch feature.

The iPhone Duo's multitasking capabilities were limited by Apple's control over device usage, as the operating system only allowed a 50-50 split when using apps in split-screen mode. Users could only adjust the split by dragging the border between the windows, and vertically stacking apps was not possible in portrait mode. However, Apple did provide a feature called app pairs, which allowed users to pair two apps together and access them easily in the Recents view.

The author used a Seenda folding Bluetooth keyboard and the iPhone Duo Folio with Kickstand for typing and keeping the device propped up, respectively.

While Slack's iOS app was optimized for the Duo's larger screen and vertical navigation, other apps, like Gmail, still had compatibility issues. Despite being impressed with the device's battery life, which lasted around 45% after six hours of screen-on time, the author concluded that the iPhone Duo is not a suitable replacement for a full-sized laptop. They did, however, predict that Apple Pencil support, expected to arrive later this year, would make the Duo even more appealing for work-related tasks.