{
  "id": 16577291,
  "title": "Foldable iPhone Duo Devices Are Reportedly Breaking In Large Numbers, With Displays Failing Along The Hinge Crease",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/26/foldable-iphone-duo-devices-are-reportedly-breaking-in-large-numbers",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-26T08:16:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/tech/foldable-iphone-duo-devices-are-reportedly-breaking-in-large-numbers-with-displays-failing-along-the-hinge-crease"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Reports indicate that a significant number of Apple's inaugural foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, are experiencing display failures, particularly at the hinge crease. Outages have been reported in Australia, the United States, Canada, and China, with the initial complaints originating from China and Australia, which received early shipments hours prior to the US market. A viral post on X suggests that the issue affects devices in Japan and other regions, claiming that foldable phones are breaking in large numbers.\n\nOne detailed account comes from a Reddit user from Australia, who states that their inner display cracked along the hinge after just six hours and fewer than twenty openings. The user reported hearing an audible crack and observed the screen break along the hinge. Upon bringing it to an Apple store, the phone was promptly replaced. Another Reddit user, Bitter_Offer7123, has gathered images from Chinese communities, showing damage in a pattern matching the crease along the hinge. Symptoms range from a black line appearing across the screen after a few days to visible cracks and pixel faults producing white lines near the crease. Some users describe dark lines and bright pixels in these areas rather than a complete crack.\n\nDigital Trends notes that these failures seem to cluster around a similar point near the hinge. One Reddit user suggested that the display might be being pinched at this location. Repair experts have pointed to the hinge, noting in iFixit's teardown released on October 25 that the damage clusters slightly below where the display cable passes through the hinge, where multiple edges meet and affect how the screen is supported. iFixit hypothesizes that the central support bar may not drop sufficiently, though they did not confirm the cause. They advise owners to expect an out-of-warranty inner-screen replacement to cost $999.\n\nReviewers from news outlets had not reported such problems, and YouTubers Tim Pan and Joanna Stern tested the iPhone Duo through thousands of folds without any cracks, although wear was noticeable. However, other sources have seen worse outcomes. JerryRigEverything's bend test left a permanent green line across the inner display, which eventually stopped responding altogether. The same test also revealed a scratched inner screen at a Mohs hardness level of 2.\n\nApple has responded with a support document detailing troubleshooting steps for issues with opening or closing the phone, unexpected noises, and a loose, bent, or broken hinge. However, the company has not publicly addressed the reports of cracked displays or provided specific information on the number of affected units.",
  "summary": "Early buyers of Apple's first folding phone are posting images of inner displays that have failed along the crease. Reports have come from Australia, the US, Canada and China. The first came out of China and Australia, which get launch-day stock hours ahead of the US. A viral post on X claims buyers in Japan and elsewhere have the same problem and that the phones are 'breaking in large numbers'.…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}