Day two of the iPhone Duo brings its first big durability verdict, and it isn’t a kind one. Zack Nelson of the JerryRigEverything YouTube channel put Apple’s first foldable through his usual scratch, heat, dirt and bend tests, and declared it a failure.
“I’ve been testing these folding phones since the first generation seven years ago – most do survive,” Nelson said, as quoted by MacRumors. “The iPhone Duo did not.”
The phone didn’t snap in half. What got it was a handful of dirt.
What happened in the test
Here’s the rundown, based on Nelson’s video and write-ups from MacRumors, MobiDevices and Notebookcheck:
- The outer screen held up. The Ceramic Shield 2 cover display started showing faint scratches at level 7 on the Mohs hardness scale, with deeper marks at level 8. That’s in line with a regular iPhone.
- The inner screen is soft, like every foldable. The 7.6-inch folding display picked up marks at level 2, and a fingernail can leave a deeper scratch. Nelson gave Apple credit for the matte nano-texture coating, which makes fine scratches “magically disappear” when the screen is on. MobiDevices notes they’re hidden, not gone.
- Heat hit the inner panel faster. In the lighter test, the inner display showed damage after about 10 seconds. The outer display lasted more than 20.
- Sand jammed the hinge. Nelson covered the phone in sand and dirt and opened and closed it several times. Debris got into the hinge, and the magnets that hold the Duo shut could no longer pull the two halves together. The phone stayed slightly open.
- A reverse bend killed the inner screen. Bending the open phone the wrong way flexed the titanium frame but didn’t break the body or hinge. It did leave a permanent green line across the inner display. A second bend added more lines, and then the touch layer stopped responding even though the screen still showed an image.
The Verge summed it up: the real death knell was “a handful of dirt that works its way into the hinge and keeps the phone from closing ever again.”
Doesn’t the Duo have an IP68 rating?
It does, and that’s why the dirt result is getting attention. Apple says the Duo was tested for dust and water resistance under the IEC 60529 standard in controlled lab conditions.
But MobiDevices points out that Nelson’s test isn’t the standard IP6X procedure. He packed sand and larger dirt particles right around the folding mechanism. So the test shows the hinge is vulnerable to heavy contamination. It doesn’t, on its own, disprove Apple’s rating. Notebookcheck’s take: this kind of soaking isn’t an everyday thing, but the hinge could be a weak point in places like the beach.
How it compares
Notebookcheck says most current Samsung foldables survive Nelson’s tests, including the bend test. The notable exceptions are Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Nelson couldn’t say exactly why the Duo’s screen failed, per MobiDevices. It could have been dirt still inside the hinge, or the frame not being stiff enough when bent backward.
This is also a different test from the one reviewers ran. As we covered Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern folded her review unit more than 32,000 times, and the hinge felt about the same afterward. That was a test of normal opening and closing. Nelson’s test was about abuse.
What this means for owners
This isn’t the same story as the hinge cracks owners reported yesterday, where screens failed during normal use. Nobody should expect a phone to survive being buried in sand and bent backward. Still, there are some practical takeaways:
- Keep it away from sand and grit. Beach bags, gym bags and the bottom of a backpack are where debris gets into hinges.
- Don’t bend it past flat. The frame flexes, and per Nelson’s test the panel is what gives, not the metal.
- Know the repair math. MobiDevices notes Apple charges $49 to replace the inner screen’s top layer without AppleCare+ and $999 to repair the inner display itself. As we broke down earlier this month, AppleCare+ drops that to a $99 deductible.
- You’re still in the return window. If you bought on Friday and these reports have you second-guessing a $1,999 phone, MacRumors says you have two weeks to return it.
Nelson’s videos are built to find a breaking point, and he found two. For most people, the more useful number is still how the Duo holds up over months of normal folding. That’s the story to watch as the first wave of owners puts real miles on it.
Reporting reference: MacRumors ↗