Reason behind iPhone Duo’s hinge issues identified, and it's Apple's fault

The iPhone Duo has been in the news quite consistently ever since its unveiling on September 9. Shortly after people started getting their hands on the premium foldable, reports of the screen cracking started surfacing. A recent iFixit teardown revealed what might be the cause of failures, but there appears to be a deeper problem for which Apple is to blame.

According to AB Kuai.Dong on X, who cited reports coming out of China, Apple was not as concerned about quality with the iPhone Duo as it has been with past phones. For context, Apple designed the iPhone Duo, Samsung made the panel, and Foxconn in Taiwan does the final assembly. Recently, iFixit identified an issue with the hinge that could be causing the screens to crack. The reports now state that the problem is “roughly similar to iFixit’s analysis.”

More alarming is that Apple apparently lowered its quality inspection standards to ensure supply remains quick and uninterrupted. While this doesn’t mean all iPhone Duos are defective, it does mean that the probability of a defective model getting through and reaching customers is significantly higher.

Even with the more lax QA, Apple is still facing massive demand for the iPhone Duo that it is unable to meet. Some pre-orders have been pushed to January next year. For now, all that Apple has said about the iPhone Duo’s “crackgate” is that “a small number” of units are affected and that it will offer replacements for those. Whether it plans on addressing the larger issue remains to be seen.