Apple Debuts Its First Foldable iPhone — Don't Call It a Flip Phone!

Nearly 20 years after the first iPhone debuted, Apple has unveiled the first foldable version of the phone, which "opens like a passport," not like a flip phone, and features a seamless screen that expands to a tablet-like 7.6-inch display.

Wednesday was the first big product-reveal day for newly installed Apple CEO John Ternus, who assumed duties from Tim Cook officially on September 1. Apple has a tradition of hosting these product lineup showcase events right after Labor Day, and Ternus even gave a reverent nod to the late Steve Jobs, doing his old "actually there is one more thing" schtick after cycling through more mundane updates to the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods.

And when the "one more thing" came up on the screen, many in the room probably had already heard the speculation and knew what was coming — but there was oohing and ahhing anyway. And, yes, the iPhone Duo, as it's called, will be yet another even more expensive iPhone model which the average person can't afford, starting at $1,999 — but it does look like it will replace the need to have an iPad as well.

While Apple has been ahead of the curve with its hardware in the past, the company has been criticized in recent years for falling behind on various innovations as other technology makers have stepped in — including with the return to compact, foldable phones.

So what took so long?

As Apple's VP for worldwide product marketing Kaiann Drance tells ABC 7, "We wanted to create an experience on a foldable design that we wanted to use for ourselves. Something that met the standards of iPhone and was remarkably familiar to iPhone in that way as well. And that's what we did."

Drance adds, "You open it up, it's got this gorgeous, beautiful, large display, and then you close it. It still has a beautiful display that fits easily in your pocket and you can hold it with one hand. And what brings it together is this reimagined iOS experience."

The phones will his shelves in October, but some tech journalists were given about 45 minutes to play around with tester models at Wednesday's event, as the New York Times reports. Still, the NYT folks are pretty cagey with their initial thoughts, with just this one initial-impression review from Wirecutter's Brenda Stolyar.

Stolyar notes that the full, folded out screen of the iPhone Duo is just a bit smaller than an iPad Mini — so, yes, for many this will negate the need for the second device. She notes that, compared to other companies' foldables, "App handoff is seamless. Anything you view on the cover screen seamlessly transitions to the larger interior display when you open the phone," which is superior to the lag she's experienced on the Galaxy Z Fold8. Unlike the Fold8, however, the iPhone Duo only allows two side-by-side app screens to appear simultaneously on the interior display, where the Fold8 allows up to three.

Stolyar also notes that, unlike the Fold8, the interior display of the iPhone Duo doesn't have an ugly, intrusive punchout in the corner for the interior camera, which disrupts the screen when it's being used to play video or games. Instead, the interior camera here is hidden beneath the screen and only appears when the camera is in use.

Stolyar also says that the matte screen on the interior is superior to other foldables with glossy screens, reducing glare and it "also helps to reduce the visibility of the crease." She adds that the crease is "difficult to see unless you’re really looking for it," and you can just barely detect the indent when running a finger over it.

And the iPhone Duo will also become a great note-taking device, she writes, given that it has stylus support and that paper-like, matte display — with the only other current foldable model offering stylus capability being the Motorola Razr Fold.

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