Made Entirely in China: iPhone Duo’s Fatal Flaw! Buyers Regret Paying More as Hinges & Screens Fail

A scalper paid 5,000 yuan markup to get the first iPhone Duo at its mainland China launch. The phone malfunctioned as soon as it was turned on. People in the crowd shouted, It won't turn off. It won't turn off. Oh no. This is the first phone. This is a real unit. Seriously. We just activated it right here. We just paid 20,000 yuan for it. Look at those scalpers now. They're afraid to buy anymore. Once the phone is activated, you can't turn it off. Holding the button doesn't work either. Nothing happens. Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, went on sale October 23, drawing heavy interest from fans. But problems surfaced that same day. Just two days after the launch, many buyers were already regretting their purchase. Does Apple allow returns within 7 days? No questions asked. I made a mistake. I'm done pretending I'm rich. I never thought a phone could waste space like a badly designed apartment. Watching Hong Guo's short dramas, I lose 700 square feet. On Douyin, I lose 2,100 square feet. Playing Battle of Golden Spatula, it's even worse, 3,600 square feet gone. All I get is a narrow hallway. The usual display is smaller than an iPhone 4. Man, I'm done showing off. Just give me back my money. I finally got the iPhone Duo I'd been waiting for. It's so frustrating, I have to laugh. My husband bought it for me yesterday at 9.17am, paying a 3,000 yuan markup. Before noon, I heard the markup was down to 2,000 yuan. By the time I took a bathroom break that afternoon, it was just over 1,000 yuan. By evening, I heard it was only 200 or 300 yuan. You didn't even need a scalper anymore. At this rate, they'll have to cut the price tomorrow or nobody will buy it. Fine, I can accept all that. I can accept the price. But somebody explain how I'm supposed to use this thing. Let's put aside the sluggish response. Open this app and there's a huge blank strip. Who is that space for? People online say you're paying for wasted space. And that really is what it feels like. Fine, I can even put up with that. But I can't stay logged into WeChat on both devices. Even Huawei gives you an option to log in as a tablet. Let's put that aside too. Just use it as a tablet then. But here's the ridiculous part. Play a video and it's a tiny strip in the middle with empty space on both sides. Turn it upright and it's still a tiny strip that big screen serves no purpose. Apple, if you can't get a folding screen right, stop forcing it. It feels like you saw Huawei's trifold phone and rushed to catch up. One person on Threads said they decided to resell their new iPhone Duo after using it for less than a day. The buyer said the long-awaited iPhone Duo arrived on the 24th, but using it made them want to sell it. They gave three reasons. First, compatible cases were available in only a limited range of styles. Second, recent reports of screen damage raised concerns about durability. Third, some apps had not been optimized for the iPhone Duo's 1.4 to 1 screen ratio that hurt both usability and viewing, leading them to resell the phone. Reactions to the post were mixed. Some people said a case was unnecessary. They had used phones without cases for years and saw no reason to change that with the new model. Others agree that accessories were limited, comments included. There really aren't many manufacturers and the cases look so thick and bulky. They felt accessories still needed work. As for app compatibility, some said new phones still need time to settle in. Developer updates could improve the experience. Others said, I'll wait and see, or, it's only the first year, they're testing the waters. They saw no need to rush, especially with the iPhone's 20th anniversary coming next year. preferred to wait for the new hardware and software to mature before deciding whether to upgrade. Feedback from users in China was more direct, underscoring concerns about protecting the iPhone Duo. The iPhone Duo just jammed. I couldn't open the inner screen. I don't know if I'm the first person online this has happened to. Here's what happened. I went to the bathroom in the dark this morning. My phone was sitting here and accidentally fell, screen first, onto the floor. I checked it right away. The outside looked completely fine. I had a case and screen protector on it. Not even a scratch. They protected it really well, but the screen wouldn't unfold. It was stuck like this. No matter how I tried, I couldn't open it. So apparently, the impact alone was enough to damage the hinge. In the end, I forced it open. As it opened, I heard a crack, like some part had snapped. I don't know if a gear slipped out of place or broke. What I do know is that it opens and closes now. But every time it reaches about 45 degrees, it makes a strange noise. I'm not sure you can hear it. Take good care of this phone. The hinge breaks too far easily. Even if the phone looks undamaged, a bump, a knock, or a jolt can damage the hinge. A phone costing more than 28,000 yuan broke after three days. I feel like I paid almost 30,000 yuan for something I have to wait on hand and foot. I've booked a repair. Stay tuned for an update. One user wrote, in sports injury assessments, that clicking sound means a damaged meniscus. Another said, after watching launch day buyers' videos for a few days, I'm getting worried. I'm wondering whether to cancel my phone, which ships December 5th. Yet just a month earlier, this was the market for the iPhone Duo. Apple's new foldable iPhone Duo has huge markups and scalpers everywhere. You basically can't get it for the original 15,999 yuan. Even at 50,000 yuan, about 7,000 US dollars, you might not get one. I've seen auction prices top 70,000 yuan. If you get one at retail and resell it, you can make tens of thousands of yuan on a single flip. Unless you're really wealthy, I think you should sell it if you manage to get one at retail, then buy it again at the regular price once the excitement dies down. You can make enough to get one or even two phones for free. Many comments that the vlogger had seen it coming. They said that intense online hype about limited supply had already made them suspect a trap. After testing the iPhone Duo's camera, one user said, Wow, this image quality is terrible, damn. So this is supposed to be a great invention. It's a little better with more light, but close up, it's still really blurry. My iPhone Duo arrived, And using it is so frustrating, I have to laugh. I can live with third-party apps not being optimized. But even your own Apple Store app doesn't fit the screen. That makes no sense. Honestly though, app compatibility is a minor issue compared with the biggest problem. Fingerprint unlocking. Look, I've set it to open the home screen with a light touch. But when the screen is off, touching it does nothing. Even with the always-on display enabled, there's still no response. You have to wake the screen before fingerprint unlocking will work. The vlogger described himself as a long-time Apple fan, but requiring the screen to be awake before fingerprint unlocking works left him questioning Apple's idea of unlocking. Even with the screen on, it took nearly a second to unlock, and recognition was unreliable. He found the process slow and frustrating. By comparison, a light touch on a Samsung phone's side fingerprint sensor opens the home screen. Light and proximity sensors help prevent accidental activation, even inside a pocket. He said Apple should prevent accidental touches without making access harder for the owner. He also criticized the matte film covering the inner screen, calling it a way to hide the problem. He said the front and rear cameras were major downgrades from the iPhone 18. Going back still required tapping a side button, which he found poorly designed. At that point, he said he was tired of listing complaints. He still considered the iPhone 18 Pro Max this year's best iPhone purchase. Still, he praised the foldable iPhone's premium feel. Once apps were optimized, he expected it to be reasonably easy to use and still worth considering. But he stressed that it wasn't a breakthrough like the iPhone 4 or the iPhone X. It was a follower and an unfinished one. The foldable phone reinforced his view that Apple remains the world's most powerful technology company, but its creativity is running dry. He said it could no longer deliver the brilliant solutions to industry problems that it once did. As a longtime fan, he found that deeply disappointing. Apple's first foldable also brought unusually heavy losses for scalpers in China. The iPhone Duo has burned a lot of people. In 48 hours, the markup went from 58,000 yuan with no bargaining to 3,000 yuan, with sellers begging someone to take it. A dealer in Zhengzhou went through that rollercoaster. He stocked up on 50 iPhone Duos, expecting to make 100,000 yuan. Then prices collapsed overnight. Instead, he lost 25,000 yuan, about 3,500 US dollars. The vlogger recalled that on the evening of October 16th, traffic briefly crashed the official iPhone Duo pre-order website. Every model sold out within one minute. On shopping platforms, the 1TB version briefly reached 79,900 yuan, about 11,200 US dollars. That was nearly 60,000 yuan above its official 19,999 yuan price, about 2,800 US dollars. Scalpers confidently posted on WeChat Moments, act fast or miss out. But by October 19, resale markups had plunged to around 3,000 yuan, a drop of more than 95%. The frenzy went from instant sellouts to a crash in just two days. Scalpers who stocked up at high prices lost their bets and took heavy losses. They had expected easy profits but ended up holding overpriced inventory. The vlogger said pre-order deliveries had slipped into January of next year, suggesting huge demand. But sellers in Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen, summed it up differently. Plenty of speculators, few actual users. Few people lining up intended to use the foldable as their main phone. Most were betting that Apple's first foldable would become a hot resale item, much like Maotai liquor. He said this was a speculation rather than genuine consumer demand. Once the trading stopped, whoever was left holding the phones would pay the price. He listed several reasons the frenzy ended so quickly. First, production increased faster than anyone expected. The market had worried that Apple's first foldable would suffer from manufacturing problems and limited stock. Instead, the supply chain ran smoothly from pre-orders through delivery. Markups collapsed before scalpers could sell their inventory. Second, the eSIM-only design created a barrier in mainland China. With no physical SIM slot, users had to visit a carrier store and verify their identity to activate service. That was a hassle for some buyers. Third, foldables are still a small market. Android foldables have been around for years, yet they still account for less than 3% of global phone sales. With such a small market, the number of actual buyers is limited. The vlogger concluded that a market built on hype can collapse as soon as the excitement fades. Scalpers were among those hardest hit. That video was posted several days ago. Resell prices for the iPhone Duo have since fallen below retail. As the phone launched worldwide, complaints also emerged in other markets. Some buyers said cracks or unusual bright lines appeared on the folding screen within a day. Others reported broken screens, raising concerns about durability. Several users on Reddit and X, said the inner screen suddenly failed as they opened or closed the phone. Some devices developed clear cracks along the center hinge. Others showed horizontal bright lines or bright spots. Some users also heard an unusual cracking sound. One buyer in Australia said the screen broke in about six hours after purchase, after fewer than 20 openings and closings. He was showing the new phone to a friend. As he unfolded it, something near the hinge felt wrong. Then he heard a sharp crack, and the inner display split along the fold. He said he had not dropped the phone, neither the screen surface nor the outer hinge showed visible damage. He then took it to an Apple store, where staff reportedly replaced it. As similar cases emerged, some people online began calling the controversy Screen Crackgate. Apple issued a statement on October 26 in response to the concerns. It said early buyers' overall response to the iPhone Duo had been very positive, but it acknowledged problems with the inner screens on a very small number of devices. Device Teardown and Repair Group iFixit said that cracks might be linked to the folding screen's internal mechanism, but it could not yet identify the exact cause. One possibility, the group said, was that the central support beneath the screen failed to retract properly as the phone folded. That could put abnormal pressure on the flexible display and damage it. Other possible causes include dust or debris inside the hinge, misaligned parts, or manufacturing defects in individual units. Repair costs have also drawn buyers' attention, alongside durability concerns. Apple has published U.S. repair prices for the foldable. Repairs could be expensive if the damage falls outside warranty coverage. Replacing the inner folding screen costs $999, about half the phone's starting price. Other serious damage could cost up to $1,499 to repair. By comparison, inner screen repairs cost $419 for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 and $479 for the Z Fold 8 Ultra. Even repairing the entire Z Fold 8 display assembly costs about $579, well below Apple's price. Those prices mainly apply to repair's outside warranty coverage. If Apple determines that a screen failure stems from a product defect, users can seek a free repair or replacement under its limited warranty. Despite the cracked screen controversy, early demand for the iPhone Duo remained strong. Major retailers put out display units for shoppers to try, but one person noticed that a demo phone at Costco was firmly attached to the counter and could not be moved. Shoppers could not test its main selling point, folding it. The post sparked discussion online. One commenter wrote, They're afraid one phone will turn into two. People online pointed to three reasons for Apple's problems. First, they said it had copied Xiaomi and Huawei by using artificial scarcity and misleading promotion. Second, by following Huawei into foldables, it had abandoned its strengths and distinctive approach, producing an awkward compromise. Third, and most importantly, Apple's chief promoted production entirely in China as a selling point. These commenters argued that this was instead a key weakness. With China's economy slowing, they said, the country's manufacturing reputation had shifted from efficiency and reliability toward misleading marketing and poor quality. In their view, Apple's growing resemblance to Chinese phone brands made its failure inevitable.