Owners are reporting cracked inner displays and bright lines near the hinge just days after Apple’s first foldable phone went on sale, while teardown evidence points to dust entering the mechanism.
Reports of cracked inner displays on Apple’s iPhone Duo are surfacing only days after the company’s first foldable reached customers, raising early questions over the durability of the hinge and the flexible panel at the heart of the device. Multiple owners have described visible cracks or bright white lines appearing along the crease, in some cases after only a handful of folds, according to accounts gathered by MacRumours, Tom’s Guide and Digital Trends.
The pattern reported so far appears to centre on the transition point near the hinge, where the folding display must flex around internal support structures and a connecting cable. In some cases, users have also described malfunctioning pixels beside the crack line. A small number of reports have come from the US, China, Canada and Australia, although the total number of affected devices remains unclear. One Australian owner said the fault appeared after fewer than 20 folds and around six hours of use, with Apple reportedly providing an immediate replacement. MacRumours and other outlets said the cause has not yet been established, but Apple is likely to be looking into whether the problem reflects a manufacturing issue or an early design flaw.
Teardown work from iFixit suggests the hinge itself may be one of the phone’s weak points. The site found that fine dust can still reach moving parts inside the mechanism, despite the iPhone Duo’s IP68 dust and water resistance rating. Although iFixit said the device kept out less debris than some rival foldables, particles were still able to enter the hinge area. That could matter because any obstruction in a foldable hinge may prevent the support structure from retracting cleanly, increasing pressure on the OLED panel as the handset closes.
Repair costs make the issue more painful for owners. HardwareZone said replacing the inner display in Singapore could cost about S$1,549 without AppleCare+, compared with S$148 under Apple’s protection plan, while other accidental-damage repairs can rise to as much as S$2,319. There is some reassurance for affected customers: reports indicate that Apple has already replaced some units, and genuine manufacturing defects should fall under the standard warranty. Even so, the early failures underline a familiar challenge for foldables: the more mechanically ambitious the design, the more points there are where the display can fail.
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