Apple has set Friday, October 16 as the day preorders open for the iPhone Duo, its first folding iPhone, at a U.S. starting price of $1,999. Both specifics come from Apple itself rather than from a leak: the company announced the phone on September 9, 2026, and its release names October 16 for orders and October 23 for the first deliveries.
That $1,999 buys the 256GB model, the cheapest of four storage options that climb to 2TB. The phone is not available to order yet, so everything about it, from battery hours to crease visibility, still rests on Apple’s own numbers until reviewers and buyers get units. Apple has not said how many units it will have on October 16, and the company’s release makes no promise about stock for the first wave of 70-plus countries.
The October 16 and October 23 dates
Apple’s newsroom announcement says preorders begin Friday, October 16, with availability starting Friday, October 23. The first wave covers more than 70 countries, among them the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, India, Japan, China and Australia, and a second group of 28 additional countries follows on October 30.
The timing varies by region. Australian outlet ITWire lists preorders there as Friday, October 16 at 11 p.m. AEST, which lines up with early Friday morning in California, where the opening is set for 5 a.m. Pacific.
Storage tiers from $1,999 to $3,199
The $1,999 figure is a floor. Coverage of the launch by Nasdaq puts it on the 256GB model in star white or night sky, and a second report from Action News Jax gives the 2TB version as $3,199. Apple also sells 512GB and 1TB configurations between them. Apple’s release lists financing from $83.29 a month for 24 months, and a lease-style Apple Upgrade plan through Klarna from $57.99 a month.
Prices abroad run higher after conversion: ITWire reports A$3,499 for the entry model in Australia, rising to A$5,899 at 2TB. Accessories are extra, with a $79 case and a $129 folio with kickstand. For a buyer in the United States the arithmetic is simple: $1,999 before any accessory, trade-in or financing, and $3,199 at the top of the range, a gap of $1,200 for the larger storage.
The Duo was not the only product on stage. Action News Jax reports that Apple introduced it alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, AirPods 5 and new Apple Watch models, in what it describes as Ternus’s first product announcement as chief executive. Those other devices went on a faster schedule, with ITWire listing Australian preorders on September 12 and stock arriving September 18, which leaves the foldable as the one product with a five-week gap between reveal and order day.
A 7.6-inch inner screen and a 5.4-inch cover display
Opened, the iPhone Duo shows a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR inner display; closed, it presents a 5.4-inch outer display of the same type. Both screens carry ProMotion and Always On, with a rated peak brightness of 3,000 nits. The product page lists a titanium frame and hinge cover with IP68 water and dust resistance, an A20 Pro chip, a 48-megapixel Fusion main camera paired with a 48-megapixel ultra wide, and an under-display camera for FaceTime.
The battery is split across the two halves. Apple rates video playback at up to 31 hours on the inner display and up to 44 hours on the outer one, and claims about 50 percent charge in around 20 minutes on a wired connection. The phone is eSIM-only worldwide and ships running iOS 27.1. Nasdaq’s account of the launch adds that a feature called Smart Take uses on-device processing to capture photos automatically, and that Apple Pencil support is scheduled to arrive later in 2026, so some of the hardware’s pitch is still waiting on software.
The crease is the question most buyers will ask first. MacRumors notes that Apple calls the display “wonderfully flat and smooth” on its product page, and that its release says the nano-texture finish is designed to “minimize crease visibility.” The wording stops short of saying the crease is gone, and the report adds that Apple publishes no fold-cycle rating.
Chief executive John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on September 1, described the phone as “the most transformational change to iPhone since the original.” The claim covers a hinge of more than 100 components, two batteries and a display that Apple built to be used at two different sizes. How well that engineering holds up is something only independent testing of production units can settle, and those units reach buyers’ hands from October 23, one week after the 5 a.m. Pacific opening of preorders.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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