Apple has confirmed that some iPhone Duo units are shipping with a flawed inner display, after days of social media posts showing cracked screens along the device's hinge.
In a statement given to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and shared on X on October 26, Apple said: "We are aware of an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units. If users experience issues with their iPhone Duo display, they should contact AppleCare for a replacement."
That's the first time Apple has put a name to what some owners online had started calling "crackgate," the nickname for a string of reports describing the fold-out screen splitting right where the hinge meets the display. The complaints started showing up on Reddit and elsewhere over the past weekend, not long after the Duo reached early buyers.
How big is "small"
Apple hasn't said how many devices are affected, and it isn't clear whether the cracks stem from a design flaw across the line or a defect limited to a batch of units. Both are plausible from what's public so far. A flaw in the hinge geometry itself would be a far bigger headache for Apple than a manufacturing slip in one production run, since the first would need a fix that reaches every unit while the second might just mean swapping out bad parts.
What's made the pattern harder to read is that at least one of the viral demonstrations wasn't an accident. YouTuber CuriousHagi managed to reproduce a crack, but only after deliberately bending the phone backward as a stress test, well outside how Apple expects the hinge to be used. Some Reddit users pointed that out as evidence the viral clips don't all represent ordinary handling. Whether the remaining reports involve similarly rough treatment or normal use is still unresolved.
Foreign to most iPhone buyers, foldables in general are more fragile at the fold than a traditional slab phone, and the Duo is Apple's first attempt at the format. Plenty of its new owners have never had to learn the unwritten rules of handling a folding screen, chief among them: don't force the hinge past where it wants to go.
What to do if your Duo cracks
For now, Apple's guidance is simple. If the inner display cracks, call AppleCare and ask for a replacement. The company hasn't said whether that replacement is free for affected units or what proof, if any, owners will need to provide, and it hasn't detailed whether the fix involves a hardware revision for future stock.
Set against how many Duos have actually shipped, the volume of complaints so far looks modest, a handful of threads rather than a wave. But the launch hasn't been clean either way: the Duo has also faced shipping delays tied to demand. Apple's next move, and the one that matters most to buyers, is whatever changes it makes to the hinge or the display stack for units still on the way.
MDFiled by The Mobile Desk
Phones from leak to launch to price cut: what was announced, what it costs where, and when it goes on sale. Indian launches and prices included, not appended.
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