Apple now sells seven different iPhone models at once, and PCMag has just updated its annual buying guide to sort through them, adding the iPhone Duo for the first time as Apple's debut foldable.
The outlet's pick for most buyers remains the iPhone 17, which it named its Editors' Choice winner. PCMag's writeup credits the base model with a 6.3-inch ProMotion display, a jump to 256GB of base storage without a price increase, the Action Button and Camera Control key, Apple's new N1 chip for Bluetooth, Thread and Wi-Fi, an upgraded ultra-wide camera, and an A19 processor that runs Apple Intelligence. PCMag calls it fast enough for gaming and capable enough for social content, at a price well below the Pro models.
The flagships and the first foldable
At the top end, PCMag handed the iPhone 18 Pro Max both a Lab Award for longest battery life, up to 34.5 hours by the outlet's figures, and a separate Editors' Choice nod. The review credits the phone with a new variable aperture lens, an A20 Pro processor, a vapor chamber cooling system, and support for Apple Intelligence features including Siri AI, all running on iOS 27. The smaller iPhone 18 Pro gets the same A20 Pro chip and camera system in a body PCMag describes as more comfortable to hold, for $100 less than the Pro Max.
The real addition to this year's guide is the iPhone Duo, Apple's first folding phone. PCMag notes that until now, anyone who wanted a foldable had to leave iOS behind. The Duo starts at $1,999 and runs as high as $3,200 for the 2TB configuration, according to PCMag's listing. Despite that price, the outlet's review describes the Duo as delivering the best hardware, performance and battery life of any foldable phone currently on the market, with split-screen multitasking and an iOS layout built around productivity and media use.
Where the rest of the lineup lands
PCMag's guide also keeps a spot for the iPhone Air, which it describes as leaning on design over raw performance, and the iPhone 16, which it still calls the best value in Apple's current lineup thanks to a fast processor, long battery life and Apple Intelligence support. The budget iPhone 17e rounds things out, with PCMag crediting it with much of what makes the standard iPhone 17 appealing at a lower price, plus an upgraded processor, charging hardware and camera over its predecessor.
PCMag says the rest of its recommendations are unchanged from earlier updates and have been checked for accuracy. With the Duo now folded into the guide, the lineup spans from the iPhone 16 at the low end to a $3,200 foldable at the top, giving buyers a wider spread of prices and form factors than Apple has offered in any previous year.
Apple has not said whether the Duo will get a second-generation update on the usual annual cycle, so for now it sits alongside six slab-style iPhones as the only fold in the range.
RRFiled by The Reviews Roundup Desk
What the reviews are saying: verdicts on new devices from the outlets that tested them, summarised and credited to each. This desk does not test products itself.
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