Apple’s First Foldable, iPhone Duo, Costs RM9,499 In Malaysia

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Apple unveiled its first foldable phone today, the iPhone Duo, at a Cupertino event called Surprise and Sunshine. It’s the first major device launched under new CEO John Ternus, and it arrives seven years after Samsung’s original Galaxy Fold and years behind Xiaomi’s own wide-foldable lineup.

Malaysia gets it in the first wave, pre-orders open 16 October at 8pm, retail availability follows 23 October, pricing starts at RM9,499.

Pricing Climbs Fast Past The Entry Point

The 256GB model opens at RM9,499. 512GB costs RM10,499. 1TB runs RM12,499. The 2TB option, new to Apple’s lineup entirely, tops out at RM15,499. Two colours only, Star White and Night Sky. In the US, the base model starts at $1,999, making this comfortably Apple’s most expensive phone at launch, ahead of any Pro Max configuration.

A Passport-Sized Phone That Opens Into A Small Tablet

Closed, the Duo measures 5.4 inches and folds down to roughly passport dimensions, built specifically for one-handed use in that state. Open, the inner display hits 7.6 inches, which Apple says is 50% larger than the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s screen, while the outer display alone covers 90% of that same Pro Max’s screen area. Both panels share a 1.42:1 aspect ratio, so content scales proportionally moving between the two rather than needing to reformat.

Both screens run ProMotion, Always-On display, and up to 3,000 nits peak outdoor brightness. The inner folding panel gets a nano-texture finish aimed at cutting glare and making the crease less visible, a problem every foldable maker has struggled to fully solve. An under-display FaceTime camera sits inside the inner screen itself, hidden when not active, a similar approach to what Samsung’s used on recent Fold models.

Weight lands at 254 grams, heavier than Samsung’s 201-gram Galaxy Z Fold 8 by a meaningful margin, and 5 grams over even the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Thickness measures 5.2mm unfolded, which Apple’s calling its thinnest iPhone ever in that state, and 11.3mm folded shut.

Touch ID Makes A Comeback

Face ID is gone on this model, replaced by a Touch ID sensor built into the side button, functional whether the phone’s open or closed. Camera Control carries over from the standard iPhone 18 lineup, letting users jump straight into the camera app with a button press. USB-C Apple Pencil support is confirmed but won’t arrive until later this year, working across both the inner and outer displays once it lands.

Titanium Frame, A Complex Hinge, Real Durability Claims

The frame uses Grade 5 titanium, and the hinge itself is built from more than 100 components, with a 3D-printed titanium hinge cover. Ceramic Shield covers the back, Ceramic Shield 2 protects the outer display specifically. Despite the folding mechanism, Apple’s rated the Duo IP68 for dust and water resistance, notably higher than the IP48 rating on Samsung’s current Z Fold 8 lineup, a real advantage on paper if it holds up in independent testing.

Same Chip As The Pro Line, With Custom Cooling

The Duo runs Apple’s A20 Pro, the same chip powering the iPhone 18 Pro models, built on a 2nm process with a 6-core CPU, 7-core GPU, and dual 16-core Neural Engine. Apple claims up to 20% faster CPU performance and 40% faster GPU performance over the A19 Pro, plus 50% more unified memory bandwidth. Managing heat inside a chassis this thin required a custom vapour chamber connected directly to the chip package, a cooling solution Apple hasn’t needed on a phone before now.

Two Cameras, Not Three, Same Limitation As Samsung

The rear setup is dual, not triple, a 48MP Fusion Main camera and a 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide, with no dedicated telephoto lens. The main sensor offers optical-quality 2x zoom, and the Ultra Wide handles macro shots. Unlike the variable aperture system on the new iPhone 18 Pro line, the Duo’s main camera uses a fixed aperture.

The folding design opens up camera tricks a standard iPhone can’t do. Duo Preview shows subjects a live feed on the outer screen while being photographed with the higher-resolution rear cameras. Smart Take uses on-device AI to automatically fire the shutter when it detects people posing. Kid Cue displays Peanuts animations on the outer screen specifically to hold a child’s attention during a shot. Video tops out at 4K 120fps with Dolby Vision support.

Battery Life Depends On Which Screen You’re Using

Apple’s claiming up to 31 hours of video playback on the inner display alone, up to 44 hours on the outer display alone, or up to 24 hours with both screens used evenly, a genuinely wide range that reflects how much more power-hungry the larger inner panel is. Wired fast charging reaches 50% in about 20 minutes; MagSafe or Qi2 wireless charging takes roughly 30 minutes to hit the same mark.

No Physical SIM

The Duo is eSIM-only globally, the same approach Apple already took with the iPhone Air, and that includes the Malaysian model specifically, no physical SIM tray at all. Apple’s confirmed CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile and Yes as supported carriers locally. Connectivity runs through Apple’s own N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread, alongside the C2 modem for cellular, which Apple says improves both upload speeds and power efficiency over previous modem generations.

Software Built Specifically For The Fold

The Duo ships on iOS 27.1, with Apple rebuilding parts of the interface specifically for a foldable form factor, the Home Screen, Dynamic Island behaviour, and app navigation all adapted. The headline software feature is Split View, letting two apps run side by side on an iPhone for the first time ever. Users can also run two windows of the same app simultaneously and save app pairings for faster access later. Apple Intelligence and Siri’s AI features are supported too, though availability varies by region and language, consistent with how Apple’s rolled those features out elsewhere.

Foldables still make up less than 2% of the global smartphone market, according to Counterpoint Research, but the firm expects Apple’s entry to push that share as high as 25% by the end of the year if Apple hits its reported target of six million units shipped.

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