Apple Prices Its First Foldable iPhone Duo At $1,999, And Samsung Should Worry

Apple priced its first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, at $1,999 and set an Oct. 23 release, landing about $100 above Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8.

Key Points:

Apple's iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 for 256GB and reaches $3,199 at 2TB, with preorders opening Oct. 16.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 undercuts it at $1,899 and stays thinner and lighter, at 4.5mm and 201 grams.

Foldables account for roughly 2.2 percent of global smartphone units this year but close to 7 percent of revenue.

iPhone Duo Price And Release Date

Chief executive John Ternus introduced the device Wednesday at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, in his first launch event since replacing Tim Cook. Storage tiers climb from $1,999 for 256GB to $3,199 for 2TB. Preorders open Oct. 16.

Ternus dismissed existing foldables as two phones stuck awkwardly together, a description aimed at the category Samsung has led since 2019.

The Duo opens from a 5.4-inch outer screen to a 7.6-inch inner display. Apple dropped Face ID in favor of a Touch ID sensor built into the side button. At 5.2mm unfolded, it is the thinnest iPhone the company has built.

Also Read: XRP Price Eyes $1.46 With Whale Accumulation Back In September

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Hardware Comparison

Samsung reached the passport shape first, in July, and it got there with less bulk. The Z Fold 8 weighs 201 grams and measures 4.5mm open, against 254 grams and 5.2mm for the Duo.

Both phones unfold to 7.6 inches.

Rear cameras look close on paper. Samsung fits two 50-megapixel sensors, while Apple pairs two 48-megapixel cameras with a 12-megapixel Center Stage lens and a FaceTime camera hidden beneath the inner screen. Apple also skipped a dedicated telephoto lens, a compromise the cheaper iPhone 18 Pro does not make.

Durability separates them more clearly. The Duo carries an IP68 rating, while the Z Fold 8 is rated IP48, a mark that covers water immersion but blocks only dust particles larger than a millimeter.

Francisco Jeronimo On Foldable Share

Francisco Jeronimo, a vice president at IDC, said Apple showed up years after everyone else and still set the terms rivals will be measured against. He called China the harder fight, with Huawei holding nearly 80 percent of foldable sales there. The prize is smaller than the attention suggests.

IDC projects foldables at 2.2 percent of global smartphone units this year, climbing to roughly 3.1 percent by 2030.

Revenue tells a friendlier story, at close to 7 percent of the smartphone market now and 10 percent by the end of the decade.

Samsung shipped the original Galaxy Fold in September 2019, and the seven years since have been spent arguing about creases, hinges and price. Counterpoint research puts Samsung near 40 percent of the foldable market today, with Huawei around 30 percent. Apple arrives last and charges the most.

Alexey Bondarev

Alexey Bondarev is the Head of Content at Yellow.com, having reported on crypto for the last 10 years. He specializes in in-depth Research and Learn pieces, with a focus on analytical reporting, industry context, and the bigger forces shaping crypto, from the AI era and security technologies to fintech innovation. He believes that everything digital will imminently overcome everything analogue and is working hard to make that come true.