Apple’s first foldable iPhone went on sale October 23, and some new owners report that their devices are already broken.
Within days of the new iPhone Duo hitting stores, photos and videos of cracked screens started surfacing online. Consumers said the device’s inner screen broke in the middle near the hinge where the phone folds, leaving a line across the screen.
The duo, whose price starts at nearly $2,000 and rises to $3,000 for higher-end models, represents Apple’s biggest bet in years and the first major product rollout under new Apple CEO John Ternus.
“Loud Pop”
Jesse Dalton, who lives near Frisco, Texas, bought the duo the day it came out. He told CBS News that he just put a case on the phone and opened the device when it was “just about halfway up the hinge super tight.”
“Just pushed past it, assuming it was just stuck on the case or something for some reason, and the whole thing just snapped. I just heard a loud pop, and the screen just cracked in the middle,” Dalton said.
“I didn’t even make it through setup,” he added.
Dalton said he paid about $800 for the 512-gigabyte model after an AT&T trade-in promotion, bringing the full retail price to about $2,200.
A local Apple store had a replacement on hand, he noted. “So they had one, and they were able to exchange it right away. So I was in and out for like 30 minutes.”
But Dalton expressed concern about the phone’s durability.
“Every time I open it, I have a little pause where I wait to see if it finds the same path,” he said.
Justin Smith bought a duo as a graduation present for his wife Roneshia. She said it cracked the following morning, less than 24 hours after purchase.
“We both woke up, and like most people, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand. I went to open it like a book, and I realized I just couldn’t open it. There was a lot of resistance,” she said.
“When I was finally able to get it open, that’s when we heard the cracking sound, like an egg cracking. We just really just started laughing basically because we were like, no way, it’s been less than 24 hours,” Roneshia added.
After taking her device to an Apple Store, she said the staff said they couldn’t fix it and that the only option was a replacement. But because the Phone is backorderedShe is not sure when she will get a new duo. “I’m kind of stuck in this limbo.”
What Apple says
Apple told CBS News that it is aware that some Duo owners are reporting problems with the phone.
“The response to iPhone Duo from early adopters has been incredibly positive, and we’re seeing exciting things from developers who are quickly updating their apps to take advantage of its unique form factor,” the company said in a statement. “We are aware of an issue affecting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units. If users experience problems with their iPhone Duo display, they should contact AppleCare for a replacement.”
Lance Ulanoff, editor at technology news website TechRadar, said the duo’s folding screen is made up of multiple layers, including an OLED panel, glass, a plastic cover and a mechanical hinge. The ultra-thin glass could be the most fragile part, he said.
Apple’s quick acknowledgment of a problem with the device is also unusual, Ulanoff noted.
“I was honestly shocked that Apple responded and acknowledged that they saw a small number of these things. That’s not typical for Apple to do that,” he said.
Ulanoff, who said he’s been using a Duo for a week and a half, has had no problems with his own device. “I think it just looks like a blip right now. We’ll keep an eye on it if there’s more than that.”
Ulanoff said owners with a damaged Duo should go to Apple, and he recommends making an appointment at an Apple Store instead of walking in.
“I would make a beeline right back to Apple,” he said.
The reports came as Apple prepared for another product event in Los Angeles this week, where the company is expected to unveil a touchscreen laptop.