Following the iPhone Duo launch on Friday, a number of owners are reporting that their inner screens have cracked and broken on their own (top image via scary_duck23 on Reddit).
The affected units all seem to break in the same way. The screen cracks down the center line of the hinge, and a horizontal block of pixels on the screen is then stuck glowing white.
The scale of the issue remains unclear. We’ve seen about ten unique instances so far, with many posting their (similar) experiences on the iPhone Duo subreddit.
The amount of time it takes for the cracking to happen varies, but obviously it doesn’t take too long since customers have only been able to start unboxing the device since Friday morning. A couple of people even said theirs cracked during the first setup process.
From what we’ve seen so far, most buyers experiencing this problem have been able to return to the Apple Store and get a straight device replacement.
People who bought from carriers may have had less luck, as the carriers do not have immediate stock to give out a replacement. One person said they were told that they must have dropped the phone to cause the damage, and that it was on them to pay for repair.
Top comment by FalcoMcGregor
No doubt some of these units are breaking, either because of isolated manufacturing issues, user error or attention-seeking abuse. But the fervor over this thing is 100% social media-driven. It happens with every iPhone release. Remember the orange-to-magenta aluminum “defect” in the iPhone last year? This release has been unusually insane, especially as a mixture of paid influencers, along with clout and click-chasers, keep posting pictures of the same dozen or so phones, out of probably at least a million sold, and screaming about manufacturing defects and recalls. The Duo entering the marketplace is going to put sales pressure on several phone manufacturers, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility there would be a campaign to draw negative attention to Apple’s offering. I would give this thing a week to see how truly widespread this is and if Apple responds. Until then, consider this a social media pile-on based on a handful of isolated phones having issues.
In terms of why this is happening, there is a working theory that a batch of iPhone Duos have a defective hinge component. The suggestion is a piece of the hinge is slightly misaligned, and pokes upwards onto the inner screen, causing the breakage.
Some on social media have suggested that users should not close the iPhone Duo by pressing in the center of the inner display, and perhaps that contributes to this issue occurring. It is unclear if this is actually relevant advice. Officially, Apple has not given any guidance on how users are expected to handle the phone when folding and unfolding it.
While the reports are concerning, it is worth remembering that Apple has probably shipped hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of units already and only a small percentage of people have had their phone break on them. Hopefully, most people will be able to enjoy using their new iPhone Duo without issue. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment, and will update if we hear back.
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