Apple has entered the foldable phone market with its first model, the iPhone Duo. The company is joining a market that already has several established designs. The iPhone Duo takes a different approach from most existing foldables. It uses a wide form factor that sits between flip phones and larger book-style devices.
The phone has a 5.4-inch cover display and a 7.6-inch inner screen. Its inner panel has an aspect ratio close to 4:3.
Apple iPhone Duo
Foldable phones have largely followed two designs so far. Book-style models started with devices such as the Royole Flexpai and Galaxy Fold. Flip-style phones arrived later, led by models such as the Motorola Razr.
The iPhone Duo represents a third category known as wide foldables. This design uses a smaller outer screen with a wider inner display. It offers more screen space than a flip while remaining more compact than traditional book-style foldables. The iPhone Duo measures 11.3mm thick and weighs 254g. It also supports a stylus and features an under-display camera on the inner screen.
Apple has equipped the phone with a 48MP main camera. It uses a 1/1.28-inch sensor, an f/1.6 lens, and sensor-shift OIS. The main camera is joined by a 48MP ultra-wide camera. It offers a 120-degree field of view.
The iPhone Duo is scheduled to launch in late October. As a result, detailed testing will take more than a month. That makes it difficult to judge the phone’s real-world strengths against existing foldables. Apple has also not revealed the Duo’s battery capacity yet.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8
Samsung already offers a wide foldable with its Galaxy Z Fold8. The phone has a 5.5-inch cover display and a 7.8-inch inner screen. Its inner display has an approximate 4:3 aspect ratio. That makes the Z Fold8 one of the closest alternatives to Apple’s new design.
Samsung’s foldable is also thinner and lighter than the iPhone Duo. It measures 9.7mm thick and weighs 201g. The Z Fold8 packs a 4,800mAh battery. It supports 45W wired charging and 20W wireless charging.
Its camera system includes a 50MP main sensor. The sensor measures 1/1.56 inches and uses an f/1.8 lens with lens OIS. A 50MP 120-degree ultra-wide camera is also included. Samsung removed stylus support from the previous generation, while Apple has retained it on the Duo.
The Z Fold8 also uses an under-display camera for its inner screen. This gives the two phones another feature in common.
Xiaomi 18 Fold
Xiaomi has also entered the wide foldable segment with the Xiaomi 18 Fold. The phone features a 5.38-inch cover display and a 7.58-inch inner screen. The inner panel uses a 3:2 aspect ratio. The device measures 10.7mm thick and weighs 219g.
Xiaomi has fitted the phone with a 200MP main camera. It uses a 1/1.56-inch sensor with optical image stabilization. The camera setup also includes a 50MP 3.5x telephoto camera. The telephoto lens has an 80mm equivalent focal length.
A 50MP ultra-wide camera completes the rear setup. The Xiaomi 18 Fold also has a large 6,000mAh battery. It supports 67W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. That gives it an advantage over Samsung’s 45W wired and 20W wireless charging.
Apple’s charging specifications are still limited. However, the iPhone Duo is confirmed to support 25W wireless MagSafe charging.
Huawei Pura X Max
Huawei’s Pura X Max is another phone that fits the wide foldable category. It has a 5.4-inch cover display and a 7.7-inch inner screen. The inner display uses a 4:3 aspect ratio. Huawei was also an early company to explore this form factor with the smaller Pura X.
However, the Pura X series remains unavailable in most international markets. Huawei sells several phones overseas, but the Pura X lineup is not among them. The Pura X Max features a 50MP main camera with a variable f/1.4-f/4.0 aperture. It also has a 50MP 3.5x periscope camera with an 81mm equivalent focal length.
A 12.5MP ultra-wide camera is included as well. The phone packs a 5,300mAh battery with 66W wired charging. Wireless charging reaches 50W on the Pura X Max. The device measures 11.5mm thick and weighs 229g.
Google Pixel Fold and Oppo Find N
Google and Oppo were already close to this design several years ago. The original Google Pixel Fold had a 5.8-inch cover display and a 7.6-inch inner panel. Its inner display used a 3.6:3 aspect ratio. Oppo’s original Find N had a 5.49-inch cover display and a 7.1-inch inner screen.
The Find N used a 3.2:3 aspect ratio. The Find N2 kept a similar design with a 5.54-inch cover display and a 7.1-inch inner panel. Neither design matched today’s wide foldables perfectly. Still, both companies had already moved toward the same basic idea.
Google and Oppo later abandoned those designs. Both companies instead moved toward larger book-style foldable phones.
Wide Foldables Could Become the Next Trend
Apple’s influence could push the wide foldable design into the mainstream. The company has repeatedly influenced smartphone design trends across the industry. Recent examples include the rise of burgundy-colored phones. Orange phones also became more common after Apple introduced its own version.
The same effect could happen with foldable designs. More manufacturers could introduce wide foldables during 2027. The market is already moving toward this form factor. Wide foldables offer a middle ground between compact flip phones and larger book-style devices.
Samsung has also reported stronger sales for its Z Fold8 series. The company says more Z Flip owners are moving to the Z Fold8. However, Samsung has not provided a full breakdown of sales by model. The larger Z Fold8 Ultra may therefore not be the biggest seller in the Z8 lineup.
The Z Flip8 is unlikely to benefit from the same trend toward wider displays. Instead, the market could increasingly favor devices that combine compact designs with larger inner screens. For now, there are technically four wide foldable options. However, availability depends heavily on the market.
In many regions, buyers have only three choices. In North America, the category is currently limited to Apple’s iPhone Duo and Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8.
