With the new foldable iPhone Duo reaching the hands of users around the world, the first technical issues have not been slow to surface. Some early owners have begun reporting a concerning problem regarding the internal screen hinge, which has caused the flexible screen to crack precisely along the fold line, accompanied by a line of bright pixels on one side of the device. This has raised early questions about whether we are facing a new manufacturing crisis that might be dubbed “Crackgate.”
Screen cracking at the hinge line and the experience of the first affected users
The first photos of these malfunctions have spread across Reddit and MacRumors forums, with the majority of the damage concentrated precisely along the device’s internal hinge. These cracks are usually accompanied by a bright, extended line of dead pixels on one side of the flexible screen, which obstructs vision and makes the user experience impossible.
One user in Australia recounted their shocking experience, explaining that their iPhone Duo screen cracked just six hours after unboxing and opening it fewer than 20 times. The user confirmed that they were showing the device to a friend, and upon starting to open it, they felt something strange under the screen in the internal hinge area, followed by an audible cracking sound and an immediate split in the screen along the hinge, with no prior trace or external damage suggesting anything had become lodged inside.
The user immediately went to the nearest Apple Store, where the company replaced the broken device on the spot without any complications. It appears that Apple is currently rushing to collect these defective units to examine them closely and identify points of weakness and failure in design or assembly—research that may lead to rapid improvements in production lines to limit the recurrence of the problem in future batches.
Display units in China and durability tests
The Australian incident was not an isolated one, as multiple photos of cracked screens have been spotted on display units in stores within China, where the launch began hours before the phone reached the United States. However, the details and circumstances surrounding most of those cases remain inconclusive, and it is possible that misuse or excessive pressure by visitors could be the cause of some of them.
On the other hand, some reviewers who received the device early had subjected the iPhone Duo to rigorous and repeated folding tests without encountering issues with screen integrity. However, those experiments represent a very limited statistical sample compared to the thousands of phones flowing into the hands of buyers on the official launch day.
Apple’s warranty and consumer rights: Is there cause for concern?
With massive quantities of iPhone Duo devices reaching the market, a small percentage of malfunctions is statistically expected. As of now, it is impossible to determine the extent of this phenomenon or whether complaints will increase over time. However, the reassuring aspect is that hinge malfunctions resulting from normal use are fully covered under Apple’s official one-year warranty, in addition to the two-week return window available to those who have just received their devices.
Foldable phones by their nature involve complex, moving technologies and represent Apple’s first foray into this sensitive engineering field. Cupertino’s handling of the damaged devices will clarify whether we are facing transient initial assembly defects or a technical challenge that requires recalibration in manufacturing processes.
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