APPLE IPHONE DUO FOLDABLE OMITS TELEPHOTO CAMERA FOUND IN IPHONE 18 PRO

Apple has released the iPhone Duo, its first foldable smartphone, at a starting price of $1,999, according to reports detailing its specifications. That is the highest starting price of any iPhone to date. The handset omits camera hardware found on the iPhone 18 Pro, including a dedicated telephoto lens and a variable aperture system. Instead, it carries two 48-megapixel rear cameras, a main sensor and an ultrawide lens that also handles macro shots. Apple has not publicly explained the omissions, though reports suggest they stem from the limited space inside a foldable device.

The iPhone 18 Pro's telephoto camera offers 4x optical zoom and can crop its sensor to produce what Apple describes as optical-quality 8x zoom. The iPhone Duo can only reach 2x optical-quality zoom by cropping its main sensor, and reports say image quality falls away with further digital zoom. The iPhone 18 Pro's variable aperture, which widens or narrows to control light and focus, is also absent from the Duo. Reports attribute both gaps to competition for internal space between camera modules and batteries inside the foldable handset. Other foldable phone manufacturers have managed to fit dedicated zoom lenses into their devices, according to reports.

Reports suggest the missing telephoto lens leaves Apple room to add the feature in a future version of the Duo, giving existing owners a reason to upgrade. Separately, retailers have confirmed that Apple's USB-C Apple Pencil works with the iPhone Duo as well as several iPad models. Amazon has offered the Apple Pencil USB-C at $69, a $10 reduction, alongside trial subscriptions to Apple News Plus, Apple Fitness Plus and Apple Arcade. The Apple Pencil Pro, which adds pressure sensitivity and haptic feedback, has also been discounted to $99 at the retailer.