Apple Ships Its First Foldable: the iPhone Duo, From 15,999 Yuan
Hours after Apple's first event under new CEO John Ternus, the verdict is in on the 15,999-yuan iPhone Duo: a polished late entry into a foldable market Huawei, Xiaomi and Samsung have owned for years — plus an overnight price rise across the iPhone line and the quiet retirement of China's 'Hermès orange'.
At 1 a.m. Beijing time on Wednesday, Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event ended months of leaks with the real thing: the company's first foldable iPhone, called the iPhone Duo, priced from 15,999 yuan (about $1,999) and reaching 26,499 yuan at the top configuration, with Chinese and US stores stocking it in late October. It was also the first big stage for John Ternus, the hardware chief who took over as CEO from Tim Cook earlier this month — which made the night as much a debut as a launch.
The verdict from the first night: refined rather than radical, with one detail winning the morning. The Duo's transition animation — the way the interface stretches between the 7.6-inch inner screen and the cover display — drew the warmest reviews of any feature. "I'd call it the best thing of the evening," one tech blogger wrote in a post liked more than 2,000 times. The unfolded phone is the thinnest iPhone yet, with dual cameras and an under-display front camera, and the China-market iPhone 18 Pro line adds a first for Apple: four-SIM support, two physical trays plus two eSIMs, a nod to how many Chinese users juggle separate work and personal lines.
Samsung, which has shipped foldables since 2019, spent the morning pointing out that none of this is new — while cashing the cheque. Its global accounts dubbed the Duo a sequel to The Sims and posted "So far, so same," and commentators noted it weighs roughly 50 grams more than Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8. The awkward part, as Chinese commenters delighted in pointing out, is that Samsung is also the exclusive supplier of the Duo's display. As our earlier coverage noted, Apple arrives last to this market — Huawei and Xiaomi have sold foldables in volume for years, and the three brands have been circling each other all launch season.
The sharper story for Chinese consumers is price. The iPhone 18 Pro starts at 9,999 yuan, and Apple raised prices on older models by up to 800 yuan overnight, continuing the increases that began even before the event. On Zhihu, the most-answered question under the launch thread is blunt: at 15,999 yuan, is it worth it?
There was celebrity on the stage, too: the streamer IShowSpeed did a backflip holding a Duo in front of Ternus, then asked whether he had to give the phone back. ("Yes," said the CEO.) Jackson Wang turned up with the new burgundy iPhone 18 Pro for the second year running, and Mayday frontman Ashin posted a photo holding the foldable at a concert.
And the day carried a small elegy: with the event done, Apple pulled the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max from its online store, retiring the vivid orange finish that Chinese users had nicknamed "Hermès orange" and turned into a viral phenomenon last year. Third-party channels still have stock — for now. The verdict that matters arrives in late October, when the Duo finally meets buyers who have been folding Huawei and Xiaomi phones for years.
