A five-day vacation with iPhone Duo changed one reviewer’s mind

TechCrunch reporter Sarah Perez says she came around to the iPhone Duo after taking it on a five-day vacation alongside her iPhone 17 Pro Max. Although she considered switching back several times, she ended the trip preferring the Duo.

Perez describes the Duo as a major change from the Pro Max, citing its smaller outer screen, unfamiliar gestures and return to Touch ID. She says she dropped it at least three times and sat on it repeatedly without breaking it or cracking its screen. She notes these were accidental mishaps, not professional durability tests.

Some apps were not optimized for the Duo at launch, leaving black bars and reducing the available screen area when the phone was folded. Perez says those apps remained usable, and that companies were releasing Duo-optimized updates quickly. Google Maps was not optimized during her trip but worked for directions and local searches. She also reports that Google Search sometimes froze in AI Mode; force-closing the app was her workaround.

For Perez, Touch ID was the Duo’s biggest drawback. She says it was less convenient than Face ID for using apps and Apple Pay, though she often unlocked the phone with her Apple Watch. The source describes the Duo as a loaner from Apple and says it would cost $2K; it does not specify a currency.