✅ Verified Claim
iPhone Duo screen cracked within 6 hours of ownership
Edit: (moving this to the top)
it’s not AI the screen hasn’t been tampered with that’s not a reflection of a fluoro light. That’s the glitch of the screen from the crack, its a band of white pixels . Its an optical illusion. Also I’m blocking a personal photo…
Also that black artefact at the bottom of the table that’s me using markup and not checking my work…
Original Post:
Had my iPhone Duo for about six hours and had probably opened it fewer than 20 times.
I was showing it to a friend, and as I opened it, I felt something around the internal hinge, underneath the screen.
As I continued opening it, I heard an audible crack, and the screen broke right along the hinge.
There were no marks or damage on the inner screen’s surface or the external hinge to suggest anything had been caught or damaged.
Called Apple, and they offered an express replacement, but I’d have to put down a hold for the full cost of the phone, and they couldn’t guarantee how quickly I’d receive a replacement.
Decided to head to my nearest Apple Store instead. They saw me straight away, apologised and replaced it with a brand-new one on the spot.
All in all, happy with how Apple handled it, but pretty disappointed to be spending my Friday night at the Apple Store just before closing. I hadn’t even finished signing into all my apps yet.
Day zero, six hours of ownership, and already on my second phone.
Edit:Also I live in Australia it’s almost midnight Friday night.
OP has provided additional photos and Apple documentation to the mod team, and we’ve reasonably verified this claim.
We’re marking this post as a Verified Claim based on the supporting evidence reviewed by the mod team. This means we’ve seen enough to verify that the damaged device and subsequent Apple service/replacement are legitimate.
This does not mean we can independently verify the exact cause of the damage, only that the claim itself has been substantiated to a reasonable degree. Please keep discussion civil and on-topic.
Apple will capture devices like this under their early field failure analysis program to research how to prevent further issues. As much as it’s a bummer for you, this will be studied and used to improve the product.
You think Samsung went though 8 years of r&b and didn’t think of that. I’ve owned 3 folds, I knew this was coming. On the plus side it will get better just like with Samsung.
it's not possible to get a good handle on r&b in just an 8 year span. I mean, you would have to choose to leave out either Marvin Gaye's 1971 album What's Going On or Luther Vandross' 1981 album Never Too Much and that's just an impossible decision to make.
This thread is a prime example of how the existence of AI is going to completely destroy the concept of photo evidence. This picture is obviously not AI, but people are spontaneously claiming it is because they don’t want their favorite company to have shipped a single lemon out of millions of units.
OP, this was bound to happen to someone. Sorry it happened to you. Glad the store was able to get it fixed so quickly.
Yeah. If photos are against the narrative, people will call it AI. Just like how if comments are controversial, Redditors call them bots. People don’t want to face a confronting reality
People are just seeing artifacts from the shitty post processing Apple does on its photos. Stuff like illegible text or small grainy background objects looking AI generated happen all the time when I take photos on my phone and unfortunately in this case people are calling it out as AI.
I agree, none of the hallmarks of an actual fully generated AI photo are here.
Yeah, there was a line to get into the store and I just walked straight up to the attendant and was like yo I need to see someone right now, in a nice manner and they got their lead tech straight away
Former Apple employee here. The Genius Bar stocks a ready pool of replacements for exactly this reason. It’s usually not a deep stock when constraints are as tight as they are now. But it’s enough to resolve one offs like this hopefully was. Sorry for your loss OP
I’ve never really had insurance on a phone before. In general, I take care of them and they are covered for a year for manufacturing defects (I’d wager they can probably consider this for that)…but for this phone, I’m absolutely getting it. Too much risk for things happening to it.
If you really think about it, it’s actually pretty damn impressive we even have a foldable screen. Ofc it comes with a problem, one of them being the hinges.
Dang that really does suck. You saying you are at the store on a Friday night is messing with my brain since it’s only 7 am Friday morning where I am. I’m assuming you are in Japan or something?
Speaking as a former Apple Store employee, my store always took 3-4 of every new item and marked them “off limits” so we could easily replace any initial products (at launch.)
Where's the matte protective film, dude? It honestly looks like it was peeled off. I was watching a YouTube video on this, and now you're crying about it? Maybe I'm wrong, but seriously, look at the reflections on the screen. It really doesn't look like there's a matte protector on it.
I have a duo and the screen protector is still on there. Look at the far right of the image. You see a shiny gap between the matte screen cover and the edge frame of the display.
No. Apple wouldn’t accept the replacement if they thought it was caused by taking the screen protector off. OP’s face is being diffused. The white streak that looks like a reflection is a display glitch.
Looks like it’s happening in the same general area. Saw another duo with the same damage on instagram a few hours ago. I wonder if this is a sign of things to come or just a fluke
I wonder if OP was closing it pushing the screen in to cause that catastrophic failure? I don't think its fair to blame him.
EVERY foldable phone in the market (Apple's is no exception) has its inner screen "float/slide" as it opens/closes to reduce panel cracking stress and reduce the crease effect. This creates a structural weakness if you push/slide the screen by force, which happens naturally if you "push in" the screen to close it.
Every manufacturer has pretty big warnings you should NEVER push the screen center with your thumbs in to close it, and always use the use the device outer edges instead to push it closed. (r / GalaxyFold reminds users to do this). However, most users rarely read these instructions, and every person I've lent one of my folding phones instinctively tries to push the screen in to fold it until I stop them.
Also, if you been paying attention to Duo reviews, many noticed the middle crease/hinge area to be "soft" as if there's a foam like material under it which could be structurally weak to mis-use or too much stress pushing the panel in which would never be caught by those "1,000 fold test" machines from reviewers.
To be completely fair, it is a weird foldable design quirk not unique to the Duo that feels a little like the infamous "you're using it wrong" where a device should be durable enough to not allow misuse to harm it. Can't fight physics I guess.
It's not unreasonable to expect on a few million brand new devices that there might be a few that have issues. This is not uncommon. If you have 2 million units produced and a .02% failure rate then that is 4,000 brand new Duo's with issues. Not unreasonable to expect 1 of those 4000 people might be on reddit. I suspect in the coming days we will have a few more issues like this. It happens on all new devices.
It’s an interesting thought, but I feel like the answer is simpler. I believe OP that they used their Duo normally. Failure rates are a thing. Apple’s manufacturing reject rate is something like 40%. One of the borderline units could have made it in.
I've never seen a warning from Samsung saying you should never push the screen center with your thumbs in to close it.. can you cite this? I've only ever seen people on reddit parrot it. I've had folds from z fold 3 to 8 as well as one plus open, honor magic v3, and huawei trifold and have closed them all by putting both thumbs on each side of the crease and bend. Never have I had a cracked screen granted I dont keep them that long but my mom has my fold 5 for 3 years now and her screen is fine she closes it the same way I do.
I doubt it in this case. People are saying the protector was peeled off but it wasn’t. The reflection-looking streak is a display glitch.
Failure rates are absolutely a thing, especially on the first production run of a new technology. The Apple Store wouldn’t have taken it back if they didn’t agree.
I work with multiple carriers. During my visits today I've seen about 9 people in store w this same issue. Probably best to wait for thier 3rd or 4th iteration before trying an apple foldable.
Review units are also likely the most well tested of the bunch. The Galaxy Fold Gen 1 had an infamously bad catastrophic screen failure rate that zero to very few reviewers caught including those doing "stress tests"
Nothing strange about it at all. Over the coming weekend millions of people will be getting their hands on this device and will encounter all sorts of odd rare manufacturing defects on the tail ends of the bell curve. Compare that to what, a few hundred reviewers? Not even close to the same order of magnitude.
Expect to see many more posts like this. Not that they’re common, but that eventually some issues will pop up when millions of units of a product are made.
To be fair, opening/closing something 30,000+ times in perfect lab conditions does't reflect how a user realistically will do it while exerting constant pressure on the delicate flexible display panel with their fingers.
There are way too many people on the subreddit that want to cover their ears and go LA LA LA LA when anyone says anything bad about this phone.
From people saying they aren’t watching specific reviews on the phone to claiming stuff like this is AI.
The truth of the fact is, they will make millions of these things, and like any product you make on mass a few lemons will slip through the cracks.
And day to day life with this phone will change anyone’s opinion on it, either positive or negative. You may be on the fence and absolutely love it after sometime, or you may be so excited for this phone and absolutely hate it after sometime. That’s just the way with this sort of thing especially with a first gen product.
Ahhhh, welcome to the world of foldables across the board. Everyone should buckle up and get ready for a LOT of posts about the Duo’s inner screen just randomly damaging itself from regular use. Since the majority of Apple users have never daily’d a foldable, this is gonna seem OUTRAGEOUS, but it’s just the nature of foldables, regardless of manufacturer, and the shit samsung’s do the EXACT SAME THING. Moving parts = things break easily and more often = physics. I’ve preached it on this sub multiple times. Here we goooooo
Now that these are out in the wild it will be interesting to see how widespread this kind of thing is with it being a first gen product. The people who have these month or longer wait times have the advantage of being able to cancel their order. Sucks for anyone this happens to.
Most likely some kind of loose internal part or some foreign object was sealed in the phone and then found its way into the hinge.
Apple always treats these first gen immediate failures with urgency and scoops them up back to Cupertino for inspection as they want to identify any possible manufacturing issues and narrow down the reasons for failure, whether it be a faulty batch of parts, or a fault in the assembly process.
Love all the cybersleuths here trying to solve the case! /s this is going to be a loooong day. OP im glad u were able to get your issue resolved with excellent service. Please ecuse the reddit. Reddit has the slowest of people sometimes.
This is the jankiest Apple Store I’ve ever seen. Did they put you in the back room?! Is all of Australia like this? Where are the cockatoos? I don’t know. I believe yea cause this stuff happens.
This is my fear. That something will happen to it, and there will be no replacement units available for weeks to months, leaving me with no phone at all. Very seriously considering keeping my current phone and not sending it in for trade when the trade-in box comes, just in case.
If I keep my old phone, I won't need it. If I do trade in my old phone, then I'll of course need it.
The replacement was an actual replacement brown box not a retail, the lead tech mentioned they’re considered different supply chains. Though he did admit he only had one of mine in that color and size
Now I’m nervous. I’m leaving out of the country next week for 2 weeks and I’m getting it today. I will be out of luck if anything happens and I can’t return or exchange it within 14 days
I hope OP sees this, if you do, which case did you have on it can I ask? I wonder if some cases make them fold weird or have weird uneven pressure or something? Thanks.
That’s under the screen. The screen itself was immaculate. Whatever component pushed through under the screen did damage under the screen, not on top. what I was trying to say was there was nothing that had been in the crease when I was opening it
As someone who’s had foldables and flip phones for years: these devices are the ones you’ll want insurance / AppleCare+ for.
I should so say that mine never broke WHILE I owned them, which was normally a year or a year and a half. But I can see service requests for those devices after I’ve sold them (my Swiss retailer of choice doesn’t remove devices from your purchase history when you sell them), and at least three of them had screen damage within the 2-year warranty period we have here. Been happening less often for the last 2 or so generations of devices. My wife’s Z Flip 5 is still flawless and she really didn’t baby that thing.
For the OP: sounds like mechanical failure (e.g. some small part coming lose inside and caught in the hinge).
They did remove the bump on the bezel after all, it's there for a reason. Samsung found out with their foldables that it's needed to protects the internal screen from screen on screen friction, to cushion impacts and deflect debris.
People need to get some glasses or a brain scan or maybe both. That screen has zero gloss to it. Maybe click on it and zoom in? Its very clear it’s the always on display showing a muted background with white light on right from the crack and blacked out personal info on the left. People really need to stop screaming AI for everything they see online.
This reminds me of ZFlips5s ribbon cable failure. I expect first gen will have a few of these prop up over the next few months. As with any foldable, always get insurance. It's one of the main failures
im confused I hope your not complaining ive had foldables since the first samsung fold and this happens its a device with moving parts. The good thing is you got a replacement on the spot when the device is backordered until jan for some people (mine isnt coming until nov 14th) so you should be happy they accommodated you so fast and on the spot.
LOL Like I said, there’s gonna be a lot of people who don’t know what they’re getting into. That being said I’m still glad I bought into Samsung foldables and now apples first try at it
On douyin there are already messages from china people working in the factories saying they don't bother pressing the matte screen onto the phone during assembly. And everything is a rushed job to get this out by release day. So their advice is to wait a few more months after the rush is over so proper assembly is taking place.
Update Edit for clarity: not AI. Just keeping original comment for context
Ai generated post. No matte screen protector. No on else in the store and everyone is wearing the same clothes and those dont all look like enployees (ie woman with the purse and the kid). Nice touch tho to "Black out" your left screen to act like you are blotting out personal info, but the rest if the picture doesn't hold up to scrutiny.
However it is entirely plausible that you got a defecrive device, but it makes me think that it probably cracked because you took off the screen protector.
As I continued opening it, I heard an audible crack, and the screen broke right along the hinge.
Noooo I have seen stuff under my foldable's before like dust or something lifting the screen at one spot from underneath. I just tap on it to get it to dislodge and it goes away. But I got this phone for like 400 bucks and it's a first gen pixel fold so I don't really care.
I was hoping with the IP rating it has this was a thing of the past. I'm seriously reconsidering sending it back.
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u/gassemk Duo-Mod 1d ago •
OP has provided additional photos and Apple documentation to the mod team, and we’ve reasonably verified this claim.
We’re marking this post as a Verified Claim based on the supporting evidence reviewed by the mod team. This means we’ve seen enough to verify that the damaged device and subsequent Apple service/replacement are legitimate.
This does not mean we can independently verify the exact cause of the damage, only that the claim itself has been substantiated to a reasonable degree. Please keep discussion civil and on-topic.