Three weeks ago, we put Apple’s new iPhone Duo on our custom foldable phone testing rig, the Fold-a-Phone, to find out how many times it could fold until it broke. It’s not fully broken yet, but the hinge has started to break down.
I initially detected some looseness in the hinge motion yesterday during our afternoon livestream. It became evident that the iPhone Duo was not opening with the same firm sound I was used to hearing. When I left the office last night at 6 p.m., it was still opening completely flat.
Now, however, the screen no longer opens all the way flat. Instead, it unfolds most of the way but leaves a few degrees of angle in the hinge. Check out the video below, and tune in to our YouTube livestream later today to see for yourself.
After examining the sensor data we’ve collected, and the photos and videos we shoot constantly during the testing process, we determined that changes in the opening force and motion began occurring around the 390,000-fold point on Tuesday afternoon and gradually built until last night.
The wire we use to open the phone screen would withdraw before the screen was in the fully open position, but it would then sort of “coast” the rest of the way down.
