Every foldable buyer shares one quiet fear: it looks great on day one, but what about year three? Two durability tests of the iPhone Duo, conducted one after the other but on different YouTube channels, offer a peek.
YouTuber Tim Pan’s 11,500 folds left the crease far more visible than on day one. Meanwhile, Joanna Stern’s robot ran 32,640 folds overnight, and the hinge held up fine (with minor character changes).
What did 11,500 folds do to the crease?
Pan wasn’t gentle with the Duo. He checked the screen after 500 folds, ran 10,000 more on a machine, and finally ran 1,000 more in freezing conditions (-4°F).
The crease, which appears as a faint line in the center of the inner screen out of the box, was more noticeable after 500 folds. In my opinion, this reflects how your phone would look after about a month or two of use.
However, after 10,000 folds, the crease was significantly more noticeable, so much so that even Apple’s clever matte layer at the top couldn’t hide it. Now, for me, foldable creases are never about if (at least not yet). So it was only a question of when it starts looking like that, and now we have an answer.
Ten folds a day gets you to 11,500 in about three years. However, a hundred a day gets you there in under four months. Simply put, the crease is a countdown, and your fidgeting is its speed.
Did the rest of the phone survive?
Pan said the hinge remained smooth and still gave the same little push-open as on day one. Though he did find that hair and sand can sneak into the hinge at certain angles.
Stern delegated a robot to test the foldable’s hinge (not the crease). It folded the phone for four nights while she slept. In the end, a push-pull gauge showed the hinge needed slightly more force to open after more than 32,000 folds.
From where I’m seeing this, a stiffer hinge beats one that is loose and wobbly. Stern also said she couldn’t feel a difference in daily use. Ultimately, these are both unofficial stress tests, and none of them shows the crease or the hinge failing. However, I’d still warn you against trying something like this with your iPhone Duo.
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