The MacRumors Show
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PodcastThe MacRumors Show
Publisher/creatorThe MacRumors Show
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About this episode
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through the reception to the iPhone Duo as it goes on sale today, what to expect from next week's "Pro and tell" experience, and the iPod's 25th anniversary.
The iPhone Duo launches today, starting at $1,999, with a 5.4-inch outer display that unfolds into a 7.6-inch inner display. Early reviews present a mixed picture of a device that brings fresh ideas to the iPhone, but asks users to accept some significant compromises.
The matte inner display has emerged as a particular highlight, reducing reflections and making the crease less noticeable while providing more space for reading, watching videos, editing photos, and multitasking. Premium construction and performance also make a positive impression, but the software experience is less consistent. Unoptimized apps, wasted screen space, and unfamiliar controls can make the larger display feel underused.
Reviewers are also divided over how comfortably iPhone Duo handles quick, everyday tasks. Some find the outer screen perfectly adequate for messaging and quick interactions, while others consider it to be restrictive. Its weight and width complicate one-handed use, returning to Touch ID takes adjustment, and the cameras fall short of Apple's Pro models. Our own first 24 hourswith the device highlight many of these same trade-offs, alongside the appeal of side-by-side multitasking. We consider whether carrying a larger screen outweighs those compromises, or whether better app support and future hardware will make a more convincing case.
Apple's next product announcement is already approaching, with the "Pro and tell" experiencescheduled for October 28 in Los Angeles. Redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are expected to headline the announcements, combining OLED displays with the first touchscreens on a Mac.
The redesigned machines are rumored to feature lighter, potentially thinner designs, a reinforced hinge for touch input, and a Dynamic Island replacing the "notch." They are expected to retain M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, making the display and design the main new features.
A redesigned iPad mini is also expected, featuring an OLED display, the A20 Pro chip, a landscape front-facing camera, and a redesigned speaker system. Water resistance could also be present for the first time on an iPad. Apple is also expected to bring the M6 chip to the iMac and entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro.
Finally, we mark 25 years since Apple introduced the original iPod on October 23, 2001.
Episode summary
This AI-generated Shortcast summary may omit nuance. Use the original episode when context or exact wording matters.
Welcome back to The Macroomer Show. The iPod turns twenty-five, and people are collecting their first-generation iPhone Duo. It’s dark here with our ridiculous time difference, but the sun will show up eventually.
The line from iPod to this foldable is extraordinary. My first Apple thing was a fifth-generation iPod classic, given to me before I was really old enough to use it, and I still have it.
My first Apple product was an iPod too. School Macs meant Fraction Munchers and work; the iPod felt personal. If you picked up a Duo, tell us how it went, because ordering sounded like a fiasco.
Happy store queues are back, but Apple-bubble enthusiasm can distort things. The Duo may be scarce because demand is real, supply is constrained, or both. Apple is advertising it far more visibly than Vision Pro or iPhone Air around London.
The app argument is too all-or-nothing. It’s not useful to panic over unfinished apps before launch, but banks, parking apps, and enterprise tools can take ages. Their overstretched teams have other priorities.
I refreshed and got forty day-one updates, but there are levels: sad narrow strips, basic screen-filling support, then true Duo design. Netflix is the gold standard: Flex mode mirrors the video below the controls. Totally unnecessary, very cool.
Big apps will probably arrive quickly, but the App Store is much larger than Netflix, Uber, Spotify, YouTube, and Slack. Huge black margins on a foldable hurt more than an old app missing a notch adjustment.
I don’t think the outer screen is horrible. I use it sixty or seventy percent of the time for texts and quick stuff. Opening it is lovely, especially caseless in bed, though camera control sits right where my thumb goes.
I’m waiting for a later generation. Touch ID may be fine, but Apple Watch unlocking makes me uneasy. My watch passcode is weaker than my phone’s, and I remember Mac unlocking working at absurd distances.
Needing a watch for something Face ID-like is ridiculous, but it’s been fast and reliable. This is a weird, first-gen, two-thousand-dollar phone with compromises. It’s joyful enough that I can live without telephoto or Face ID.
Battery and heat need longer testing. Setup, cellular downloads, and travel can mislead. I want to know whether owners keep unfolding that inner display after launch buzz; that habit determines whether the Duo makes sense.
Mine ran hot and drained badly while restoring from iCloud in New York. Once it calmed down, battery felt between the Pro and Pro Max. I’m taking it on my next flight without an iPad.
Another Apple wave is coming: touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro, redesigned OLED iPad mini, and M6 Macs. Touch alone won’t sell me, but OLED, thinner hardware, efficiency, a revised hinge, and no notch could.
A touchscreen Mac is surprising after years of Apple saying there was no point. I’m most curious about the iPad mini: maybe the little pro-style iPad people wanted, assuming the price doesn’t go wild.
Apple is suddenly putting out a lot after years of slow updates. I’m not sold on the Duo for myself, but it’s the most impressive foldable I’ve seen. Keep using these devices and let experience change your mind.
Don’t be definitive before you’ve tried it. Maybe I’ll adore the Duo in two weeks; maybe I’ll be back on a normal iPhone. Let us know if you got one, and we’ll catch everybody next week—if Apple gives us a day off.
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