Apple’s first foldable is officially on sale. iPhone Duo pre-orders opened this morning at 5 a.m. PT through Apple’s website and the Apple Store app, with the phone arriving on October 23 in more than 70 countries and regions, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, China, Japan, India, France, Germany, and Singapore. Another 28 countries follow on October 30. MacRumors confirmed the schedule yesterday.
If you are deciding whether to tap buy today, here are the five numbers that matter, and what each one means.
1. $1,999: the entry price, with a steep ladder above it
The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 for 256GB. The storage ladder climbs fast:
| Storage | U.S. price | Cost per extra GB vs 256GB |
|---|---|---|
| 256GB | $1,999 | base |
| 512GB | $2,199 | $0.78/GB |
| 1TB | $2,599 | $0.78/GB |
| 2TB | $3,199 | $0.68/GB |
Two colors: Star White and Night Sky. For context, that is a $700 premium over the iPhone 18 Pro Max ($1,299) and $100 more than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 ($1,899). In India, the base model is priced at ₹2,99,900, per Gizbot. Not sure which Apple phone fits your budget? We compared iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone Duo earlier this week.
2. 3,986 and 11,067: the first benchmark numbers
A Geekbench 7 listing spotted this week shows the iPhone Duo (model identifier iPhone19,4) running iOS 27.1 with Apple’s 2nm A20 Pro chip: a 6-core CPU peaking at 4.93GHz and 12GB of RAM (the listing reads 11.30GB, the marketing number will be 12GB). It scored 3,986 single-core and 11,067 multi-core. MacRumors, Gadgets 360, and Smartprix all reported the numbers.
The takeaway: it is essentially the same silicon story as the iPhone 18 Pro, which has crossed 4,000 single-core in its best runs. The Duo’s score lands just under that mark, but single benchmark runs vary, and Apple says the A20 Pro is up to 20% faster on CPU and 40% faster on GPU than last year’s A19 Pro. Note this listing covers CPU only; no GPU score has surfaced yet. Apple also built foldable-specific silicon changes into the chip, including a second display engine to drive the inner and outer screens simultaneously.
| Phone | Chip | Geekbench 7 (SC / MC) | RAM | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone Duo | A20 Pro (2nm) | 3,986 / 11,067 | 12GB | $1,999 |
| iPhone 18 Pro | A20 Pro (2nm) | 4,000+ / ~11,000 | 12GB | $1,199 |
| Galaxy Z Fold 8 | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 (est.) | Not yet verified | 12GB | $1,899 |
The honest reading: you are not paying $1,999 for a faster chip than the $1,199 iPhone 18 Pro. You are paying for the fold. For the full foldable showdown, see our iPhone Duo vs Galaxy Z Fold 8 comparison.
3. $57.99/month: the lease alternative
Apple Upgrade, provided by Klarna, offers a 24-month lease starting at $57.99 per month before taxes and trade-in credit, with a 12-month option for eligible customers who want to buy, return, or upgrade at the end. Apple Trade In offers $175 to $885 in instant credit for an eligible iPhone 13 or newer, and carrier offers through Apple go up to $1,200 in credit with an eligible iPhone 14 Pro Max or newer on Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile. Apple Card holders can also use Monthly Installments at 0% APR and get 3% Daily Cash upfront.
Run your own math before ordering: at $57.99 for 24 months, the lease totals about $1,392, which can beat financing the full price if you upgrade yearly anyway.
4. 5 a.m. PT: the ordering window, and the eSIM catch
Pre-orders run through Apple’s site and the Apple Store app. Two practical details from Apple’s fine print: U.S. models are eSIM only, with no physical SIM tray, so check that your carrier supports eSIM before ordering. And budget extra setup time on day one: units are shipping with an older iOS 27.1 build, so expect a software update during initial setup, as we explained earlier this week.
Accessories are orderable today too: the iPhone Duo Case at $79 and the Duo Folio with Kickstand at $129.
5. 70+ countries today, 28 more on October 30
The first wave covers more than 70 countries and regions with availability on October 23. A second wave of 28 countries lands on October 30. Apple raised Duo production 30% before pre-orders opened, which we covered yesterday, a signal the company expects demand to outrun early supply. If you want launch-day delivery, ordering sooner in the window is the safer move.
The bottom line
The iPhone Duo’s pitch was never value for money; it is a $1,999 ticket to Apple’s foldable experiment with the same A20 Pro performance as the $1,199 iPhone 18 Pro. What today changes is that the numbers are now real: real benchmark scores, real storage prices, real lease terms. If the fold is worth $800 of premium to you over the 18 Pro, the buy button is live. If not, no benchmark will change your mind.
