Apple has finally entered the foldable smartphone race, but its first attempt comes with a distinctly premium price tag for Indian consumers. The company on Wednesday unveiled the iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone, making it the centrepiece of its latest product launch even as the new iPhone 18 Pro models also received significant upgrades.
The iPhone Duo starts at Rs 2,99,900 in India for the 256GB version and goes up to Rs 4,49,900 for the 2TB model. Pre-orders will open on October 16, with the device going on sale from October 23.
The pricing immediately puts the Duo in a rarefied segment of India’s smartphone market. While foldable phones are no longer new to Indian consumers, Apple’s entry comes at a substantial premium, raising questions over how broadly the device can appeal beyond the company’s most affluent and loyal customers.
Apple finally embraces the foldable form factor
The iPhone Duo marks Apple’s biggest change to the iPhone design in years. The device opens like a book to reveal a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR display, Apple’s largest-ever iPhone screen. When folded, it uses a 5.4-inch outer display, allowing it to function like a conventional smartphone.
Apple has designed the phone around what it calls a new foldable experience rather than simply adapting its existing iPhone interface. The company has reworked iOS 27 to make better use of the larger screen, with an emphasis on multitasking, gaming, content consumption and productivity.
The inner display also features a nano-texture finish aimed at reducing glare and making the fold less prominent. Both displays support ProMotion and Always-On functionality.
The phone has a titanium frame and a specially designed hinge. Apple says the foldable design has been engineered to maintain a slim profile while providing the durability expected from an iPhone.
A20 Pro at the heart of the Duo
Powering the new device is Apple’s A20 Pro chip, also used in the iPhone 18 Pro models. The chip is built on a 2-nanometre process and is paired with a new thermal-management system designed to sustain performance during demanding tasks such as gaming, multitasking and on-device artificial intelligence workloads.
Apple says the A20 Pro brings faster CPU and GPU performance and a more powerful Neural Engine for AI applications. The Duo also incorporates Apple Intelligence and new Siri AI capabilities.
The company is pitching the foldable not simply as a larger-screen iPhone, but as a device designed around the combination of hardware, software and AI.
Camera gets a foldable twist
The Duo carries a 48MP dual Fusion camera system, comprising a main and an ultra-wide camera. Apple is also using the foldable design to introduce new ways of taking photographs and making video calls.
The phone’s Center Stage front camera is designed to work across different orientations, while the foldable form allows users to position the phone in different ways without requiring a separate stand.
Apple says the Duo can deliver up to 44 hours of video playback when using the outer display, while playback on the inner display is rated at up to 31 hours.
The Rs 4.5 lakh question
It is the price, however, that could prove harder for Apple to explain in India.
The base Duo at Rs 2,99,900 is already positioned well above Apple’s conventional Pro models. The 512GB version costs Rs 3,24,900, the 1TB model Rs 3,74,900 and the 2TB variant Rs 4,49,900.
That creates an unusually wide price gap within the same product family. A consumer choosing the highest-storage Duo would be spending nearly Rs 2.7 lakh more than the starting price of the iPhone 18 Pro.
The pricing also gives Apple’s rivals considerable room to compete on value. Samsung and Chinese smartphone makers have already spent several years developing foldable devices, giving consumers alternatives at lower prices.
Apple, by contrast, is banking on the strength of its ecosystem, brand value and the novelty of a foldable iPhone to justify the premium.
iPhone 18 Pro gets its own upgrade
Apple’s other major announcements were the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, both powered by the A20 Pro chip.
The iPhone 18 Pro starts at Rs 1,64,900, while the Pro Max starts at Rs 1,79,900 in India. The models bring improvements to cameras, performance, battery life and Apple Intelligence.
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