Video summary
Apple has recently unveiled the iPhone Duo, marking a historic moment as the company's first folding smartphone, yet for users accustomed to the Pro or Pro Max lines, this new device presents significant compromises rather than a straightforward upgrade. The speaker outlines five primary reasons why switching from a flagship Pro model to the Duo might be unwise, starting with the exorbitant price tag. While Apple officially lists the base model at $1999, higher storage capacities can push the cost up to over $3000, a figure that may deter most consumers and potentially trap the device in a similar market fate as the Apple Vision Pro, where high initial costs led to low adoption rates among the general public.
Beyond the financial barrier, the iPhone Duo suffers from notable camera downgrades that could be dealbreakers for photography enthusiasts and content creators. The device lacks a dedicated telephoto lens, relying instead on digital zoom which does not match the optical quality of previous Pro models, and it omits advanced features like the aperture-controlled main lens, ProRAW, ProRes, and manual controls such as shutter speed and white balance adjustments. Furthermore, the removal of the LiDAR scanner impacts both practical utility and image quality; without this sensor, users lose accurate room scanning capabilities for augmented reality apps and experience grainier photos in low-light conditions, as the phone cannot utilize LiDAR data to enhance focus and reduce noise during night photography.
The transition also involves losing the convenience of Face ID, forcing users to rely on Touch ID via a side button which can be slower and less seamless than facial recognition for unlocking devices and verifying banking apps. Additionally, despite claims of dual batteries, the video playback battery life on the larger unfolded screen is actually lower than that of the iPhone 17 Pro Max, making it a poor choice for users who primarily consume media on the big display. The speaker concludes that while the folding concept is innovative and appealing to early adopters willing to pay a premium for novelty, current Pro and Pro Max owners have no need to upgrade, whereas those with older models might find more value in sticking with the latest non-folding flagships or waiting for future iterations that address these missing features.
Read the full video transcript
So, Apple have just wrapped up
announcing the new iPhone, the first
ever folding phone. But if you are the
type of person like myself, you like the
Pro or the Pro Max models, and you're
thinking about upgrading to the iPhone,
these are my top five reasons why I feel
like you shouldn't do that. There's a
few things that Apple left out, a lot of
downsides, and a lot of things that you
will lose if you switch from a Pro or
Pro Max model to the iPhone. Let me go
ahead and show you what they are. So,
number one, the price. Now, this is
pretty obvious. It's a new generation,
new products that didn't exist in
Apple's lineup in the past. Much like
the Apple Vision Pro, it was a brand new
thing that they released and it came to
market around $3,500.
and ultimately it failed. Not many
people bought it as expected by Apple.
Could this be the same thing with the
iPhone? Now, they conveniently mention
on the keynote event, iPhone Duo starts
at 1999 with storage capacities ranging
from 256 GB to 2 TB that the prices
start from 1999. Now, that's for the 256
GB model. What they didn't mention is
they purely just said it goes up to 2
TB, but they didn't mention how much
that is. So, if you take a look at this
screenshot, if you go up in increments
at the maximum 2 TB model, you will be
spending £3,199
or dollars. Now, that is a significant
amount of money to spend. And for most
people, I would guarantee at least 90%
plus of people, they will not pay that
much just for a phone that folds. It's
up to you. If you do have the money and
you would like to try it out, then
that's great. Take a shot, see how you
think you would like it. But for me
personally, it's a bit too excessive.
But could this fall into the same trap
as the Apple Vision Pro? It may well do.
A lot of people will buy it and then
they will return it. Maybe they just use
it to review it or whatever. But just
note that these prices are not on par
with like the Pro or Pro Max models.
Number two is the camera downgrades.
Now, personally for me, this is the
biggest deal breaker. As you probably
saw in the keynote event, this has two
lenses at the back. You have the main
wide and the ultra wide. Now, they
mentioned that with the main wide
camera, you can go to 2x, but like
myself, and I'm pretty sure like a lot
of you out there, you do like telephoto
capabilities with a dedicated lens. I do
shoot things with 4x and sometimes 8x.
If you go out on holidays or travels,
you want to capture some landscapes or
just capture really good photography of
long-distance shots, maybe just things
across the street that you come by. I
see lots of benefits of having a
telephoto lens. This does not have that.
Now, again, the quality of the existing
lenses that they've added to the iPhone,
in fact, is actually a little bit less
than the 18 Pro and Pro Max. None of the
lenses come with that new aperture
controlled lens as well, the auto
aperture feature. So, that's one thing
you're already going to lose if you get
the Duo rather than the 18 Pro. But,
nonetheless, it's not just the fact that
you're missing a telephoto lens. There's
also a couple of other things that are
missing. And this screenshot shows you
with the camera capabilities what you
lose with the iPhone. You will also not
get the Pro Control options. So, you
won't get no Pro Raw, no ProRes and
ProRes RAW. You won't get Apple log 2.
you won't have any of the pro camera
controls for manual adjustments like
aperture, shutter, white balance, even
seeing the histogram. So, all of these
pro controls are missing. And that's one
of the key things because I rely on my
iPhone a lot to get the best video, the
best photos, no matter what scenario it
is. If you are a content creator and you
rely heavily on your iPhone camera, then
just be aware that with the iPhone,
you're probably going to have a slight
downgrade. Albeit general photos and
videos will still look really good, but
all of these options you're going to
miss out on, and that's something that I
wouldn't want to have any regrets for.
So, let me know what you think. Is that
something that could be a dealbreaker
for you as well? Number three is the
loss of Face ID. Now, you may not notice
too much, but you rely heavily on Face
ID. Whether you're unlocking your phone,
you're opening up your banking apps, you
want to download other apps from the app
store, it's very quick and easy just to
use Face ID. There's no effort required.
I have another Android phone and with
the iPhone Duo, you are required to use
Touch ID to the power button on the side
of the phone. Now, although that may be
good and they've done a good job making
it work fast, sometimes you may miss the
fingerprint and sometimes you have to
redo it. It just adds on a couple of
extra seconds on top of the whole
process. If you are so used to with Face
ID for many many different reasons,
always relying on your fingerprint is
probably not going to be the best thing.
And I feel like if that did happen, it
feels like I would take two steps back.
So for me, you know, that's not going to
be something that I would like to, you
know, miss out on the opportunity to
still continue using. Maybe they will
add that in future iterations of the
folding phone, but for me at the moment,
I'm just not going to be happy with the
loss of Face ID. Number four, battery
life. You know, with the folding phone,
they do mention that they have
components of two batteries on each side
of the actual fold.
>> There is a high energy battery on each
side. Custom silicon and algorithms
handle all of the charging, discharging,
and rebalancing.
>> And you would expect it to be much
larger than you currently have. For
example, so I have the iPhone 17 Pro
Max. Now, I'm bringing up this
screenshot here just to show you an
example of video playback, which is what
they are mentioning in the keynote for
battery life as well. My 17 Pro Max can
go up to 33 hours of video playback. If
you look at the iPhone, if you have it
open with the inner display, the larger
7.8 in display that says video playback
can go up to 31 hours, which is less
than what I currently have on my 17 Pro
Max. But the outer display, of course,
44 hours. It is a smaller display than
my 17 Pro Max. Right now, most people
when they are going to be playing video
back, they will play it on the larger
unfolded screen. There's no reason why
you would buy the iPhone Duo if you're
just going to be watching all your
favorite TV shows and movies on Netflix
and Disney Plus, etc. on the front small
screen. The whole purpose of it is to
enjoy that larger cinematic view
unfolded. And if you do that, you will
get less battery life overall with the
Duo phone. And number five is the liar
scanner. Now, the only reason I'm
bringing this up is because nobody else
is talking about this. And there is a
lot of people that sometimes use this
feature on their phones, but it's not
mentioned. Apple have kind of forgotten
about it. They don't really highlight
it. But I'm just going to bring up a
screenshot here that I've generated of
what the benefits of LAR are. Now, for
most people, you may not use some of
these things, but a lot of, let's say,
tradesmen, they do use the measuring app
to calculate and get very accurate
measurements of things like sofas,
rooms, etc. in the house and to measure
just general real world objects. It can
also scan and create 3D models. There's
plenty of apps online to do that. If
you've ever done shopping on Amazon,
they have the option to use AR to see
what that product would look like in
your home. If you have a LiDAR scanner
compatible phone already, like most
recent Pro and Pro Max models, that can
very easily judge your room, your space,
your environment, and put it exactly how
it would look. It won't need to rely on
additional software processing to have a
guess of what that would be. If you go
for the iPhone, you would lose that and
the softwares will just end up guessing
the approximate, you know, sizing of
your room that you would need to place
that item. So you would lose that for
most part. But the biggest thing here is
with the camera. What people don't
realize is when you take portrait photos
in low lighting conditions, maybe at
night time when you're out traveling or
with your friends, LAR scanner actually
kicks in and utilizes that to really
focus on the person and it just makes it
faster and more accurate in low lighting
conditions. When you don't have a lidar
scanner, your photos in low lighting
conditions can come out grainy and not
as high quality as you would want it.
So, just remember that all of these
things, although you may not use or even
know about them, you will sometimes
notice the difference if you do have the
Duo without the LAR scanner.
So, overall, my final verdict is yes,
this is a brand new shiny concept with
Apple. Folding phones have been around
for many, many years now. There's plenty
of other alternatives as well, but it is
excessively expensive. And if you're
used to having a Pro and Pro Max model,
my recommendation is if you have the 17
Pro or Pro Max, there's no need to
upgrade to any of the new models that
just came out this year. If you're maybe
on an older iPhone, maybe 14, 15 or
something, then I would say go for,
let's say, 18 Pro or 18 Pro Max because
you will really feel the power of the
upgrade. If you really are interested in
getting something that folds and fits in
your pocket a little bit easier, just
remember that the folding phone actually
weighs slightly more overall compared to
like the 18 Pro Max. And if you add a
Folio or a double-sided case to that
phone, it is bulky and heavy. It's just
more for people that are kind of early
adopters and they really like to try
something that they've never tried
before. And if you have the money to do
that, then that's absolutely great. Try
it out. See what you think. If none of
the top five things that I mentioned are
even relevant to you or you don't use
any of those things, then that's
absolutely fine. You can definitely try
the iPhone, which I still think looks
absolutely [music] great. The way it
folds, the way it unfolds is just a
great concept that they've developed.
And maybe in the future they might
[music] build something like the iPhone
Air or if they want to enhance and
include all those features that are
missing, they might create the ultra
version and release that. So, who knows?
But let me know what you guys think in
the comments [music] below. What other
things has the Duo managed to lose from
the Pro [music] and Pro Max models that
you'd like everyone else to know about?
Or if you will buy it, let me know what
reasons why. Hopefully you [music]
enjoyed that. Make sure to like this
video, subscribe, and I'll see you all
next time.
[music]