# Apple cracked the fold, now make it flip

> The iPhone Duo proves Apple can build a hinge, so the real question is what shapes come next.
- Title: Apple cracked the fold, now make it flip · Engadget | Shortify
- Summary: The iPhone Duo proves Apple can build a hinge, so the real question is what shapes come next. Apple already has the hard part solved, so the smart follow-up…
- Keywords: apple, foldables, iphone, ipad, samsung, technology, cracked, fold, make, flip, Engadget
- Source: Engadget — https://engadget.com/2255941/where-should-apple-go-after-the-iphone-duo
- Author: Devindra Hardawar
- Published: 2026-09-11T15:30:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: apple, foldables, iphone, ipad, samsung, technology
## The Duo proves a point
At $1,999 the iPhone Duo is brutal on the wallet, but it shows Apple worked out the hinge and stopped being too proud to follow Samsung.

> its existence proves that Apple has finally figured out how to make a foldable
## Scale it down and up
With a thin folding body solved, the same engineering should stretch into a small flip phone and a big folding iPad. The worry is timing, not ability.
## Seven years is too slow
Apple took nearly seven years to answer the Galaxy Z Fold. A flip phone next year would be the obvious first move for new CEO John Ternus.
## What an iPhone Flip is
Take an iPhone 17 and fold the top down like an old cellphone. Add a small outer screen for notifications and selfies shot on the better rear cameras.
## Flips are the normal ones
Small foldables have been around six years and cost about half what big ones do. Regular people carry Z Flips and Razrs; the Fold stays a gadget-nerd phone.

> I rarely see the Z Fold being used by non-techies
## Better than another redesign
The rumored 20th anniversary iPhone, bezel-less with curved edges, is not that exciting. A phone that slips into a small pocket or purse actually is.

> But an iPhone Flip that can easily slip into a pocket or small purse? I've been begging for that for years.
## The folding iPad opening
ASUS and Lenovo are stuck on Windows and 16.3-inch screens. A 13-inch iPad Fold could be a tablet, a pseudo-laptop with a haptic keyboard, or a propped-up mini desktop.

> there's not a huge demand for something like that just yet
## Key takeaway

Apple already has the hard part solved, so the smart follow-up is a cheaper flip phone first and a foldable iPad later.