The breathtaking price Kiwis will pay for Apple's first foldable iPhone

Author: Chris Keall,
Publish Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2026, 7:42am

Apple revealed its first foldable iPhone at its “Surprise and shine” event in California this morning.

The tech giant will open pre-orders for New Zealanders at 1am, October 17, with deliveries from October 23 - but Kiwis will have to pay top dollar to get the new “Duo.”

The Duo will cost:

$4199 with 256 gigabytes of storage
$4599 with 512GB
$5399 with 1 terabyte (1000GB)
$6599 with 2TB

Foldables - where Samsung, Oppo and others have models on the market - are already a premium price category because they involve cutting-edge display technology.

But that’s been amplified by the “RAMageddon” effect, or data centres sucking up components, making them scarce and expensive for consumer products.

As widely expected, the Duo has a squat “passport” form factor, similar to Samsung’s recently released Galaxy Fold8 (which costs $3099 with 256GB, $3499 with 512GB or $4299 with 1TB), but with curved edges on its right.

The outer display is 5.4-inches. The “open passport” interior offers 7.6 inches.

The Duo has a TouchID sensor on the button, but no FaceID (like other foldables, some biometric features have been cut to save space). You can also unlock it with your Apple Watch.

Apple's "What's in the box" shot for the new Duo.

The new foldable comes in two colours: Night Sky and Star White, aka dark blue or white.

The early generations of foldables from other phone makers made sacrifices on battery life and phone quality.

The Duo goes in the other direction with battery life: Apple says Duo will last up to 31 hours using its inner display and up to 44 hours using its outer screen. That’s longer than the iPhone 18 Pro (34 hours) or 18 Pro Max (43 hours), also previewed today.

The Duo's outer screen.

As you mix and match screens, Apple says to expect around 24 hours of typical use per charge for the Duo.

The Duo has the same dual 48-megapixel rear camera system as the iPhone 17, but lacks the telephoto and “pro control” smarts of the new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max.

The Duo offers 0.5 to 2x optical zoom to the 18 Pro and Pro Max’s 0.5 to 8x.

The foldable also has a 12MP inner display camera and a 12MP front or “cover” or “selfie” camera. That compares to 18MP for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max’s selfie cams.

The Duo features the same 6 core CPU, 7-core GPU A20 Pro chip as the new 18 Pro and Pro Max.

Apple iPhone Duo features an alarm clock mode.

Durability was an issue for some early foldables.

Apple says the Duo’s hinge uses support ribs and ceramic-fibre inserts that are three times stronger than Grade 5 titanium.

A custom nanotexture reduces glare and reflections, while AI-assisted manufacturing pairs each hinge with its best-fit housing for precise alignment, the company says.

Controls shift from the outer display to the inner screen and dynamically adjust depending on how the phone is positioned.

See the Duo’s full tech specs here.

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.