Apple’s first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, will be released on October 23 for $1,999. This new foldable highlights five distinct advantages compared with Samsung’s “Galaxy Z Fold 8.”
Key points
iPhone Duo features an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, while the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has a relatively lower IP48 rating.
Apple equips the 2nm A20 Pro chip with vapor chamber cooling, faster wired charging, and support for the Apple Pencil.
Meanwhile, Samsung has the advantage in weight, thickness, price, and multitasking, though questions have been raised about demand for the Duo priced at $1,999.
iPhone Duo, durability and IP68 dust/water resistance
At an event held in Cupertino, California (local time) on September 9, Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo, combining a 7.6-inch internal display with a 5.4-inch external screen. Preorders begin on October 16.
The first decisive battleground is “protection from the environment.”
The iPhone Duo supports both dust and water with an IP68 rating. By contrast, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has an IP48 rating—reviewers explained that it withstands immersion in water, but doesn’t provide protection against dust and particles larger than 1mm. Since contaminants are the “nemesis” of foldable hinges, the difference in ratings matters far more than it would for a conventional bar-style smartphone.
Even the materials differ. Reports say that while the iPhone Duo uses a titanium frame and a hinge cover, Samsung uses aluminum, according to materials that compared both companies’ specs side by side.
That said, independent drop and hinge durability tests for both devices are still pending. Compared with traditional bar-style smartphones, they’re still in the “fragile” category. And the iPhone Duo’s actual release is a month away.
Also worth reading: Bitcoin Mining Faces 50% Hashrate Gap While AI Draws Capacity
A 2nm A20 Pro chip and vapor chamber cooling
The second differentiator comes from under the screen, from the chipset.
Apple’s A20 Pro is made on a 2nm process. The Qualcomm “Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5” used in the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is a 3nm process. According to one comparative article, analysis suggested Apple’s chip will lead in both productivity tasks and gaming performance.
Apple claims the A20 Pro’s memory bandwidth is 50% faster than the previous A19 Pro, and the graphics processor is 40% faster.
The iPhone Duo adds vapor chamber cooling here as well. That’s a spec Samsung doesn’t have on the Galaxy Z Fold 8. In theory, it could suppress heat buildup during long gaming sessions or on-device AI computations to slow down performance drops, but concrete benchmark results have not been released yet.
Samsung counters with memory specs. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 starts with 12GB RAM, and the 1TB model steps up to 16GB. By contrast, Apple has not disclosed the Duo’s memory capacity.
Charging speed and the MagSafe ecosystem
The third gap is charging performance. This is the area that can be checked immediately with numbers.
The iPhone Duo supports 60W wired fast charging, and reportedly can charge half the battery in 15 minutes. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is limited to up to 45W, and in the same 15 minutes it can only reach 43% charge. For wireless charging, Apple is 25W and Samsung is 20W, showing a difference between the two.
What’s unique is that—even though it’s a foldable—you can still use the existing MagSafe chargers and accessories as-is. Despite the atypical form factor, Apple kept the magnetic attachment method. Samsung doesn’t put the magnets directly into the device body; instead, it supports magnetic accessories only through dedicated cases, as has been the case so far.
It’s hard to compare battery capacity itself.
Apple didn’t disclose the Duo’s battery capacity figures, instead offering a usage time of “up to 31 hours of video playback based on the internal display.” Samsung specified a 4,800mAh cell, while the actual usage time is expected to be determined through real-world testing after launch.
Apple Pencil support and hinge recognition in iOS
The fourth difference is the input method.
Samsung stopped supporting the S Pen starting with its 2024 “Galaxy Z Fold 6.” The Galaxy Z Fold 8 does not officially support an active stylus. Meanwhile, Apple said in the event’s released details that the iPhone Duo would support the Apple Pencil through software updates before the end of the year.
The supported target is the basic model “Apple Pencil USB-C.” It doesn’t have the pressure-sensing feature like the Pro model, but because it’s an accessory that many iPad users already have, the entry barrier is lower.
The software also detects hinge angles and responds accordingly. If you fold the Duo to roughly 90 degrees, stand it up, and play a video, you’ll see the video on one side of the screen and the playback controls on the other. Samsung removes the layout corresponding to this “flex mode” on the standard Galaxy Z Fold 8, and keeps it only on the higher-end “Ultra” model.
A display that reduces wrinkles and reflections, with a nano-texture finish
The fifth point of discussion is the part consumers see first with their eyes.
Reporters who handled the iPhone Duo shortly after the keynote said that even when they tried the “wrinkles” on the internal screen from multiple angles, they were hard to see clearly, and you could only feel them by running your fingers over it. Samsung has improved the wrinkles in its latest foldables, but based solely on early impressions, some assessments say Apple took a step further.
Apple applied a nano-texture finish to its 7.6-inch internal panel to reduce glare, and says the rigidity of the display materials is 40% higher than the industry average.
However, there’s irony in this panel. The foldable panels Apple uses are supplied by Samsung Display. With two companies that share their supply chain competing on the completion of the same parts, it’s like they’re battling each other over the finished product.
In cameras, both sides have their compromises. Neither device includes a dedicated telephoto camera, so even with prices close to $2,000, optical zoom shooting remains limited.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8’s advantage and the market’s doubts
There’s also no shortage of a “reverse logic” argument about the iPhone Duo. It starts with how it feels in the hand.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 weighs 201g, while the iPhone Duo weighs 254g. When unfolded, the Fold 8 is 4.5mm thick and the Duo is 5.2mm. The 53g weight difference places the Duo among the heaviest iPhones ever.
Samsung is also more aggressive on multitasking. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 can display up to three apps side by side and run up to five simultaneously in popup windows. The iPhone Duo limits side-by-side apps to two. Samsung also kept the physical SIM slot only. Apple fully transitioned to an eSIM-only system. Both devices unlock with fingerprint recognition on the power button and do not offer face recognition.
The pricing structure is also viewed as more favorable toward Samsung. According to an overseas media outlet that compared the price tiers of the two products, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 launched at $1,899, and its actual selling price has since dropped below that. Apple starts the Duo base model at $1,999, and the top storage model rises to as much as $3,199.
Market analysts don’t so readily nod along with Apple’s positioning. Neil Shah, Vice President of **Counterpoint Research**, said that Apple’s announcement of the Duo involved “a bit of a misstep in product positioning.” Carolina Milanesi of **Creative Strategies** also noted that Apple didn’t clearly define its target customer segment to the end.
**TECHnalysis Research** **Bob O'Donnell** was even more direct. He said, “At first, it will be consumed as a ‘status symbol,’” adding that it will also be part of why it won’t be easy to get.
Even so, Shia expects Apple to sell close to as many as 6 million units of the iPhone Duo by the end of this year. In that case, Apple would be taking about a quarter of the global foldable phone market. IDC expects the share of foldable phones in total smartphone sales in 2026 to remain under 3%, and that there will be no major change in 2027 as well.
Apple hardware chief CEO **John Ternus** emphasized that the Duo will “redefine the foldable phone user experience.”
This declaration is essentially a challenge thrown at Samsung’s long-held “frontier.” Samsung launched its 2019 first-generation foldable, then recalled the product amid controversy over screen damage and the peeling of the protective layer. Since then, it has put effort into rebuilding trust up through the seventh generation. The current share of the global foldable market is around 40%, and Samsung said that sales of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra increased by 30% over the previous Fold 7 during their first month after launch.
Next to read: Shiba Inu Fixes Shibarium's Broken Wallet Link, But SHIB Slides 6% In A Week