iPhone Duo and iOS 27: software as Apple's secret weapon against Samsung

The very first foldable-screen iPhone is official. While the battle of technical specs is raging on the internet, it is on the ground of software integration that the iPhone Duo (see our news iPhone Duo: Apple finally gets on board with its first foldable smartphone to learn all about its specs) intends to establish its dominance. And for good reason: where Android has been struggling for years with a multitude of foldable formats, Apple is rolling out a version of iOS 27 tailor-made to make the most of its new passport format. A massive asset that focuses above all on fluidity, aesthetics and simplicity.

 

iPhone Duo, visual continuity and Proportional Scaling The great software strength of the iPhone Duo lies in Apple’s choice to keep the same display ratio (4:3 once unfolded) on the 5.4" external screen and the 7.6-inch internal screen. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, which imposes a radical change in ratio when opened, the iPhone Duo benefits from the Proportional Scaling feature. When folding, apps stretch and shrink in a perfectly proportional manner. Menus unfold instantly with a “Dynamic mirror” effect, with no loading time or graphical distortion. Apple has even gone so far as to integrate ultra-immersive transparency effects and Depth Blur to accompany the physical movement of the screen.

 

 

Liquid Glass: offloaded controls for unfolded mode This is one of the major adaptations of iOS 27: managing ergonomics once the device is opened. Thanks to the new Liquid Glass interface, Apple has completely redesigned the placement of its controls. The main navigation controls and the traditional Dock have been moved to the right side of the screen. They therefore naturally and immediately fall under the user’s thumb when holding the device unfolded with two hands. This clever choice frees up as much vertical space as possible. Once opened, the home screen is split in two, with widgets on the left and classic icons on the right. In the same logic of adapting to the format, the famous Dynamic Island becomes vertical and is placed on the side of the two screens to manage alerts, while the network and battery indicators are grouped in the right corner.

 

 

iPhone Duo: Duo multitasking, simple and natural While Samsung maintains a historical lead in pure productivity with its Galaxy Z Fold 8 (persistent taskbar, complex management of floating windows), Apple has chosen intuitiveness. The iPhone Duo multitasking allows two apps to be displayed naturally side by side in Landscape mode (or two instances of the same app), with child’s-play drag and drop for file sharing. Another ergonomic innovation: in “tent” mode (half-folded), the system activates Book mode, which automatically separates the pages of Apple Books to imitate a paper book. Better still, when placed on a bedside table, the Duo activates its autonomous Standby mode to turn into a Smart Display (clock, photo frame), without needing to be plugged into mains power. Third-party apps such as Netflix, Zoom or Slack have already adapted their interface, making it possible, for example, to scroll clips on the external screen and then open the phone and continue watching full screen inside.

 

 

iPhone Duo, spatialized Siri AI and Apple Pencil Apple Intelligence artificial intelligence is of course part of the package, ingeniously taking advantage of the two screens, even if Siri AI will unfortunately not be available in the European Union when the device launches. Elsewhere, during a translation, the translated text is displayed on the external screen for the person you are speaking to, while the controls remain displayed on the internal screen. AI also serves photography with Smart Capture and Animated Landmark, which displays animations on the external screen to catch children’s attention. Finally, the iPhone Duo screen marks the long-awaited arrival of the Apple Pencil (USB-C version [abc]) on smartphones. Working on both screens, it turns the device into a true interactive notebook (available via a [abc]Firmware[/abc] update by the end of the year).

 

 

Available in two colors (starlight white and night sky) from October 23, with pre-orders opening on October 16 at 2 p.m. Indicative price: from €2,339 (256 GB version) up to €3,839 (2 TB version).

 

Reminder of the key features of the iPhone Duo:

• Operating system: iOS 27.1

• Internal screen: Super Retina XDR [abc]Oled[/abc] 7.6", nano-textured finish

• External screen: Super Retina XDR 5.4 inches

• Interface: Liquid Glass (offloaded controls, vertical Dynamic Island)

• Processor: A20 Pro chip (6-core CPU, 7-core GPU) with Apple Intelligence

• Software features: Proportional Scaling (perfect continuity), Book mode, autonomous Standby mode

• Multitasking: Native side-by-side display, inter-app drag and drop

• Cameras: 48 MP dual Fusion camera, 12 MP Center Stage front cameras and 4 MP FaceTime under-display cameras

• AI: Smart capture, photo editing (cleanup, spatial cropping), spatialized Siri AI

• Compatibility: support for Apple Pencil [abc]USB[/abc]-C (on both screens) via a later update