I\u2019ll be straight with you \u2014 you\u2019ll be lucky to get one, and chances are that you\u2019ll be scurrying away empty-handed. So, what\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot of reporting out there, ranging from people reading the tea leaves of delivery-date estimates to some going so far as to say that Apple knew there would be issues and yet took a go-big-or-go-home gamble.<\/p>\n
Why a foldable is hard to build<\/p>\n
The iPhone Duo<\/a> is Apple\u2019s first foldable phone. On the outside, it looks like a regular-ish iPhone, but when you fold it open, it reveals a mini iPad \u2014 all of which brings new design, materials, and engineering challenges. Folding displays, hinges that are allegedly made up of over a hundred parts, and software to run it all \u2014 that\u2019s all new to Apple, its manufacturers, and assemblers, and is challenging every link in the chain, right up until the phone is ready to be boxed and shipped.<\/p>\n While Apple will have done all it can to dot the i\u2019s and cross the t\u2019s, taking something from small-scale internal testing and scaling it up comes with potential pitfalls and tarpits. Here, I\u2019d make a reasonable guess that hinge quality control and screen yields came into play, as suppliers ramped up production lines to push millions of components to assemblers who have to build working Duos from them.<\/p>\n Also: iPhone Duo hands-on: Some magical touches<\/a><\/p>\n And no, Apple does not, as some people still seem to think, build and stockpile millions of units in advance. Production of any new product does indeed start in advance, but the lead time is at most a few months. So, any glitch \u2014 whether a lower-than-expected yield of a single component, assembly hiccups, or even greater-than-expected orders \u2014 can push shipping times out.<\/p>\n A Nikkei Asia report in early September<\/a> claimed that Duo production was only a few hundred units a day, which doesn\u2019t make much of a dent in the 10 million-unit order\u00a0Apple is reported to have placed for the year<\/a>. However, this would have been early on in the Duo\u2019s production cycle, and low initial yields for a new product aren\u2019t uncommon.<\/p>\n Did Apple go too big, too fast?<\/p>\n Bloomberg\u2019s Mark Gurman, reporting for Power On<\/a>, says that Apple \u201cknew there would be severe supply constraints\u201d and had originally planned to launch the Duo in the US and China, leaving other territories to wait until things had calmed down.<\/p>\n Whether this is true or not, we\u2019ll never know because Apple is tight-lipped about such things. We only know what happened: Apple opened the doors on the Duo in over 70 countries from day one. Gurman says this was to get as many Duos sold as possible during Apple\u2019s fiscal first quarter, while worrying about fulfilling those orders down the line.<\/p>\n Also: The best iPhone Duo cases: Expert recommended<\/a><\/p>\n Within 30 minutes of the preorder doors opening, shipping dates were already out to January 2027. While good things may very well come to those who wait, that\u2019s a long wait, and an uncomfortable one for those who wanted a Duo for Christmas.<\/p>\n At the time of writing, January 22 seemed to be the date I was getting for any preorder from Apple when I checked, irrespective of configuration, location, or how much \u2014 or little \u2014 I wanted to spend.<\/p>\n While slipping shipping times are the norm for any new iPhone, this slip prompted Apple to make a statement to the Financial Times<\/a> saying that demand had been \u201cnothing short of extraordinary\u201d and that it was working hard to fulfill those orders.<\/p>\n Apple also took steps to limit pre-orders to two per customer, likely to prevent Duos from falling into the hands of scalpers.<\/p>\n Shipping dates are bad, but getting better<\/p>\n Those who have been watching Apple know it\u2019s a company that manages expectations around shipping dates, and it\u2019s quite normal for products to start reaching customers earlier than the initial estimate. Maybe some of the kinks get worked out, stock is redistributed, and stuff destined for physical stores gets redirected, or orders from scammers or scalpers are identified and canceled.<\/p>\n Also: This foldable phone might be the iPhone Duo\u2019s fiercest rival <\/a><\/p>\n And all this might be having an effect. We\u2019re seeing reports of delivery dates moving forward<\/a> by generally around 10 to 14 days (although I\u2019ve seen some claims of orders moving up by as much as six weeks), and store staff being told to prepare for the reality that they won\u2019t be getting any Duos for walk-in sales. However, this claim seems to be disputed over on Reddit<\/a> by some posters claiming to be Apple Store staff, while others say that store staff have no idea how many units will land on the day<\/a> (this lines up with what I\u2019ve been told by Apple Store staff in the past).<\/p>\n As always, take Reddit claims with a pinch of salt.<\/p>\n What about the made-in-America news?<\/p>\n In the middle of all this, Apple announced that it had expanded its American Manufacturing Program partners<\/a> to cover the iPhone 18 Pro and Duo handsets. There\u2019s variable-aperture camera tech for the 18 Pro from Qnity Electronics and raw grade 5 titanium for the enclosure (Apple doesn\u2019t say where it\u2019s machined) for the Duo from Perryman, and these join companies such as Broadcom, Corning, and TSMC, which already make parts for Apple within the US.<\/p>\n Also: AT&T will take $1,200 off your preorder of the iPhone Duo<\/a><\/p>\n While I\u2019ve seen some chatter trying to link this to the delays, I think it\u2019s safe to say this is just a scheduled press release that got caught in the crossfire.<\/p>\n Should you queue on Friday?<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve preordered, stick with your preorder. If you really want a Duo, then better to be on the list than not. And who knows, you might have already had your shipping estimate brought forward.<\/p>\n For those who want to bag a Duo this Friday, well, I wish you all the best. While there\u2019s no doubt that some Apple retail outlets (outside of Japan, South Korea, and the UAE, where it\u2019s been made clear that there won\u2019t be any) will get handsets that will be sold to walk-in customers, it\u2019s going to be potluck, and most handsets will be going to those who have pre-ordered for pickup.<\/p>\n Also: How to get the best Duo deals from T-Mobile, Verizon, Apple, and more<\/a><\/p>\n The early bird isn\u2019t guaranteed a worm, but if you\u2019re not one of the first in line, you almost certainly won\u2019t get one. Even if you are, the odds aren\u2019t great.<\/p>\n You might have better luck with third-party retailers such as Best Buy, or your carrier, which get separate allocations.<\/p>\n There\u2019s little doubt that Duos are also going to pop up on resale sites at vastly inflated prices, and that some will be happy to pay those crazy prices. If you\u2019re one of those people, keep your eyes peeled for scams.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAdrian Kingsley-Hughes\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tSenior Contributing Editor\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAdrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over two decades to helping users get the most from technology — whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera. Adrian has authored\/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include ‘Build the Ultimate Custom PC’, ‘Beginning Programming’ and ‘The PC Doctor’s Fix It Yourself Guide’. He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC00524.jpeg\")
Reports suggest that the hinge alone is made up of more than 100 components.Kerry Wan\/ZDNET<\/p>\n![\"Adrian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/adrian-kingsley-hughes.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSee full bio\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ZDNET\u2019s key takeaways Apple opened Duo orders in 70+ countries at once, despite tight supply. New iPhone Duo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[85,46,321,125],"class_list":["post-653347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}