# Teardowns may explain iPhone Duo's cracked screens

> iFixit and a YouTuber both point to the iPhone Duo's hinge as the likely cause of cracked screens, according to The Verge. Apple hasn't commented yet.

By Subhajit | 2026-10-26 | Tech | Savvy VibeZ
Web page: https://savvyvibez.com/post/teardowns-may-explain-iphone-duo-s-cracked-screens

## Key takeaways

- The Verge reports a YouTuber reproduced a cracked iPhone Duo screen in durability testing and traced it to a thin hinge link that snapped at a notch.
- iFixit gave the $1,999 iPhone Duo a 5/10 repairability score, the best it has awarded a foldable, and suspects part of the hinge isn't descending properly.
- Apple hadn't responded to The Verge's request for comment as of Oct. 25, and no failure rate has been published.

Two separate looks inside Apple's $1,999 iPhone Duo, one from iFixit and one from a YouTuber, point to the same area: the hinge. According to The Verge, both suggest a weak spot there could be behind the cracked screens that owners have been posting about on social media and the iPhone Duo subreddit. Neither is proof, and Apple hasn't said anything yet.

## What the teardowns found

The Verge reported on Oct. 25 that YouTuber CuriousHagi managed to reproduce a cracked screen during durability testing, then pulled the phone apart to find out why. The hinge is a complicated piece of engineering: a gear-like central hinge flanked by two kinds of linking hinges.

The part that failed was one of the links in the middle of the phone. It's thinner than the links above and below it, and it snapped at a small notch, which is exactly where it would be weakest. He also found marks where the hinge meets the support plate, which may mean something was catching there.

iFixit's teardown, as summarized by The Verge, lands in the same neighborhood. The shop suspects part of the hinge sometimes doesn't descend properly. An accordion cable runs across that spot, close to the edge of the battery, and iFixit thinks it could be concentrating pressure. That would fit the "audible crack" some owners describe just before the screen breaks.

## Repairability and the crease

iFixit scored the Duo 5 out of 10 for repairability. That sounds mediocre, but The Verge notes it's the best score the site has given a foldable. The matte nano-texture cover on the inner screen is relatively easy to replace without touching the OLED underneath. Replacing the display itself is a different story, and The Verge calls it an expensive nightmare, as with other foldables.

Under a microscope, iFixit also found oval subpixels arranged at different angles, which it believes help hide the crease down the middle. In its dust test, some dust got into the USB-C port, the speaker grilles and the hinge, though noticeably less of the glow dust got inside than with Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold8 or Google's Pixel 11 Pro Fold.

## What isn't confirmed

Apple didn't immediately return The Verge's request for comment. One broken phone in one teardown isn't a failure rate, and the owner reports online are anecdotal. Nobody outside Apple knows how many units are affected. The two explanations also aren't identical: one blames a thin link that snapped, the other a part that may not be moving down cleanly and a cable under pressure. They do overlap in the same stretch of the hinge.

## Our take

This is analysis, not reporting. At $1,999, a first-generation foldable has to earn trust, and a cluster of hinge-related breaks hurts that faster than a mixed review does. The Verge's own review, which we summarized earlier, said long-term durability was still unknown. Until Apple responds, buyers on the fence have good reason to wait for more evidence.

## Related reading

- [iPhone Duo review: what The Verge found](/post/iphone-duo-review-what-the-verge-found)
- [iPhone Duo reviews: what Engadget and The Verge found](/post/iphone-duo-reviews-what-engadget-and-the-verge-found)

Picture credit: Apple