A new kind of device arrives with a promise of folding into the future, and within hours of its first unboxing, some of its owners find the inner screen already failing. Such moments tend to test not only the engineering but the trust between a company and the people who paid for its promises. The Apple iPhone Duo's early troubles, now called Crackgate, are still unresolved in their cause and scope, and the pattern of how replacements are being handled has begun to shape the story as much as the defects themselves.
iPhone Duo 'Crackgate' Erodes Buyer Trust as Display Failures and Inconsistent Apple Replacements Mount
Affected owners face out-of-warranty display repair costs of roughly $1,000 and, in some cases, long waits for replacement devices.
A "small number" at Apple's scale could still mean thousands of units.
Mark
Start with the basics. What are owners actually reporting?
Mimi
Black lines and colored bands across the middle of the inside screen, and parts of the display not working. Some say it showed up within hours, a few during setup.
Mark
So is this a known design flaw?
Luke
Not yet. Pressure from hinge-area components or the internal structure has been floated as a cause, but the root cause and the scale of the defect still need confirming.
Mark
iFixit and JerryRigEverything raised concerns, though.
Luke
They raised structural durability concerns about the display. That's not the same as proving why these units failed.
Mimi
What stands out to me is the replacement story. Apple said it would swap affected units free, then one user was told expedited service wasn't available, then told to use paid replacement, then asked for a 79-pound deductible that was later waived.
Mark
Is that one user's experience or a pattern?
Luke
Reported by PhoneArena about one user. The source says Apple's response has varied case to case, but we don't have a count of how many went through anything similar.
Mark
And the survey? 69.2% citing durability sounds huge.
Luke
It's Android Authority's own readers, 2,093 of them. It's not representative, and sales impact is unconfirmed. Also, Apple says a small number of units are affected; Gurman says that could still be thousands. Neither is a published figure.
Mimi
Which is why the call for Apple to disclose numbers matters. Right now everyone is arguing from estimates.
Il Polso
- Black lines and dead zones are appearing across the inside screen of Apple's first foldable, some of them during the very first setup.
- Owners on Reddit and social platforms are sharing photos, and the defect has taken on a name that spreads faster than any official explanation.
- Apple promises free replacements for affected units, yet one owner was sent from one answer to another, facing a demanded deductible before a replacement finally came through.
- A reader survey has many would-be buyers pulling back, though its sample is self-selected and cannot reveal what the wider market will do.
- The next signals to watch are whether Apple discloses how many units are defective and whether its replacement policy becomes clear and consistent.
A new kind of device arrives with a promise of folding into the future, and within hours of its first unboxing, some of its owners find the inner screen already failing. Such moments tend to test not only the engineering but the trust between a company and the people who paid for its promises. The Apple iPhone Duo's early troubles, now called Crackgate, are still unresolved in their cause and scope, and the pattern of how replacements are being handled has begun to shape the story as much as the defects themselves.
Within hours of unboxing the iPhone Duo, some owners say the inside screen was already failing. Photos spread across Reddit and other platforms showing black lines and colored bands cutting through the center of the foldable's display, with sections no longer responding properly. In some cases the damage showed up during initial setup, before the phone had been used at all. Users have started calling it Crackgate.
The iPhone Duo is Apple's first foldable, so any early defect carries extra weight. The cause has not been established. Pressure from parts near the hinge or from the internal structure has been suggested, and iFixit and JerryRigEverything have both raised concerns about the durability of the foldable display. Apple acknowledges that some units have internal display problems and says it will replace them free of charge.
The promise has been harder to keep in practice. One owner, noticing a bulge rising from the bottom of the screen, was told by Apple that it looked like a manufacturing defect. When the owner requested the expedited replacement covered by AppleCare Plus, Apple said the volume of repair requests made that impossible and warned a new device might not arrive until January. The owner's position then shifted through several calls, and a replacement was finally approved only after a deductible was demanded and then waived.
The gap between Apple's claim of a small number of affected devices and its warnings about delays has drawn criticism, since a small share at Apple's scale can still mean thousands of units. Out-of-warranty repair is reportedly around $1,000, which makes the free-replacement promise matter a great deal to owners.
An Android Authority reader survey reported that 69.2 percent of respondents cited durability as a reason to avoid the phone. Because those respondents were the outlet's own readers, the results cannot be taken as a measure of the market, and no effect on sales has been confirmed. What comes next is whether Apple publishes defect figures and makes its replacement process consistent.
Within hours of unboxing the iPhone Duo, some owners say, the inside screen was already failing. On Reddit and other social platforms, users posted photos of black lines and colored bands running through the center of the foldable's internal display, with parts of the panel no longer responding properly. In some reports the damage appeared during initial setup, before the phone had been used for anything at all. The pattern has been given a name: Crackgate.
The iPhone Duo is Apple's first foldable smartphone, which raises the stakes on any early defect. The cause has not been established. Pressure from components around the hinge or from the internal structure has been suggested as a possible explanation, but the exact scope of the problem and its root cause still need confirmation. The teardown specialist iFixit and the YouTube channel JerryRigEverything have both raised concerns about the structural durability of the foldable display.
The cost of getting it wrong falls on owners. Out-of-warranty repair of the internal display is reportedly running about $1,000. Apple has acknowledged that internal display problems occurred in some units and has said it will replace affected devices free of charge.
The trouble, according to reporting by PhoneArena, is how that promise has played out in practice. One user noticed a bulge pushing out from the bottom of the display and contacted Apple. During the consultation, the user was told it looked like a manufacturing defect and that a replacement would be arranged. But when the user asked for the expedited replacement service available under AppleCare Plus, Apple said it could not provide it because of the number of repair requests, and warned that a new device might not arrive until as late as January.
Apple then shifted its position, telling the user a replacement within the warranty period was not possible and that the paid replacement option should be used. After more phone calls, the user did obtain an expedited replacement, but only after Apple first demanded a 79-pound deductible and then waived it.
That sequence sits awkwardly beside Apple's public line. The company says only a small number of devices are affected, yet says expedited replacements are hard to deliver because of the volume of repair requests. Critics have called that contradictory. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has noted that a "small number" at Apple's scale could still mean thousands of units. The tech creator MKBHD has also publicly criticized the iPhone Duo.
There is also a survey, which should be read with care. After the launch, Android Authority polled its own readers, and 39.7% of 2,093 respondents said they had dropped plans to buy the phone because breakage and durability issues eroded their trust. Another 29.5% said they had never considered it because of durability worries. Together, 69.2% cited durability as a reason to stay away, while only 12.8% expected the problems to be fixed in the next model. Because the respondents were the outlet's own readers, the results cannot stand in for the wider market, and any effect on actual sales has not been confirmed.
Market observers say Apple should disclose the number of defective units more transparently and overhaul how it handles replacements and repairs. If defects are confirmed in early production batches, the pressure on brand trust and warranty policy could grow, and complaints that AppleCare Plus subscribers are not getting promised benefits would dent the credibility of that premium service. What to watch next: whether Apple publishes defect numbers, clarifies its replacement policy, and how the episode shapes its plans to expand the foldable line.
Citazioni salienti
What Apple calls a "small number" of affected devices could mean thousands of units.— Mark Gurman, Bloomberg (paraphrased)
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