MKBHD uncovers software flaw with iPhone Duo after testing apps on 7.6 inch screen
The iPhone Duo is finally out in the wild, and as you can imagine, the tech YouTubers are swarming it like flies on honey.
Still, with the world's first folding iPhone starting at a hefty $2,000, the obvious question for the average consumer is whether it's worth the price.
You only have to look at how the OG iPhone revolutionized the phone world back in 2007, but with folding phones being a staple of the scene for years, there are already complaints that Apple might be too late to the game.
The idea of a folding iPhone has apparently been brewing since 2011, and while the Samsung Galaxy Fold got a jump on the competition in 2019, the iPhone Duo's big selling points include the fact that it's the thinnest iPhone ever made (when unfolded) and its futuristic Liquid Metal hinge.
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Noted tech YouTuber Marques "MKBHD" Brownlee has released his Duo review, and according to the reputable techxpert, he thinks apps could be holding back the first-gen folding iPhone.
What has MKHBD said about the iPhone Duo?
We already covered how one YouTuber has put the iPhone Duo through its paces by folding the hinge 10,000 times, but as more reviews trickle in, visible creases could be the least of Apple's worries. MKBHD refers to the Duo as 'first generation fun' but quickly dedicates a whole section to describing the app situation as decidedly not fun.
Claiming a lack of optimization is the Duo's biggest problem right now, MKBHD reminds us that the idea of a folding iPhone is that it acts like any other iPhone when closed. The Duo switches things up with features that you'd expect to be on the bottom of the screen being moved over to the right-hand side.
Although he calls it brilliant as a blueprint for a Duo-optimized app, the problem is that many apps simply aren't optimized at the moment. In the video, Brownlee shows off how unoptimized apps run how they would on your old iPhone, leaving buttons in all their usual places and a massive bar of empty black space down the right.
As the iPhone Duo continues to boast about its impressive 7.6-inch screen, having so much real estate taken up by nothing is a clear frustration.
Everything from Spotify to Google Maps suffers with this problem, and when opening up the Duo, most apps sit in the middle of a huge screen. Saying it reminds him of the old iPad days where you had to make things bigger with the press of a button, he described the whole situation as 'hilarious'.
Some, like Spotify, will apparently stretch a bit when the Duo is unfolded, but MKHBD notes that most aren't optimized yet.
Giving his honest thoughts, MKHBD said: "The general experience has been, flipping between a whole bunch of not optimized apps, that look pretty terrible on the Duo right now."
Apple is already looking at fixing the iPhone Duo's app problem
Browlee is optimistic about the future and thinks Apple should be able to sort out its app situation in the next six months, saying that most of the big ones should come along for the ride. However, for the developers that aren't willing to revisit their apps, Duo users might be stuck with this awkward look.
For now, MKBHD is constantly checking the App Store to see if he can update to Duo-specific versions, shouting out to Instagram for releasing an updated version while he was filming the video.
It seems Apple is well aware of a potential storm brewing, already sharing a blog post about this exact problem. The Apple Newsroom cheered the fact that more than 50 third-party App Store apps have already been updated or will be in the near future.
Promising that developers will "bring incredible new app experiences to iPhone Duo," Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations, added: "The response to iPhone Duo from our developer community has been incredible, and we’re inspired by how quickly they’ve embraced its larger display and new ways to interact.
"From watching popular shows and content on the expansive inner display to multitasking across windows or playing console-quality games, developers around the world are reimagining what their apps can do. We can’t wait for users to discover these experiences beginning this Friday, with many more app experiences to follow.”
It's true that the iPhone Duo isn't even out yet, and that MKHBD likely caught Apple off guard before it could push through app updates, but as the popular YouTuber reminds us, not every developer will be releasing a specialized version just for a folding iPhone.