Just days before reaching the shops, the iPhone Duo has landed on the repairers’ bench. The first teardown videos, from REWA Technology and Phone Repair Guru, show a phone with two batteries, a USB-C charging port that can be replaced without professional help, and an inner display that takes time and care to detach. iFixit’s full verdict, with its repairability score, is not out yet.
Two cells, one in each half
The Duo does not have a single battery. Each half of the phone houses one: the larger is 2,962 mAh (11.56 Wh), the smaller 1,921 mAh (7.5 Wh). Together they make up the 4,883 mAh Apple has already stated. Both are stuck down with electrically released adhesive, the kind that dissolves when a current is applied and lets you lift out the cell without levers or solvents. In Phone Repair Guru’s video it worked without a hitch.
One curious detail: with one cell disconnected at a time, the Duo did not switch off. If the behaviour is confirmed on more units, a Duo with a faulty cell might keep working while awaiting service.
The USB-C port can be swapped at home
According to the teardown, the charging port is a module in its own right, held in place by two T4 screws. That is new for an iPhone: if the connector wears out or breaks, in theory you only need to replace that part rather than a larger one. MacRumors reports the finding cautiously (“apparently” modular), but the video shows the module removed.
The inner display is the hard part
Detaching the folding screen took about an hour. The panel kept working after reassembly, but the frame around it cannot be reused and has to be replaced. The presenter admitted he was not sure the display would survive the operation.
The side button with Touch ID can also be removed, but it was described as extremely difficult to handle. Phone Repair Guru warned that damage to the sensor could be treated by Apple as “other damage”, and that an independent repair shop might cost less.
The other components: a compact, single-layer logic board, with the A20 Pro chip and 12 GB of RAM sitting side by side, a vapour chamber in contact with the processor, stereo speakers, 25 W wireless charging and a Ceramic Shield back glass. The phone is eSIM-only and Apple has published the official repair manual.
And the hinge?
The teardown does not go into the hinge, the part that worries people most. A separate test by JerryRigEverything showed that a small amount of dust can stop it from closing. iFixit, back in September, had written that not even earlier foldables have solved the problem: IP68 certification protects the electronics, not the mechanism. For reference, on iFixit’s scale the Galaxy Fold scored 2/10, the Motorola Razr 2020 1/10 and the Pixel Fold 4/10.
Costs: only Canadian figures for now
Italian repair prices do not appear in the teardowns. The known figures come from Canada, where the Duo starts at $2,999: replacing the inner display costs $1,499 without AppleCare+, while “other damage” comes to $2,249. These are numbers in local currency, not to be converted by eye. For Italy it is best to wait for Apple’s service prices; the purchase prices are in our article on pre-orders in Italy.
What we think
The picture is better than expected when it comes to the batteries and the USB-C port, and that matters: they are the two components that wear out first. But the real sticking point of every foldable remains, namely the inner screen. An hour’s work and a frame to replace mean the cost of the repair will depend more on labour and parts than on the design itself.
Anyone weighing a purchase would do well to get AppleCare+ and to remember that the anti-crease layer is replaceable, as we explained here. Before judging repairability properly, though, we need iFixit’s teardown, expected in the coming days.
Written by the SpazioiTech newsroom with the help of AI tools, from facts verified across at least two independent outlets, and checked before publication. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Translated from the Italian original. Read in Italian
