With the new iPhone Duo, Apple is taking a little bit of a software gamble. All apps, in order to take advantage of the larger inner display of iPhone Duo, will need to be recompiled for iOS 27.0 at a minimum. To use the Duo’s unique new tab bar and other UI components, you’ll need iOS 27.1.
Of course, this means a lot of developers will have to rebuild to support the Duo. On the flip side, it also means Apple is taking a risk of many apps on iPhone Duo being stuck in black bars.
One obvious solution would’ve been for Apple to allow iPad binaries that support resizing to run on iPhone Duo. The compromise here is that it’d likely feel a little more janky. Many developers would also likely take longer to support the iPhone Duo interface elements if they had a compatibility layer.
I get why Apple didn’t do that, because the interface they designed for iPhone Duo is genuinely intuitive, and it makes it feel like a lot of care went into the product. If Apple supported resizable iPad apps, it’d feel a lot more like any other Android foldable.
That said, you have to wonder how long some developers will take to at least compile for iOS 27. Compiling for iOS 27 doesn’t just mean you have to support the Duo, but it also means you’ll no longer have the compatibility option to opt-out of supporting Liquid Glass. For developers who haven’t prepared, the latter likely means many will drag their feet on iPhone Duo updates.
Seeing as you can split screen apps on the Duo, apps not fully expanding on the inside display might not be the biggest deal. That is, if Apple supports split screen with non-native apps.
However, for mobile gaming, a use case I’m sure will be very popular on the inside screen on the iPhone Duo, not having a proper full screen experience would be a major deterrent for many users.
I do hope Apple’s efforts to encourage developers to support the Duo’s interface work out, though I do genuinely worry. Obviously, we’ll see how things pan out with enough time.
Worst case scenario, Apple could simply add an iPad app compatibility mode to iPhone Duo in iOS 28, as a means of improving the experience for users while also getting all of the initial wave of support.
I am genuinely excited for iPhone Duo, though Apple’s gamble on getting third party developers to support Liquid Glass and the Duo at the same time might cause a rough experience for the first few months.
Are you buying an iPhone Duo? What excites you most about it? Let us know in the comments.
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Michael is 9to5Mac’s Weekend Editor, keeping up with all of the latest Apple news on Saturday and Sunday. He got started in the world of Apple news during the pandemic, and it became a growing hobby. He’s also an indie iOS developer in his free time, and has published numerous apps over the years.
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