Five things fixed on 12 October
- The foldable iPhone is iPhone Duo, not iPhone Fold. Apple announced it on 9 September 2026. Press release: Apple Newsroom, China.
- Pre-order in China is 16 October, 8:00 p.m. CST. First-wave sale is 23 October. Twenty-eight more countries and regions follow on 30 October.
- China 256GB is ¥15,999. The US price is $1,999. The pre-launch $2,000–$2,500 analyst band landed on its floor. Price is no longer a forecast.
- The inner display is marketed at 7.6 inches, the outer at 5.4, with the same aspect ratio. Galaxy Z Fold 8’s inner display is also 7.6 inches; its cover is 5.5 inches at the full rectangle, and the ratios differ.
- Duo is 5.2 mm open and weighs 254 g. Fold 8 is 4.5 mm open and weighs 201 g, costs $100 less at the same storage in the US, and is already on sale.
“When will it ship?” already has a date. What has not happened yet is delivery, plus the China store line that the model goes on sale after approval.
When the foldable iPhone goes on sale
Today is 12 October 2026. On 9 September Apple announced its first folding iPhone and named it iPhone Duo. The rest of that night is in the 9 September lineup. The China newsroom says pre-orders open at 8:00 p.m. China Standard Time on 16 October in more than 63 countries and regions, with sales on 23 October, and a second wave on 30 October in 28 more places. The first list includes mainland China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, India, Australia, Canada, and Singapore.
The US product page writes the same window as 5:00 a.m. Pacific on 16 October, on sale 23 October: apple.com/iphone-duo. That is the same moment as 8:00 p.m. in Beijing. MacRumors logged the US prices that day: pre-order and US pricing.
Under the dates, the China store still says the model will go on sale after it is approved. See the apple.com.cn buy page. 23 October is Apple’s published window, not a unit already on the counter. If approval slips, China delivery slips with it. The US, Japan, and Europe are not under that sentence.
Price: the old forecast, and the sticker
Before the event, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo put the foldable iPhone at $2,000 to $2,500. A write-up of that range: Android Authority. On 9 September the US floor landed at $1,999 for 256GB, on the bottom edge of that band. China is not a currency conversion. The buy page lists 256GB at ¥15,999, 512GB at ¥17,999, 1TB at ¥21,499, and 2TB at ¥26,499. The 24-month 0% line on 256GB is about ¥667 a month. Capacities: iPhone Duo technical specifications.
| Storage | iPhone Duo, China | iPhone Duo, US | Galaxy Z Fold 8, US |
|---|---|---|---|
| 256GB | ¥15,999 | $1,999 | $1,899 (12GB RAM) |
| 512GB | ¥17,999 | $2,199 | $2,099 (12GB, third-party list) |
| 1TB | ¥21,499 | $2,599 | $2,499 (16GB, third-party list) |
| 2TB | ¥26,499 | $3,199 | No 2TB tier; Fold 8 stops at 1TB |
The US Duo column is the 9 September announcement, as logged by MacRumors. Fold 8’s $1,899 floor is the price Samsung published; the 512GB and 1TB steps are PhoneArena’s MSRP table, updated 7 October 2026: PhoneArena specs. At the same storage, Fold 8 is $100 less in the US. The 1TB Fold is listed at 16GB of RAM. Apple’s spec page does not publish Duo RAM as its own line, so this is not “the same 12GB.”
Do not turn $1,899 into a China street price with today’s exchange rate. Samsung’s China buy page is live, and the screen footnotes are there: Samsung China Galaxy Z Fold8. A pre-order campaign page listed several suggested prices side by side without locking one number to the 256GB Fold 8 in the same sentence, so this article leaves the China Fold 8 price off the table. Trade-in, carrier credit, and education pricing stay off it too. Slab comparison: iPhone 18 Pro 256GB is ¥9,999 in China and $1,199 in the US, so the foldable floor is ¥6,000 / $800 more. Whether that screen is worth the gap: should you buy iPhone 18 Pro at launch.
Screen size: two 7.6-inch panels, not the same phone
Both inner displays are marketed at 7.6 inches. The split is cover ratio, thickness, and weight. Duo’s spec page lists the inner panel at 1878×2670 (430 ppi) and the outer at 1398×2034 (460 ppi), and the footnote measures the standard rectangles at 7.58 and 5.36 inches. Viewable area is smaller. The aspect ratio matches, so closing the phone does not force a second layout. Fold 8 is a different product from the tall fold: Samsung kept that shape for Z Fold 8 Ultra (6.5-inch cover, 8-inch inner). This page compares the short, wide Fold 8.
| Item | iPhone Duo | Galaxy Z Fold 8 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inner display | 7.6 in; rectangle 7.58 in; 1878×2670; 430 ppi; nano-texture | 7.6 in at the full rectangle; about 4:3. 1848×2448 is a third-party spec table | Apple specs / Samsung US / PhoneArena |
| Cover display | 5.4 in; rectangle 5.36 in; 1398×2034; 460 ppi; same ratio as the inner display | 5.5 in full rectangle, 5.4 in with rounded corners; 10:16, not the inner ratio | Apple specs / Samsung China buy-page footnote |
| Refresh and brightness | ProMotion up to 120Hz; 1000 nits typical, 1600 HDR, 3000 outdoor peak | 120Hz. A 3000-nit peak appears on a third-party spec table; the test method need not match | Apple specs / PhoneArena |
| Open | 117.8 × 164.6 × 5.2 mm, 254 g | 161.4 × 123.9 × 4.5 mm, 201 g | Apple specs; thickness and weight on Samsung US; length and width via SamMobile citing Samsung |
| Closed | 117.8 × 84.1 × 11.3 mm, still 254 g | 81.9 × 123.9 × 9.7 mm, 201 g | Same sources |
| Sealing | IP68, up to 6 meters for 30 minutes | IP48 on a third-party spec site; Samsung’s US selling page stresses weight and thickness | Apple specs / GSMArena |
| Chip and rear cameras | A20 Pro (2 nm); 48MP main + 48MP ultra-wide; 12MP cover camera; under-display FaceTime camera inside | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy; 50MP main + 50MP ultra-wide | Apple specs / Samsung US |
Samsung’s US page calls Fold 8 the lightest Fold yet: 201 g, 4.5 mm open, 9.7 mm closed, 5.5-inch cover, 7.6-inch main, ratios 10:16 and 4:3: Samsung US Galaxy Z Fold8. Open size 161.4×123.9 mm and closed size 81.9×123.9 mm come from SamMobile’s write-up of Samsung’s published dimensions: SamMobile. Duo is 0.7 mm thicker open, 1.6 mm thicker closed, and 53 g heavier. In a pocket the gap is weight and folded thickness, not the inner diagonal.
Do not collapse sealing into “both are waterproof.” Duo’s IP68 is on Apple’s spec page. Fold 8’s IP48 is from GSMArena. Samsung’s US selling copy, in the lines captured here, leads with weight and thickness, so the table marks IP48 as third-party. Brightness is the same kind of mismatch: both numbers say 3000 nits, one as Apple’s outdoor peak and one on a third-party table. They are not one measurement. Apple also lists Apple Pencil (USB-C) for the inner display. Whether Fold 8 ships with a stylus is a Samsung spec-page question; this article does not treat it as a checked difference. The crease is the same kind of limit: Apple’s product page calls the inner display flat and nano-textured. That is copy, not a side-light test we ran.
At 256GB, which phone fits
Both are short, wide, book-style folds, not the older tall Fold and not a Flip. Fold 8 was announced 22 July 2026 (PhoneArena) and went on sale 7 August (SamMobile). It is in retail now. Duo’s first sale is 11 days out, and it is Apple’s first folding iPhone. The Fold name is on its eighth generation. Generation count is not how the phone feels in the hand. It does say which hinge and which software stack is on its nth production run.
| Your case | Closer fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Daily phone should stay on iOS, and the layout should survive closing | iPhone Duo | Matched aspect ratios; 23 October; 254 g; ¥15,999 in China |
| You want lighter, you need it now, and the work lives on Android | Galaxy Z Fold 8 | 201 g, already on sale; $100 less in the US at the same storage |
| You do not need a hinge; you only worry the slab is small | iPhone 18 Pro | ¥6,000 / $800 less at the floor, and no hinge |
| You are in mainland China and want 8:00 p.m. on 16 October | Read the approval line first | The date is a published window; “on sale after approval” is still on the page |
Do not compare endurance across columns. Duo’s official video playback is up to about 31 hours on the inner display and 44 on the outer. That is a video loop, not a day of chat and maps. Fold 8’s battery is a 4,800 mAh typical figure (Samsung China footnote; SamMobile prints the same number). Milliamp-hours and video hours are not one column. Chips are not scored here either: A20 Pro against Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy was not run on one task list, so this page does not say which game holds a higher frame rate.
FAQ
Does the foldable iPhone still slip to 2027?
No. The product is iPhone Duo. Announced 9 September, pre-order 16 October, first sale 23 October. 2027 was an older rumor window, not the current schedule.
What is the China price?
On Apple’s China buy page: 256GB ¥15,999, 512GB ¥17,999, 1TB ¥21,499, 2TB ¥26,499. Do not convert $1,999 at today’s rate and call that the China price.
Is the inner display 7.8 inches or 7.6?
The selling name is 7.6 inches. The spec footnote measures the standard rectangle at 7.58 inches. The pre-launch 7.8-inch figure is not on this spec page.
Should this be compared with Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra?
No. Ultra is a different phone: 6.5-inch cover, 8-inch inner display, 215 g. The matching shape is the short, wide Fold 8.
If the 16 October pre-order sells out, do you wait for the next generation?
No. First sale is 23 October, and the second wave is 30 October. A missed pre-order means the first batch was short. The phone is already announced.
What to watch next
Before 8:00 p.m. on 16 October, check three lines: whether the approval sentence is still on the buy page, whether you actually want 256GB, and whether 254 g is acceptable. If you are still arguing about the crease and game frame rates after those three lines, wait for a unit in hand. Do not treat product-page adjectives as a test.
If a day of work does not need the hinge, the ¥6,000 gap belongs on the slab 18 Pro first, not on the next hinge.
Adapting this foldable does not start with a new Mac
Duo keeps one aspect ratio across both displays, but split view, a free-standing angle, and the safe areas are layouts a slab iPhone does not have. The phone arrives 23 October. Xcode, signing, and the simulator can already run on an always-on Mac: Apple silicon, a native macOS toolchain, and low idle power. Leave the foldable-layout builds on a cloud node instead of on the laptop you carry every day.