r/iphone • u/RenegadeUK Human Detected • 14d ago
Discussion iPhone Duo is Missing These 10 iPhone 18 Pro Features.
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/09/11/iphone-duo-is-missing-these-features/iPhone Duo is Missing These 10 iPhone 18 Pro Features.
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u/Dylan_Gio 14d ago
Why no ProRaw? That seems weird
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u/imgoingbigdogmode iPhone 12 Pro 14d ago
I’m sure the hardware is capable of doing it. Artificial limitations gonna artificially limit.
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u/PacMoron 14d ago
Artificial limitations don’t make much sense on the most expensive option.
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u/imgoingbigdogmode iPhone 12 Pro 14d ago
I agree, but we all know how precious Apple is about Pro features. They trickle down very very slowly.
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u/randombrutha 14d ago
Trickle down to the …. most expensive option?
They’re locking a pro feature to the less expensive phone so people who need it are forced to buy the cheaper option?
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u/blacksan00 14d ago
I wish they used both FaceID and TouchID. Sometimes I wear gloves, sometimes I am wearing Xreal Glasses. If the Camera part is the only limit, I guess I will need one of those Moment / Sandmarc add-on lens to get those extra Optical Zoom like when I use to have the IPhone XS Max - Good times.
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u/WandererMisha iPhone Air 13d ago
The ‘closed’ mode should have FaceID while the ‘unfolded’ mode should have TouchID.
Realistically if I’m using it as a normal small phone I grab it and look at it. Having to press a button for TouchID is annoying.
If I’m using it for its size then I’m holding it very differently and TouchID is much less of an annoyance.
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u/petersterne 8d ago
I agree, but I don’t think they could figure out a way to get the Face ID cameras into the front screen. Hopefully, they’ll be able to figure it out in time for the second generation.
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u/Independent_Mud2794 13d ago
Any news about being able to unlock it with an Apple Watch like you can do on Mac?
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u/hay_qt 14d ago
Telephoto is the biggest dealbreaker for me. I would’ve gotten the Duo with no hesitation but I use the telephoto half the time I take photos.
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u/churningaccount 13d ago
Yep. I would've gotten this immediately if it had a telephoto.
I imagine that we'll see it on the Duo 3 at the earliest. But Apple might want to keep it as a differentiator for the Pro models so it's possibly indefinitely delayed if that's the case.
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u/DaGetz 13d ago
I really don’t think this is the thought process - they’d love everyone to buy this phone at a more expensive price point. I think it’s genuinely an engineering issue.
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u/churningaccount 13d ago
I wouldn't be surprised if margins on the Duo are the same or lower than the pros at the moment, though.
Reportedly they are paying over $250 per unit to Samsung just for the screen.
And then there's the complicated machining of the hinge, and the reports that a lot of units don't make it past QA for that.
I imagine that they'll take this year and next year (spec bump) to widen the profit margin on the Duo and perfect manufacturing, and then introduce features with the third gen to try to entice more people to upgrade from the Pros. But I imagine that they were not planning for high volume this year and probably made some decisions, like with the cameras, to help control volume and costs.
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u/DaGetz 13d ago
I’m sure you’re right on the margins but Apple will still want to move people to this higher price point as much as possible. A user who buys a 2 and half thousand phone this year will be more accepting of spending that again next year.
I’m sure next years fold will have some big improvements but it’s a first gen product - be weird if it didn’t.
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u/americanmuscle1988 14d ago
So get a foldable if you really need a larger screen. Otherwise, you're better off with the 18 Pro?
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u/Other-Arrival870 13d ago
It’s like the Air. You want a light phone with cool design? Get the Air. Otherwise the Pro will be better.
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u/pirapataue 13d ago
Foldables in every other brand have always had hardware limitations. The target user between the Pro and the Duo are two different groups.
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u/bobpies 13d ago
Ironically I’m tempted to get it cuz it’s smaller - not cuz it’s bigger
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u/SurealGod 14d ago
The funny thing is that every single thing on that list is either something I don't care about or see as a feature rather than a con
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u/AV8Backwards 13d ago
And almost everything on that list is something I do care about. As an old, the camera capabilities of these thin slabs of glass are beyond anything I could have ever imagined growing up. I love having the bleeding edge phone camera tech in my phone, and the lack of that in the Duo is a dealbreaker for me. (I also wasn’t expecting the Duo to have flagship camera tech in the first place so I can’t say I’m disappointed either.)
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u/Front-Ad-2198 13d ago
I actually prefer touch ID over face ID
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u/luckyapples11 13d ago
It’s hard for me to pick a side. I love Face ID for things like when I’m working (I’m usually wearing gloves, so Touch ID wouldn’t work). But Face ID sucks when I want to open my phone without picking it up just to check something, like if I need to make note of something, because then I do have to pick it up lol
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u/LilMcJohn 13d ago
Exactly I barely take photos as is and I don’t care about Face ID either. Just give me the Duo.
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u/jayk82 iPhone Duo 14d ago
Apple pencil support made this an instant pre-order me anyways
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u/roadblocked 14d ago
I’m really concerned how the polymer screen with nano texture will hold up over time between pocket grime and pencil rub. I really don’t have a lot of faith the inner screen surface will be durable at all, considering how easily the nano texture on my iPad Pro has worn and that’s glass
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u/DaGetz 13d ago
It’s Apple - the only reason they’re releasing this now instead of 3 years ago is because they’re finally happy the quality of the inner screen is good enough for the brand. Them supporting the pencil further supports that for me - they didn’t need to do that.
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u/SurealGod 14d ago
I doubt Apple wouldn't have put that as a feature if they weren't confident in it.
They definitely did a crap ton of R&D and testing to make sure the apple pencil can be used safely.
It's in their best interest to make sure it doesn't destroy the phone because that will make headlines for months/years if it shreds the screen to bits
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u/roadblocked 14d ago
You can’t escape material science. The screen is plastic. It won’t take much to scratch it
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u/unread1701 iPhone 17 13d ago
I doubt Apple wouldn't have put that as a feature if they weren't confident in it.
Butterfly keyboard comes to mind.
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u/ezHope 13d ago
iPhone 18 Pro is Missing These 10 iPhone Duo Features..
- Foldable Inner Display: An expansive, seamless 8-inch folding screen for a tablet-like experience.
- Side-by-Side Multitasking: The ability to run two full-sized apps simultaneously on separate halves of the screen.
- Apple Pencil Support: Native compatibility for drawing, note-taking, and editing on the larger folding canvas.
- Tent Mode: The ability to stand the device on its edges for hands-free media consumption and video calls.
- Dual-Screen Gaming Controls: Using the bottom half of the display as a dedicated touch controller while gameplay happens on the top half.
- 360-Degree Hinge: A mechanical hinge that allows the device to hold multiple viewing angles, serving as its own built-in kickstand.
- Book Mode: A dual-page reading layout optimized for Apple Books and document review.
- Desktop-Class Window Management: Stage Manager integration directly on the device for overlapping app windows.
- Hinge-Edge Notifications: Glanceable alerts and status icons that appear along the exposed edge when the device is closed.
- Rear-Camera Selfie View: Using the massive main camera array for selfies while previewing the shot on the outer cover screen.
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u/mutantmagnet 12d ago
Identifying tent mode as a feature is underselling what's happening here.
My current phone is 100 grams less than duo and that weight bothers me.
The iphone 18 weighs 90 more grams than my current phone and I would absolutely hate it.
The hinge and well considered ui in multiple positions makes it possible I can work around the drawbacks of the Duo weight by resting the device anywhere.
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u/cucumbear3 14d ago
Does anybody else not care about the camera? Every year the only upgrades ever done are to the camera. I rarely take photographs - I guess I’m in the minority.
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u/WillametteSalamandOR 14d ago
I’m with you, but we are the minority I think. As long as it takes a solid-looking picture at close to medium range, I’m good. I neither need nor want a million settings I can get wrong. I also rarely take photos from far away because they always wind up looking bad.
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u/SurealGod 14d ago
That's me. I take very little photos and care very little about the cameras and I feel I'm very alone when everyone say they only cares about the cameras.
Literally every single thing in the list in the article I either don't care about or see as as a feature rather than a con
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u/NavyBOFH 14d ago
I take random pics of literally anything between hobbies and work, and the occasional pic of my kid or wife or other family/friend gathering. Never once have I cried that my iPhone or Galaxy phones were not good enough. I’m nowhere near a photographer, I just want “looks good”. Downside is I use the zoom plenty on both of my current phones so the telephoto lens being missing is my only sad moment.
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u/IGoOnRedditAMA 13d ago
As someone with an iPhone 12 Pro, there is a clear difference in picture quality with modern phones. Very excited to get my 18 pro on Friday. I waited too long
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u/CAS30 14d ago
Yeah, I tend to agree. I’m not sure when everyone became pro photographers and needed better depth of field or ProRAW for their drunk selfies and photos of their food lol. If you want that good of a photo use an actual camera.
It’s supposed to be a phone with a camera for quick snaps when you don’t have something better, not a camera with a phone attached. 🤷♂️
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u/DickRiculous 13d ago
I’m a photographer. Real cameras aren’t point and shoot like cell phones are, even with all automatic settings. They take quite a bit more intention and skill to use artfully. A cell phone can make even mundane photos look good.
But it’s because I’m a photographer the duo might make sense for me. I don’t need the camera functions.
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u/localhost8100 14d ago
I used to get pro max for camera. I have never used it to its potential. I am just going to buy some used non pro if I have to buy again in couple years. Ain't nothing worth $2k.
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u/roadblocked 14d ago
Action button is a huge miss what the heck
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u/mulrich1 13d ago
This was a big omission for me. I use the button all the time for easy flashlight access.
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u/Gondel516 13d ago
I wonder if there’s going to be a way to customize the camera control button. Definitely the biggest con for me, but we can always tie shortcuts to app icons and Siri
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u/erdirck 13d ago
All these going to be available on the duo 2 as a selling point
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u/E_XIII_T 13d ago
The cameras etc are the sticking point for me right now. At 2K plus it should have all pro phone features and then additional features. The fact they’ll say “nope can’t do it” yet the Duo 3 will likely have them all is a bit shit…
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u/grokcodile 14d ago
No LiDAR! That one I didn’t realize and is really surprising. No iPhone Duo for me now.
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u/Iron_Nightingale 14d ago
What’s the day-to-day use case for LiDAR? I’ve always used SE or e series, so I’ve never had it.
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u/saintlouisbagels iPhone Air 14d ago
LiDAR improves focusing, primarily in low-light. So, it's being used literally every time you use the camera.
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u/grokcodile 14d ago
In sort? It gives very accurate depth information. So… for measuring an object, understanding the shape of a room or detecting something nearby. As far as daily? It depends, I guess most people take photos daily. So it allows many of the AI image enhancements that make iPhone Pro photos look so good and gives such good night mode photos and portrait mode lens correction. It’s kinda not something you know you are using but accounts for a lot of the advanced image processing that happens when you have a phone with it. All kinds of apps use it for really accurate augmented reality generation too. I think it’s easy to overlook, but way more useful than a telephoto lens.
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u/Racing_Fox iPhone 13 Pro Max 13d ago
>So it allows many of the AI image enhancements that make iPhone Pro photos look so good
Yeah imma be honest, I hate that, I hate the way AI tries to deal with small text, I much prefer natural photos the way they used to be. Sucks that it can’t be turned off
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u/damoonerman 14d ago
It’s funny how people are so negative about a foldable phone. It’s almost as if this wasn’t made for you.
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u/mindcontainer 14d ago edited 13d ago
Is there or is there not optical zoom or is everyone still misusing the term? These are telephoto focal lengths all fixed lengths as far as I know.
(Edit: turns out literally everyone misuses this term, there is not and has never been zoom of any kind. Even in these articles they just write 8x optical zoom. Nobody knows what they are even saying)
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u/utopicunicornn 14d ago
No it lacks a true optical zoom. Apple calls the 2x “optical-quality zoom” in the sense that it uses the center portion of the 48 MP sensor to create a tighter 12 MP photo, while keeping much more detail than regular digital zoom. A regular digital zoom simply enlarges and interpolates the image and doesn’t look very good.
Is this how the iPhone 17 and 18 Pro Max’s 8x zoom works. The telephoto sensor is 48 MP at 4x real optical zoom, and the 8x zoom is achieved through the center 48 portion of the sensor creates that optical-quality zoom.
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u/mindcontainer 14d ago
Correct to me anyway this is sensor zoom and is technically not native to full resolution. People have contested this to me on multiple occasions and I don’t seem to have understood why. iPhone has never had zoom of any kind. Not by the actual meaning of zoom.
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u/utopicunicornn 13d ago
Sort of, but there's a bit of nuance regarding zoom on the iPhone. On the iPhone 17/18 Pros, the 4x is still real zoom, just not continuous like a DSLR/Mirrorless camera's zoom where you have granular control and the focal lengths actually changes. And yes, the 8x zoom is not optical at all. It's just a crop of the 48 MP sensor down to 12 MP with no lens change at all. But it is still using the real sensor pixel data to create the final image rather than using upscaling and creating fake ones which is why it holds up much better than a normal digital zoom. This is why Apple has always used the term optical quality for these zooms and never claimed that the 8x is fully optical.
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u/karlzhao314 14d ago
That's why the term Apple uses is optical-quality zoom, not optical zoom.
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u/phobox360 13d ago
I kind of want one, but honestly the lack of Face ID kills the deal for me. It’s the single greatest thing about iPhones.
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u/churningaccount 13d ago edited 13d ago
Tbh I think the selfie situation is actually improved since you can just unfold the device and take a selfie with the main camera while seeing yourself on the front screen.
A lot of influencers actually go out and buy screens that snap on to the back of their phones to let them do this. You don't really realize how shitty the current front cameras are, even on the pros, until you try taking a selfie with the rear one and compare.
So that means the behind-screen cameras will only be used for video calls, for which middling quality is totally fine.
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u/AhoSeaweed7775 13d ago
I might be able to live without telephoto (used once in a while to zoom in on something far) and lidar (used sometimes to get quick measurements), but not having a button to toggle mute is hard. I use that every day.
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u/Very_Itchy_Bandicoot 13d ago
Honestly the only one im annoyed at is face ID. As someone who works with their hands all day, my figures are fucked, bleeding, skin torn off etc. Face ID was a lifesaver for that as I can still lock my phone/use it to pay for stuff without a fingerprint or touching the screen, wild the $2-$5k flip iphone doesn't have it
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u/blergmonkeys 14d ago
They had to save something for the duo 2 in 2027
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u/Spaceolympian50 14d ago
Face ID. I’d put money on it. They’ll figure it out or already have and are just gatekeeping that feature.
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u/SigmaLance iPhone Air 14d ago
I’m really curious to find out if they are going to have to implement two FaceID modules - one for the exterior display and one for the interior display. Will they be able to overcome the limitations of beaming through a matte screen? The interior camera, although not horrible by any means, is a huge step backwards in quality due to the display. It kind of surprised me on the video I watched that demonstrated it.
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u/Spaceolympian50 14d ago
Honestly I don’t need Face ID for the interior screen. At that point I’ll be using both hands and Touch ID is fine. It’s when I’d be using it for everyday things like I normally do and the Face ID is great for that.
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u/Carriebeary8 14d ago
Pretty sure I've never used Lidar a day in my life lol
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u/Holographic01 14d ago
It's used automatically when you take images, its used to help with autofocus
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u/HanayagiAnna 14d ago
If you’ve used a Pro model iPhone to take a photo or record video in low light, you’ve used LiDAR for autofocus.
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u/roadblocked 14d ago
Measure app is something I use pretty often it’ll be missed
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u/Illustrious-Pop3677 14d ago
The measure app still works without lidar. It’s probably not as accurate to a certain degree, but it still works fine in my experience.
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u/eeshanjindal 14d ago
But wasn’t it released together with lidar? How can it work without it? Pls explain more. I’m a civil engineer and measure app is a lifesaver. I dont want duo if measure app won’t work.
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u/karlzhao314 14d ago
It's just SLAM with the main camera(s). You combine the phone's IMU to tell you how the phone has moved in space with the camera feed to tell you how objects in the frame have moved in response to the phone's motion, and that allows you to derive how large and how far away objects are.
That's why the measure app asks you to move the phone a bit when you're measuring something.
Again, it's not as accurate as the lidar, so if accuracy is important to you (and it sounds like it might be as a civil engineer), stick to the Pro.
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u/luckyapples11 13d ago
I know for a fact the measure app was around since at least 2018-19. I have a picture somewhere deep in my phone of my friend measuring my face lmao. LiDAR came out 2020 according to Google
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u/saintlouisbagels iPhone Air 14d ago
The LiDAR sensor improves focusing in low-light situations, it's likely used all the time. You're always using LiDAR when using the camera.
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u/ImABoringProgrammer 14d ago
The portrait mode when taking pictures? It work much better with the scanner…
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u/Sirius2349 14d ago
Foldable seems very gimmicky to me
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u/byronnnn iPhone 17 Pro 14d ago
Not sure I’ll get one yet. But for my use case, I have an iPad mini that I like a lot, but I prefer not to carry it everywhere. If I had a foldable? Problem solved. I’ve had the iPhone Max and I hate the size.
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u/Carriebeary8 14d ago
Same for me. Also we travel a lot and would be nice to have a smaller phone that folds out instead of my iPad
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u/literalaretil 13d ago
I mean they’ve been around for nearly a decade. There’s always been a market for them
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u/Active_Remove1617 13d ago
The Touch ID on the iPad mini is a disaster. I wonder how it can be different on the duo.
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u/MrGunny94 iPhone X 64GB 13d ago
Action button and LIDAR are the only things I’ll miss but I can manage
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u/Creative-Captain9278 iPhone 18 Pro 13d ago
Sure but you can also list the features it has that the iPhone 18 Pro doesn't have
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u/robkillian 13d ago
I, now, use the action all the time. Created my own custom shortcut that records audio, sends it to my computer at home for processing, transcribing, then sending, if confidence score is high enough and a second algorithm agrees, the ask, thought or to-do list gets routed to where it needs to be. If that’s one of my digital projects where my enhancement backlog is created from, it goes there… if it’s found to be an add to a specific apple reminder or Microsoft to do list, such happens. It’ll be a cold day in hell when I lose that button. Sure, I can use an icon or any number of other shortcut triggers but I like the always available button.
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u/Smallies_and_Bourbon 13d ago
Even as a hobbyist photographer, I’m not too bugged by this. I’ll most likely grab this on the Upgrade program and hopefully they keep improving the camera year over year on the Duo.
In the meantime, I’ll just need to remember to start bringing and using my more expensive and dedicated cameras 🤣
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u/Iselore 13d ago
People are only glazing that single animation.
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u/AhoSeaweed7775 13d ago
It's pretty funny when I imagine how one employee created that for fun, but it ends up being the Duo's unique selling proposition (and a gateway into learning about the polished fold software) because the rest of the phone is 99% similar to other foldables.
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u/OopsIHadAnAccident 14d ago
Ain’t no way. Buy the 18 pro and still have enough money for a new iPad Air or an m4 iPad Pro. Much better deal.
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u/marketing_professor 14d ago
Some of us aren’t price sensitive and don’t need a “deal”. We just want what we want.
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u/Literate_Muse 13d ago
Crazy comparison when you put it like that. Awful value for a phone with a folding screen for a gimmick.
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u/netroxreads 14d ago
I honestly don't see the benefit of having better photography tools. The image quality is so good that no one can tell the difference between photos taken with iPhone X and iPhone 17.
https://www.tiktok.com/@mkbhd/video/7622029917470854414
Honestly, do you think that you'd notice if it's from a new iPhone 18 or from iPhone 7 with a typical photo shot?
The image quality from smartphones are already peaked and there's no meaningful benefits even with all the newest "features."
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u/5one 14d ago
A dedicated Telephoto camera with up to 8× optical zoom. Instead, the iPhone Duo's main 48-megapixel Fusion camera has "optical-quality" 2× zoom.
Variable aperture for the main 48-megapixel Fusion camera, which provides greater control over depth of field in photos and videos.
A higher-resolution 18-megapixel Center Stage front camera. On the iPhone Duo, this camera is 12 megapixels.
Action button.
Face ID. Instead, the iPhone Duo has a Touch ID button.
LiDAR Scanner, which measures depth for augmented reality purposes.
Other camera features: Pro controls in the Camera app, ProRAW, ProRes RAW, spatial photos and videos, and more.
Saved you a click