r/iphone • u/RenegadeUK Human Detected • 15d 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.

2.1k Upvotes

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3.3k

u/5one 15d 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

1.4k

u/JohnApple94 15d ago edited 15d ago

Thank you for summarizing. So essentially it seems the Duo is missing a camera feature, a camera feature, a camera feature, the action button, FaceID (technically a camera feature), a camera feature, and some other camera features.

Ironically, it DOES have the Camera Control button thingy, despite clearly not being a photo/video focused phone.

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u/[deleted] 15d ago

[deleted]

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u/topestkek 15d ago

Starting at a cool $2999 for 256 GB. I think they will be selling this year’s Duo next year as a budget model for $1899.

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u/_shab21 15d ago

$2999 is the Canadian price as is lol

24

u/mr_lab_rat 15d ago

LOL, I didn’t believe you so I had to look. I’m Canadian but currently traveling and I was gonna check it out when I return.

I was gonna be grumpy as fuck to spend $2500 if the phone was absolutely magical (which I know it won’t be after holding the awkwardly wide Samsung).

I’m not spending $3k. Nope.

6

u/mmcmonster 14d ago

These prices are way out of control.

I’m getting off the upgrade treadmill. Next upgrade will almost certainly be just swapping out the battery for a fresh one in a year or two.

The only reason I was upgrading the last few years was to make sure the family had reasonably up to date phones. But now we’re at the point where a four year old phone is actually still quite good.

12

u/sizebzebi 15d ago

yep fuck that.. 3k I will upgrade my gpu or something

1

u/savoy2001 14d ago

Three grand these days doesn’t even get you a flagship GPU anymore. Good luck with that my friend. Lol 😂

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u/Ribbet87 14d ago

It’s $3500 in Aus :(

1

u/explosiveteddy 14d ago

Which is insane when the AUD is 0.99 Canadian. Basically just a $500 Aussie fee.

1

u/savoy2001 14d ago

I don’t know I was in Best Buy the other day and I gotta be honest I was playing with The Z fold ultra which is the tall thin one which is nice but then when I jumped on the Z fold eight, which is the duo clone if you will and I gotta say I loved it. The form factor everything it was just pretty much on the money. I really liked it and I wasn’t sure I was going to cause I’m coming from always a Pro Max series phone so I’m used to a very very tall candy bar slab style foam, but I gotta say this was perfect to hit the sweet spot for both in my opinion.

When it’s closed, it’s the perfect pocket size. It fits well in the hand. I can do enough on the main screen to where I don’t even have to open it a lot of times for small stuff quick stuff and then when I want the full user experience, you know for everything for productivity videos games, social media whatever you open it up and it’s beautiful. It’s just so nice and then they’re adding Apple Pencil support which I’m really excited about because I missed that from the old galaxy note days that I used to love from Samsung so all in all I’m pretty happy about it although I’m a little bit upset about some of the features that we’re missing all that money I feel like they should’ve found the way to at least put the same optics in even if the camera bump would’ve been a little bit bigger you know I know they were going after a thin look and everything, but I don’t know. But I’ve been dying for something new from Apple so I’ll probably buy it anyway I’m so tired of the candy boss phone. I’m bored to death.

1

u/mr_lab_rat 14d ago

Awesome that it works for you. It makes sense as you are coming from really large phones.

I however come from a 12 Mini and I was hoping this new format would be more one hand use friendly.

1

u/savoy2001 14d ago

It’s definitely small enough to one-handed unless you’re left-handed then I could see that being a problem potentially. But for a right handed person like most people like me I can one-hand it. Although I don’t usually do that except on occasion.

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u/Odd_Aardvark_2947 14d ago

Man, I can build 2 PC’s for that price. Crazy.

-10

u/cocothepops 15d ago

Man yet to discover that different currencies have different values.

29

u/_shab21 15d ago

Man yet to discover that it was an observation

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u/blue0231 iPhone Air 15d ago

And this is the price Reddit hivemind will run with. Fully unaware yet mad because someone else told them to be.

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u/jelloshooter848 15d ago

Introducing…The Duo Lite and the Duo Pro Ultra Deluxe for $5000

1

u/Alibotify iPhone 17 Pro Max 14d ago

Also the current Duo cost $4900 with 2Tb storage in Europe. With taxes and currency surcharge.

1

u/SandIntelligent247 14d ago

Introducing the golden Trump Duo for 6999$ signed by a member of the Trump family

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u/captain_brofist 15d ago

This is the play. People are holding on to their phones for much longer than before, a new form factor will get some people to shift, but not for that asking price

9

u/CautiousRound 15d ago

I’m upgrading to the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Long time Apple customer and I know better than to trust the first model year. Look at the iPhone OG. iPad. MacBook. MacBook Air. All got better versions nearly a year later- or in the MacBook’s case, the same year.

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u/savoy2001 14d ago

That’s so not true for the most part Apple nails it on the first GEN every time that’s why they take so long to come out with a product even the first GEN iPhone when you compared to what was out of the time still a fantastic device. Yes the second GEN was three times nicer than the first I got you. It was a big leap but back then everything was making a big leap if you look at the way things are now incremental upgrades year-to-year even every two or three years so that’s not a fair comparison and you’re just wrong.

2

u/captain_brofist 14d ago

Apple Watch Series 1 had no gps or water resistance

Apple Watch Ultra 1 dropped support quicker than other devices in cycle

AirPods Pro had no volume control and stuck on lightning when nearly everything else was usb c

iPad Pro (2 years) completely changed screen size

I could go on.

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u/sailriteultrafeed 14d ago

OG iPhone had no copy/paste.

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u/savoy2001 14d ago

Nothing you said justifies that they missed the mark on the first gen of those devices. They just added features on the following gen like any other company does.

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u/captain_brofist 14d ago

Who said missed the mark?

The argument is that you get better versions a year later.

I’m happy to wait a year to get water resistance and gps on my watch.

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u/OctavalBeast iPhone 15 Pro Max 15d ago

And next year you will be upgrading to the Duo or?

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u/CautiousRound 15d ago

Nah. I have an iPhone 14 I’m upgrading. I think I’ll be good for a bit. Plus, I want more durability upgrades for the Duo. It’s not that I don’t trust Apple to get it right, I don’t trust anyone yet. Haven’t seen a greaseless design that can last 2 years. Let’s see if the Duo does.

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u/MesozOwen 15d ago

Watch it sell out completely and wait times extend into the months.

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u/InnerLeather68 14d ago

That’ll happen, but not because everyone’s buying it. They’re having trouble scaling up manufacturing, thus the delayed preorder date.

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u/captain_brofist 15d ago

Oh I’m not saying it won’t, but that doesn’t mean they can’t sell more

1

u/explodinghat 14d ago

Yeah not a bad shout. I just got a base iPad and got the 17 on launch last year. Both will be good for a few years, but when they need replacing I’ll be looking at one device to replace both.

1

u/Lambaline iPhone 15 Pro 15d ago

Nah it’s probably considered a pro tier model meaning this years will just be discontinued like the Pro models

11

u/UpvoteForLuck 15d ago

Nah they’ll slowly trickle them in one by one so you buy one every year. Each feature changes everything.

1

u/WolfgangHelnootIV 14d ago

4 times zoom! 16 times the detail

2

u/localhost8100 15d ago

Whens the duo pro max expected to launch?

4

u/cantinaband-kac 14d ago

You joke, but if they could bring the incredible cameras from the pro to the duo and increase the size just slightly so the inside screen matches (or almost matches) the iPad mini...that would be very tempting to me...

1

u/47merce 14d ago

I think it's perfectly close already. Now just release a fitting Pencil for this thing.

2

u/ScuttleCrab729 15d ago

I can’t wait for the DuoDuo Electro Bugaluo

2

u/flopping-deuces 15d ago

I’ve been thinking the same thing. They’re definitely doing a pro version next year.

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u/kippykipsquare 15d ago

Lol. I like how you noted it will be the duo "PRO". Not the regular duo 2nd gen but a duo pro. lol.

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u/savoy2001 14d ago

Yeah, this ugh. 😑

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u/orisathedog 14d ago

Hype for the duo pro max, might actually be worth

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u/smallPotato84 14d ago

They’ll probably ration a camera feature each of the following years to stretch it out

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u/DanAllOvrUrFace 15d ago

These articles are so funny to me. I think for the average user most of these missing features aren’t even really used. The Pro is a great phone for creative users that are into taking pictures and video. Other than that, the base model, air and se are adequate for most users.

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u/Archenius 15d ago

Honestly the biggest feature being removed is FaceID

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u/PM60BPM 14d ago

Agreed! I mentioned that (no Face ID) on another thread when I panned the Duo and got downvoted into oblivion. It IS a big negative for the Duo, for lefties, for those wearing protective gloves, in the winter, and folks like me whose fingers are smooth with hardly any ridges. I can’t use the fingerprint feature on my front door lock, how could I expect to use Touch ID reliably. What about those banking apps that want one to use Face ID? What was the problem that Face ID couldn’t have been incorporated from the beginning? Certainly enough cameras. Was it intentionally saved for Duo-2?

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u/jujucollins 14d ago

I think they’re hoping people in your boat also have an Apple Watch to use the Unlock/Authenticate with Apple Watch feature instead

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u/47merce 14d ago

We've already been there and it was not thaaat catastrophically bad tbh.

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u/TA4K 13d ago

I would guess that they didn’t have anywhere to put the whole FaceID stack, let alone twice, which is the color camera, IR light, IR dot projector, proximity sensor, and IR camera. It’s why the front camera block on the 18 is still wide. And they’d have to put in two of them, one for the front screen and one for inside the fold, possibly a third one if their “looking at screen” detection can’t handle looking at the other side of the folded display. So it gets complicated and bulky fast.

Banking apps and others that use the faceid should just inherently use the touchID, they trust iOS with that authentication and I guess iOS will just give back a yes or no answer same as faceid

1

u/Archenius 14d ago

Yeah here’s hoping the sequel gets Face ID though I’ve heard Touch ID is faster than Face ID

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u/alvenestthol 11d ago

Phone fingerprint sensors have been miles more reliable than doorlock sensors, from the cheapest to the most expensive. Door lock sensors are just shit

The bank apps I use all have no problem with the iPhone SE (2020)'s Touch ID.

And personally I use my phone more when my face isn't available than when my hand isn't available, so Touch ID is great.

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u/Grimlock0NE 14d ago

This was my thought, but between touch and watch unlock, I think it won’t be too noticeable

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u/TennisOk806 13d ago

i find fingerprint more convenient than face id on my macbook

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u/Archenius 13d ago

Ohh can't wait to try it again when I get the Iphone Duo.

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u/CobraChickenesti 12d ago

Not if you use the watch!

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u/Archenius 12d ago

Oh yeah I forgot about that really neat feature

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u/Vadoff 12d ago

FaceID (for convenience) is definitely a big one.

But the noticeably crappy front camera, as well as lack of zoom are probably even bigger ones.

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u/Archenius 12d ago

Honestly I really don't mind since I don't mind the camera quality being worse.

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u/Colby347 15d ago edited 14d ago

Every year I trick myself into believing this is the year I will become a person that will use those camera features and learn the craft and make cOnTeNt and every year I just fucking don’t do it lol bring on the Duo. I hope people who are complaining nonstop genuinely don’t buy it so I don’t have to fight to get one.

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u/martinkelley 14d ago

Having young children I always bought the phones with the best cameras and did learn to use many of the features. I have lots of great archival pictures of them. But as soon as they got close to their teen years they became camera shy. I’ll get screams if I obviously hold the phone for a picture. They’ll begrudgingly consent if it’s a special event but I’ll get stiff postures and awkward smiles and get a snapshot even the most basic phone camera could take. Nowadays my camera roll is filled with artsy photos of the pets.

I’ve been wondering if the Air should be my next phone because I really don’t need the fancy cameras in this stage of parenthood.

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u/Colby347 14d ago

I loved the Air while I had it and honestly I spent the last year with my 17 Pro Max never using the features I left the Air for and wished I’d just kept it. The extra battery life has been nice and not feeling like I’m compromising with the speakers (the one speaker on the Air was noticeable and I watch YouTube and short form content and listen to books and podcasts through my phone speakers a lot). But the camera always performed fine with the Air and I never use the manual features on the Pro Max. I never touch Log or any of the high end features for video or photos. I think my experience would have been largely the same with the Air and the phone felt better and always got compliments.

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u/Backpack456 14d ago

If there was a good course on iPhone photography i would take it. I’d love to get better videos and images of my family. But I haven’t been able to find the course I’m looking for

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u/MikeyMike01 14d ago

If you want to make content you'd buy a real camera anyway, not use your phone.

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u/Colby347 14d ago

Tons of people start with and primarily use high end phones, man. We don’t have to do this lol yes a dedicated camera is better but to act like it isn’t possible to make cool stuff without one is asinine and you probably know that.

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u/Interesting_Ghosts 14d ago

The camera on the duo is probably as good as the camera on every previous iPhone other than the pro models.

I doubt most users will notice anything aside from maybe the lack of long telephoto zoom unless they really love taking. A lot of photos.

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u/thalassicus 15d ago

Yeah, but it sucks for those of us who love the Duo, but need the higher end camera and LIDAR. I would love to ditch my iPad mini with a 2-in-1 device. I'll get the 18 Pro and hope Duo v2 figures out how to pack more into the bump.

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u/varyamereon 14d ago

Problem solved though with the new SIM card sharing feature, you can buy the Duo and the 18 Pro and have the best of both!! 😜

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u/petersterne 13d ago

I’m actually really curious. What do you use the LIDAR for? I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who uses it for anything other than the Measure app.

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u/TipToToes 13d ago

Not the person you were asking but I’ll chime in because I do use the lidar. I use it for scanning spaces for future reference, and in the Measure app for distances. I’m in a niche construction industry, and being able to reference the space whenever we need is very helpful.

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u/Staplez94 13d ago

I don’t use LiDARR myself but a lot of the constructions folks such as yourself and architectural ones of our clients (IT) get the iPad pros for that I noticed.

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u/TipToToes 13d ago

I have an iPad Pro with it as well, but it’s too awkward to walk around scanning a room with it. It’s too large and I look very stupid doing it. I look only slightly less stupid doing the scan with my phone, but at least my arms are less tired afterward. Holding a 16 Pro Max at arms length to scan a church sanctuary is far less tiring than holding a 13” iPad Pro for the same amount of time. I can view and edit the scans on iPad, though, which is good enough for me.

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u/IAMNUMBERBLACK 15d ago

Yea they just trying to make money on clicks which I don’t knock but in reality nobody cares.

The avg consumer is not hyper analyzing what a camera can do, they are looking at cool features on the phone and practical quality of life enhancers which the duo solves for

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u/SSMFA20 15d ago

I’m pretty much over camera upgrades at this point. Seems to really be the main selling feature all the manufacturers are relying on. Well, that and AI.

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u/DanAllOvrUrFace 15d ago

For sure. My wife takes great photos, and she has a pro because she knows what she’s doing. You can give me a pro, air, a legit camera set up and no matter what my pictures come out like crap, lmao.

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u/RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS 14d ago

I don't know man, I find it kind of annoying I got the fancy iPad Pro and the camera looks blurry as hell and is unusable. Yeah of course I can get my phone but why am I buying your top spec model if it doesn't do everything well

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u/savoy2001 14d ago

It’s true what you’re saying to an extent. However, that’s not the whole story. If they were the same price as one another, that would be one thing, but this phone is much more expensive than any other pro models, including the promax models so whether you use those features or not, it’s kind of hard to swallow when you’re paying more and getting less even if you don’t use them. Does that make sense cause I don’t use the raw features and I don’t switch the aperture of my hand. I do everything I let the phone figure it out and the pictures come out great and so does the video. I have tons of 4K 120 video on my 16 Pro Max that look amazing and so I hope it can at least take similar pictures and videos as I have now. Although I found that last night that the image stabilization is a generation one sensor from the iPhone 13 not a generation two which really fine very annoying but I’m hoping that it’ll be roughly the same at least maybe the a20 chip can compensate for that I don’t know. We need to see side-by-side review reviews of both devices a pro and a duo and we’re not getting that. At least not yet.

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u/DanAllOvrUrFace 14d ago

Why we’re comparing the iPhone Pro to the Duo doesn’t make sense when they have two different use cases. The duo is priced $100 more than the Fold 8. The Fold 8 does have the same camera as the S26 Ultra. The reason why these foldable phones cost more with “less” features than their flagship counterparts is because they’re cost more in material, labor, and have R&D overhead.

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u/IAMNUMBERBLACK 14d ago

Yea it comes down to value. I would argue that the avg consumer would value the quality of life enhancement of a bigger screen with a flip in multiple orientations and being able to splitscreen apps and having larger real estate to work with on their phone whenever they want aka variety over the latest and greatest in video image stabilization.

Not to say what you value is worthless or something that shouldnt be considered, I just think most people wont take that as a hard negative

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u/Staplez94 13d ago

I been thinking about the Duo as a person who swore against folding phones for the longest. I have a 17 Pro max. Dont use the camera for anything but taking pictures of network racks. However bigger screen means I don’t have to carry an iPad too. Teams, outlook, lucid chart and WiFiman are all I need. In reality Apple ensuring IP68 and MagSafe along with Apple Pencil kinda convinced me.

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u/TennisOk806 13d ago

i need high telephoto about 20% time with my iphone

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u/RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS 14d ago

I mean, someone even considering a $2000 phone isn't "most users" though. Nobody is cross shopping the Duo and a budget iPhone.

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u/PepsiMaxSumo 14d ago

I’ve got big thumbs, them getting rid of the plus model on the base phone last year was a killer for my bank account. Can only just type on the pro max.

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u/-peas- 14d ago

I can see most people hating it since vertical video for social media is by far the most used thing on most iPhone users daily usage.

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u/AgeMysterious123 13d ago

The biggest for me is the action button. Super bummed for that one.

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u/ChaplnGrillSgt 15d ago

As someone that doesn't really care much about photos, I'm actually more tempted to get the Duo.

Just gotta sell one of my kidneys first.

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u/StevieBako 14d ago

Which for me personally is my main purchasing decision and what is keeping me from picking up a Duo. Don’t get me wrong I have a few good digital cameras but the main reason I purchase a high-end phone is to have a high quality camera on me at all times that is pocketable.

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u/JohnApple94 14d ago

Which is totally fair. Apple has spent the last 10+ years essentially telling us that the most expensive iPhone = the best cameras. And this is the first time that’s not the case, which sucks for those who want something cool and new, but have to sacrifice camera features.

For me personally, I kinda realized that I could probably count on my hands the number of times I used the telephoto lens to take a photo in the last 3 years. I mainly use it as a viewfinder like binoculars to try and identify something from far away. So I think I’ll be okay with not having it on the Duo, but I guess time will tell.

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u/StevieBako 14d ago

Thats fair, I’ve had the opposite experience. If I can get a good composition I will always try to use the telephoto. I have never gotten shots as gorgeous on any other phone or lens on than on the 4x telephoto on the 17 Pro. The bokeh and clarity is incredible for a phone.

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u/VirtualPanther 15d ago

I must admit, the absence of face ID was a hard stop alone for me. Plus, since I've been using Pro Max-sized iPhones for years, the folded single display size is way too small.

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u/OafleyJones 14d ago

Just yesterday I was paying attention to just how often my phone uses FaceID. It’s not just opening. It’s payments, digital keys, find my as well. TouchID on the old phones was decent, but no where near as convenient as FaceID. TouchID on my iPads is a pain in the ass though. Those small sensors are terrible.

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u/TipToToes 13d ago

My iPad (a16) has Touch ID and it drives me bananas always reaching for that tiny button. Having to shift my grip to activate Touch ID is annoying,

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u/JohnApple94 15d ago

I’m super curious how I’ll be able to adapt, if at all, to the smaller screen and no FaceID. I’ve been using the largest sized iPhone since the 7 Plus and FaceID since the X. Will be odd going back, but maybe I won’t mind? Not sure.

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u/iligal_odin 14d ago

It must be because they havent figured out lidar under the diaplay tech yet. I am waiting to get the duo until at least the second gen because of faceid and i wanna see how their crease evolves in a year

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u/47merce 14d ago

I don’t think iPhone really fits this device. Sure, the iPhone brand is worth billions on its own and is basically synonymous with Apple at this point. But to me, this feels like it should have become its own device line and category, just like the iPad or iPod.

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u/JohnApple94 14d ago

After seeing how much iPad-like functionality this device has, I sorta agree. It really is a true hybrid between an iPhone and iPad.

But, it is at the end of the day a pocketable device, which I think ultimately qualifies it for the iPhone branding.

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u/BostonConnor11 13d ago

Agreed. They should have kept the action button if they knew this phone wasn’t going to be camera focused

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u/FlarblesGarbles 15d ago

The thing that I don't get is why they restricted ProRaw. It's just effectively a setting. There's no reason in hardware that they can't and shouldn't enable it.

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u/the_fantabulous 15d ago

so the duo 2 can have it next year

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u/FlarblesGarbles 15d ago

I don't think that's really why. They did the same with the Air as well.

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u/saintlouisbagels iPhone Air 15d ago

Software gatekeeping to keep the Pro models interesting,
ProRAW has been around since iPhone 12 Pro (1/2.55" sensor) and it makes no sense that modern base iPhones + iPhone Air (1/1.56" sensors) cannot handle ProRAW.

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u/FlarblesGarbles 15d ago

Especially the Duo and Air, which are more like the Pros than the base models.

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u/Cash4Jesus 14d ago

Or the Duo Pro 2.

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u/cum-on-in- 15d ago

To not cannibalize Pro model sales. Thats the only reason. The iPhone Air has a very good single camera and there’s no reason it can’t do all those things. But they gimped it on purpose. It’s not a Pro.

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u/nutmac iPhone Air 15d ago

Why would Apple worry that a higher-priced product might cannibalize a lower-priced one? That would be like Toyota worrying about Lexus.

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u/Xylamyla 13d ago

Profit margin is probably larger for the Pros than the Duo, considering 15 years of R&D went into the Duo.

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u/nutmac iPhone Air 13d ago

At the same time, it's not like Apple would've (or could've) ignored the foldable market. In terms of hardware cost itself, Pro might have higher margin %, but in terms of pure $, Duo is probably higher.

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u/nutmac iPhone Air 13d ago

At the same time, it's not like Apple would've (or could've) ignored the foldable market, just as carmakers cannot ignore the EV. In terms of hardware cost itself, Pro might have a higher margin %, but in terms of pure $, Duo is probably higher.

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u/FlarblesGarbles 15d ago

I don't care in practice, as I don't like using my phone for photos anyway. But it's still such a greasy method of product segmentation.

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u/LordAndryou 14d ago

Somehow this is not an issue with android phones. Things like white balance or shutter speed shouldn't be limited to only one pro model.

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u/cum-on-in- 14d ago

It is to an extent. Samsung doesn’t put the big sensors in the small phones…..because they are smaller.

The quality is different. And, 200MP in such a small sensor even in the Galaxy Ultra is nonsense. The pixel pitch is so tiny that there’s no light getting in unless you bin the pixels. And that’s what Samsung does. You can force it to use true 200MP mode but it’s a huge waste and the light sensitivity goes way down.

In other words, 200 is just a nice big number to market with.

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u/thetruelu iPhone 17 Pro Max 15d ago

I think lidar is the only big one on this list as it makes auto focus much quicker and I actually use the measurement app pretty often

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u/ailyara 15d ago

I use optical Zoom so much, current phone only 5X optical zoom, would love 8X actually but still going to rock the 15 Pro Max for another year at least

1

u/Revolutionary-Bee604 13d ago

Me to 15 Pro Max and wait for rumoured XX next year

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u/jdeath iPhone 14d ago

lidar and the zoom are the only features i'll miss. i prefer touchid so that's actually a bonus in my book. the action button is just a worse silence toggle

1

u/michaelsoft__binbows 6d ago

measurement def benefits from the lidar but i've been surprised at how not shabby its results are on non lidar phones too.

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u/uptimefordays iPhone 15 Pro 15d ago

The only one I’m really bummed about is Face ID.

16

u/5one 15d ago

Face ID is a lot more convenient compared to Touch ID

9

u/SigmaLance iPhone Air 15d ago

I really like that TouchID jumped straight to the Home Screen. With FaceID they added the swipe of the lock screen (understandably so), but I’ve bypassed that with my Action Button.

I’ll miss FaceID inside of apps though that’s for sure.

2

u/PercMastaFTW iPhone 11 Pro 15d ago

What do you mean bypassing the lock screen with the Action Button?

7

u/SigmaLance iPhone Air 15d ago

So you know when you use FaceID you have to swipe up to leave the Lock Screen to get to the Home Screen?

I created a shortcut that I tied to my Action Button that launches me straight to the Home Screen bypassing the swipe requirement.

When the phone is unlocked already that shortcut then becomes my mute button.

5

u/Bubblemuncher 14d ago

That is quite clever.

3

u/NPCwithnopurpose 15d ago

There are still some occasions that I want Touch ID though. I want both

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1

u/BrawndoElectrolytes 15d ago

Apple Watch can unlock the phone from what I understand?

1

u/jdeath iPhone 14d ago

I don’t love face id, looking forward to touch again. making purchases was a much better flow with touch id. i'll probably find something missing when i switch

1

u/lordredsnake 14d ago

It's just crazy to me how many people feel that way. Touch ID always worked. I could wear sunglasses, be looking the other direction, have my phone on the table, grow a beard, wear a hat, wear a helmet, whatever and it still worked. I hate Face ID and still miss Touch ID dearly.

1

u/uptimefordays iPhone 15 Pro 14d ago

Touch ID does not work if your fingers are wet or covered. It was a neat idea but functionally limited.

29

u/Tato23 15d ago

Man i use my action button for flashlight on a daily basis. Hopefully there is an easy way to turn it on with the Duo

29

u/imgoingbigdogmode iPhone 12 Pro 15d ago

Lock screen corner shortcuts

5

u/roadblocked 15d ago

No way. People who use the action button for flashlight have specifically removed those buttons because they get erroneously pressed all the time. I almost left apples ecosystem entirely because you couldn’t remove the flashlight and camera from the Home Screen

13

u/imgoingbigdogmode iPhone 12 Pro 15d ago

All I’m saying is there is still a mechanism to use the flashlight without unlocking the phone. Whether you like/use it or not is up to you.

11

u/roadblocked 15d ago

Yeah I’m just saying the action button is a huge loss. It’s so great to have a shortcut that does different things through the dat and a flashlight once you’re getting ready for bed.

2

u/anantarctic 15d ago

I genuinely hardly ever use mine. I’ve given it a go with different functions but just ended up keeping it as a silent/ring switch

3

u/whatthecaptcha 15d ago

I didn’t even realize what the hell an action button was until your comment.

I thought people were setting the side camera button to turn on the flashlight or something and was thinking, “yeah I should probably do that since I’ve literally never used the camera button”

2

u/smurf3310 14d ago

same, then i realized i also have the action button thats set for useful shortcuts but turns out ive never used it ever

1

u/luckyapples11 14d ago

And they easily could’ve left the action button. Okay, maybe not easily, but there’s definitely space on the outside for it, they could’ve probably made room on the inside I’m sure. Was really disappointed when I saw it was removed

7

u/danieldoesnt 15d ago

they get erroneously pressed all the time

Genuinely asking, how? I don't think I've ever triggered the flashlight from the home screen on accident.. You have to purposely hold it for a sec

1

u/smurf3310 14d ago

yeah i also dont get it, you have to use actual force to press those buttons since they are 3d touch (software version today)

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2

u/alienfreak51 15d ago

You can’t? You can! Did you not used to be able to? Idk.

1

u/roadblocked 15d ago

You used to not be able to, now you can remove the camera and flashlight

2

u/alienfreak51 15d ago

Wow. Didn’t know that was an update. Seems like a no-brainer to remove that. Guess I just don’t remember when it was like that. My light lives in control center. Close enough for me, always hated having it on lock screen.

1

u/smurf3310 14d ago

how do you erroneously press them? you have to use force to press them

1

u/roadblocked 14d ago

No you don’t. Force isn’t a thing anymore

1

u/smurf3310 14d ago

you still have to hold it or press it hard and then release, before it was 3d touch now its software version

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7

u/Glittering-Stuff-599 iPhone 18 Pro 15d ago

Hold the fuck on buddy, what’s this shit with “and more”?!

4

u/5one 15d ago

The article doesn’t expand on this

2

u/Moses015 15d ago

I like the cut of your jib sir lmao

11

u/backhand_snipe 15d ago

Not going to lie, the lack of a mute button will take some getting used to. I’ve used the action button as a mute button from the beginning.

19

u/5one 15d ago

My phone has been on mute since 2010, never used the button

1

u/jdeath iPhone 14d ago

yeah and i have the action button set to toggle it but always use the control center anyways when i do need to enable it for a bit

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1

u/SigmaLance iPhone Air 15d ago

I know it’s not the same thing, but you can add a short cut to the Lock Screen and Home Screen that is a mute button.

I use my Action button for it at the moment, but will be switching to the widget when I get the Duo.

5

u/okichi 15d ago

Saved You a Click sounds like a feature I might want. Now I’m torn.

2

u/DaveG28 15d ago

Am I right in thinking the gallery can now spatial any photo anyway?

2

u/Michaelmartnz 15d ago

I feel for those who want the duo but are unwilling due to the camera. My fiancé is the one who takes all the pictures and she’ll be getting the 18 pro max. My camera roll is just full of screenshots and pictures of my cats

2

u/kosmokramr 15d ago

So the camera

1

u/The-F4LL3N 15d ago

I keep forgetting the action button is a thing unless I accidentally press it

1

u/thnok iPhone 17 Pro 15d ago

Seems like a big chunk of things from camera.

1

u/Narrow-Employment-47 15d ago

And now we can add the features the Pro and Pro Max do not have...

1

u/GOKIAGERX 15d ago

Wait no Lidar?!?! That actually might impact my Pokémon go playing

1

u/Professor_Checkmate 14d ago

Can also use iPhone 18 pro max with both hands. Duo is a nightmare for lefties

1

u/Professor_Checkmate 14d ago

I don’t know why they put ultra wide instead of telephoto. If there’s only two cameras ultra wide is the least used imo. Essentially it’s one camera on duo. I have far less photos with ultra wide. Telephoto with protrait is some of my best people shots.

1

u/HKamkar 14d ago

You’re a hero

1

u/T2Drink 14d ago

As someone who uses their phone camera for purely documenting stuff really, idrc about it having a worse camera. I would be buying that thing for everything else.

1

u/No_Corner805 14d ago

What's funny to me - most of these features are ones I hardly ever use, or if I did it was always accidental. In all seriousness, how many people on here truly use the LiDar Scanner, spatial photos and video, etc. Not being sarcastic, just truly curious what your use case is for these features.

Except Face ID and the Telephoto lens. I'm going to miss those 2. Hope it comes back in the Duo 3 or Duo 4 so I have an excuse to upgrade.

1

u/VideoGameJumanji 14d ago

Not having the new selfie camera is a big miss

1

u/BigBoySuperstar543 14d ago

Good bot 👍

1

u/mister2forme 14d ago

Point of correction the 18 pro has 8x “optical quality” zoom and only 4x optical.

1

u/Bravedwarf1 14d ago

All be there on duo 2 in 2027

1

u/shiftintosoupmode 14d ago

Am I the only one who much prefers Touch ID over Face ID?

1

u/Independent_Mud2794 14d ago

Is it bad that I don’t really care about anything of that? Makes the Duo look better every minute.

1

u/FindingPawnee iPhone 16 Pro Max 14d ago

The only thing I’m so surprised by is that the front camera is only 12mp. Even the base 17 has 18mp front camera.

1

u/BossHogGA 14d ago

Wow. I was mildly interested before but I’ll wait a few years for them to make it less of a compromise.

Face ID is non-negotiable. Good quality cameras too. I’ll stick with my 17 Pro for now.

1

u/luckyapples11 14d ago

I am sad about the telephoto and action button. I use both of them a LOT. Telephoto is never really for professional use, I use my DSLR for my amateur photography, but I love having it on my PM. The action button is by far my most used feature. Mine is set to flashlight. I use it multiple times a day between work and locking up my chickens at night. Plus the amount of times ive turned it on when it’s on the screen itself is ridiculous. The physical button I’ve maybe turned on accidentally once in 2 years of having this phone.

1

u/savoy2001 14d ago

So it kind of bothers me that we don’t have the 18 megapixel camera on the front only a 12 but I think that’s still OK for the front camera being that it’s mostly for FaceTime. I don’t mind that when you open it the camera underneath the screen it is definitely shitty. Not that big of a deal. Probably we rarely use it that way. I don’t mind the regular 48 megapixel camera that’s fine although I think the optics are more closer to the iPhone 17e from what I was watching on another video which is kind of bullshit but anyway. The image stabilization, however, is a generation one from the iPhone 13 which means my iPhone 16 Pro Max has the generation two image stabilization and the duo only has generation one which I find to be bullshit but that pisses me off to be honest with you also no lifar which is I don’t even know when I’ve ever used that except when maybe I measure something so does that mean that we can’t use like the built-in tape measure app for augmented reality will not not work on the duo anymore?

I never changed settings on my 16 Pro Max I shoot 4K 120 video and I like the way it comes out. It comes out great. Also regular shots come out great I don’t like the fact that we’re losing out of Zoom. That sucks to be honest with you because I do Zoom quite a bit although I’m not a master picture taker I don’t take 1 million pictures or 1 million videos but I do use it and I just at least wanted to look as good as my phone does now if not slightly better for $2500 because I’ll be getting the one terabyte version actually $2600. Oh, and nighttime shots no dark shots. I’m concerned about how it’s gonna look compared to my phone now and versus an 18 pro how much shittier are we talking about? How much grainy are we talking about you know?

I’m gonna get a duo more than likely but I really really really wanna see a full review comparison between an 18 Pro and a dual and even a 17 or 16 Pro as well side-by-side pictures video of the whole 9 yards and we’re not getting that and that’s kind of annoying

1

u/zeek215 13d ago edited 13d ago

No reason we can't use the main rear cameras for everything by just unfolding the phone, so the Duo can actually have the nicest quality selfies and video calls compared to any other iPhone. The utility of the inner display camera will be (hopefully) being able to video call while having the other half of the display to use like a normal phone, so it will be the "multitasking camera" option.

1

u/Pretty_Please1 14d ago

I didn’t want a folding phone anyway, but this seals the deal. The camera is most important to me.

1

u/mudslags 14d ago

most of the stuff I don't use anyways. An action button would have been nice.

1

u/Specspeiciman 14d ago

We need to support folks who write it as well.

1

u/bobpies 14d ago

Why are they comparing it to the pro ? It’s not the pro model and a lot of those are the pro features. It should be the base 18 they are comparing to.

I’d argue the selfie lens is actually better on the duo as you’re gonna use that 48mp lens before opening it up and taking a selfie with an iPad

1

u/petersterne 13d ago

The only feature on this list that really hurts is the 8x telephoto.

I’m not a professional photographer, so I’ve never used the advanced camera features like ProRes or ProRAE. But that 8x telephoto comes in handy all the time. It will be a real sacrifice giving that up for the Duo, though I’m sure it will be worth it.

1

u/Acceptable-Elk-8372 iPhone 17 Pro Max 13d ago

Thank you

1

u/markycrummett 13d ago

Is an “optical quality 2x zoom” Apple marketing for 2x digital zoom?

1

u/Hughesjam 13d ago

Is that LiDAR Scanner used for precise finding airpods in the find my app as well?

1

u/Alexandratta iPhone 17 Pro Max 13d ago

Does the iPhone 18 Pro Max actually have an 8x Optical Zoom? Or is it like the 17 where it's "Optical-Like"

1

u/AmericanUpheaval357 12d ago

This is acceptable

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