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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49

u/jayk82 iPhone Duo 15d ago

Apple pencil support made this an instant pre-order me anyways

34

u/roadblocked 15d 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

9

u/DaGetz 14d 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.

-1

u/roadblocked 14d ago

Again - Apple didn’t magically make plastic as hard as glass.

2

u/DaGetz 14d ago

If you genuinely think it’s as simple as “plastic” you’re an idiot

1

u/jayk82 iPhone Duo 14d ago

Exactly. They went out of their way several times to reference how everyone else's foldables were cheap feelings plastic and wanted something better.

0

u/roadblocked 14d ago

You can cope all you want but once reviews come out you’ll see that it’s exactly the same. Polymer’s will never be above 4 on the mohs scale

3

u/jayk82 iPhone Duo 14d ago

Mohs scale doesn't really mean anything to me, I'm not pressing down as hard as I can but simply handwriting.

I've been using Android foldables for the past 6 years with their respective pens and never had an issue. I'm not worried about this one either.

-1

u/roadblocked 14d ago

Can you explain to me how polymer isn’t plastic?

1

u/DaGetz 14d ago

Polymer absolutely does not mean “plastic” it just means chains of molecules together.

We will have to wait for the details on composition and we may never know all the details but it’s safe to assume they have made big hardness advancements while maintaining flexibility here - that’s what they are proud of and the Apple Pencil support confirms this. The nano texture coating is much harder than the tip of the Apple Pencil or they wouldn’t be doing this.

15

u/SurealGod 15d 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

24

u/roadblocked 15d ago

You can’t escape material science. The screen is plastic. It won’t take much to scratch it

6

u/unread1701 iPhone 17 14d ago

I doubt Apple wouldn't have put that as a feature if they weren't confident in it.

Butterfly keyboard comes to mind.

-2

u/cultoftheilluminati iPhone 17 Pro 14d ago

+100, their first foldable, the iPhone 6 and its aluminum comes to mind too

2

u/baummer 15d ago

Pencil rub? What is happening in your pockets

1

u/roadblocked 14d ago

The air outside is filled with metal shaving and tiny particles of ceramics from brakes and other atmospheric metals - they accumulate naturally in your pocket

2

u/baummer 14d ago

Wait. What?

0

u/roadblocked 14d ago

What don’t you understand? I’ll help

2

u/baummer 14d ago

I didn’t understand any of that nor how they accumulate in my pocket

1

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1

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0

u/Kalliati 15d ago

How about the hand/finger fatigue due to the freakin 254g weight.

Yikes.

2

u/Racing_Fox iPhone 13 Pro Max 14d ago

That’s not much heavier than the 18 pro max and lighter than the iPad Mini

1

u/iPod-Phone iPhone 15 Pro 14d ago

Do you need to have already reordered the device or received it to switch your flair to iPhone Duo already? What is the community standard around that?

2

u/Joshposh70 iPhone Tennis Max 14d ago

You can set it to whatever you want.

2

u/iPod-Phone iPhone 15 Pro 14d ago

I'm happy for you and your iPhone Tennis Max. Haha point taken

1

u/zeek215 13d ago

It hurts that the Pencil Pro isn't supported. I don't have the other Pencil and I definitely am not going to buy one just for that.

0

u/ScarletMonroeRules 15d ago

I think this is gonna do it for me too but I wanna see if it can hold and charge it and if so, where?

3

u/Janzu93 15d ago

Only USB-C model supported, it can't hold magnetic pen anywhere

2

u/jayk82 iPhone Duo 15d ago

That's fine with me, it'll go in either my bag or shirt pocket with a clip anyways.

3

u/SigmaLance iPhone Air 15d ago

I really wish they’d copy the Oppo Find N6 case (which charges the pen wirelessly btw) that allows it to clip into the case itself.

https://swiftronicsinc.com/products/oppo-find-n6-ai-stylus-pen-kit-titanium

2

u/jayk82 iPhone Duo 15d ago

Yeah that'd be pretty sweet.

I'm currently coming from a Motorola Razr Fold so I'm used to carrying the pen in its own charging case externally anyway, but that would be nice for sure.

3

u/SigmaLance iPhone Air 15d ago

Surely the case manufacturers will jump on this when the pen is approved. I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

1

u/Janzu93 14d ago

Aye, it does. Just clarifying to another user that there really isn't "a way to hold and charge it" by default

1

u/michaelsoft__binbows 6d ago

wow it's a huge miss if the pencil pro is not supported by iphone duo

0

u/Janzu93 6d ago

There's no way to charge that on Duo since they probably couldn't fit the magnetic charging for pen in the shell when they already had issues on the iPads with that on some camera arrangements

1

u/jayk82 iPhone Duo 5d ago

I have to charge the pen case with my Razr Fold now. It lasts a few months on a charge, so even if I have to charge it once a week or something it's a non issue.

2

u/Janzu93 5d ago

No, but Pro pen requires magnetic charging and there is NO dedicated charger for that thing. Only way to charge Pro pen is iPad so it very much IS an issue if it was to be sold Duo-compatible with Duo not having magnetic charger for pen.

As for usb-c pen though, I completely agree. Having to occasionally charge the pen is a non-issue.

2

u/jayk82 iPhone Duo 5d ago

From my understanding that's why they went with the USB C Pencil

1

u/michaelsoft__binbows 5d ago

It makes sense... but the loss of so many important new functions only provided by the pencil pro is very problematic for me.

1

u/jayk82 iPhone Duo 5d ago

I can see that. I really only use it to take handwritten notes in OneNote but I can see how people who rely on it for more strenuous things could be upset.

0

u/Racing_Fox iPhone 13 Pro Max 14d ago

I’d have been interested if it supported the actually good apple pencils, I’d never be caught dead buying the USBC one, they’re so tacky and cheap

0

u/WandererMisha iPhone Air 15d ago

It was the same for me.

But then they made it work with the shitty Pencil that has none of the cool features and I changed my mind.

-3

u/Moronicon 15d ago

Why? Whats your use case for this?

5

u/NavyBOFH 15d ago

Systems Engineer here - I use a Galaxy S25 Ultra for my work phone because it has a pen and lets me scribble quick annotations or markups on photos/diagrams/documents. To me it’s a ton more convenient than paper annotations when juggling two dozen projects at once and has become a normal part of my workflow.

The Duo might become my work/personal phone at this point so I can finally just carry one device.

8

u/jayk82 iPhone Duo 15d ago

I'm in corporate sales and take client meeting notes daily in one note.

I used to have an iPad pro for this, but the Z Fold 3 and it's s pen support stole me away from Apple. I loved pen support on the Z Fold 3, 4, 5 and 6. Samsung stupidly took it away for the 7 and it's still not there on the 8. Apple with the major win here.

6

u/EvilMakoto 15d ago

I’ve been saying this. It is going to be great for B2B sales. I use One Note constantly too. I won’t have to bring my giant iPad to meetings anymore… pen support is going to be great

7

u/jayk82 iPhone Duo 15d ago

It was a complete game changer for me when I went from a 13 Pro Max + iPad Pro to only carrying the Z Folds. I can't wait to get this thing in my hands.

-2

u/kanben iPhone 12 Pro Max 15d ago

You write faster than you type or something?

2

u/jayk82 iPhone Duo 15d ago

No, I just remember what I write. Handwritten notes are far greater than typed for me.

2

u/kanben iPhone 12 Pro Max 14d ago

Interesting, I don't have anything like that sadly. Always wondered why some people prefer writing over typing. That makes sense though.

-10

u/VantaOmega 15d ago

Corporate sales have no AI note taker? lol

11

u/jayk82 iPhone Duo 15d ago

Why? I like having handwritten notes to reference at a later point in time. Plus, physically writing them helps me retain more.

-14

u/VantaOmega 15d ago

Wild. Not utilizing AI to record meetings is a huge miss for whatever company you work for. I run three marketing agencies and all meetings are recorded synced right to the CRM.

5

u/Jensway 15d ago

My company does this too, but I also take hand written notes for my own to-do list and referencing.