With fewer than two weeks to go before the October 23 launch of the iPhone Duo, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports in his Power On newsletter that Apple is preparing its biggest-ever retail showcase for the product — more than 150 hands-on demo units at its Fifth Avenue flagship alone, so shoppers can fold and unfold the device to their hearts' content.
According to Gurman, the number of demo units Apple is sending to key stores dwarfs anything it has done for a previous iPhone. The Fifth Avenue flagship in New York City will get more than 150 iPhone Duo units across hands-on stations and in-store fixtures; the Apple Park Visitor Center in California gets nearly 100; Chicago's Michigan Avenue, the Grove in Los Angeles, and Manhattan's Upper West Side each get 30 to 40; even smaller stores get around 20. Both 9to5Mac and MacRumors relayed the figures, noting the volume is unusually large for a product that comes in just two colors.
Apple is also rolling out new display fixtures designed to make the fold impossible to ignore: a dedicated fixture that shows the phone opening and closing, so it catches the eye the moment customers walk in; a new MagSafe stand that holds an unfolded Duo alongside two regular iPhones for side-by-side size comparison; and untethered demo units — no security cables — in the Avenue display areas along the sides of stores, so shoppers can try features like StandBy mode directly. Most stores will add an extra spotlight table, in Apple's white table-with-central-post style, dedicated to the Duo. Digital Trends observed that Apple seems intent on making the folding mechanism part of the shopping experience rather than something seen behind glass.
The heavy retail push reflects what the Duo is: Apple's first folding iPhone, at $1,999 the most expensive iPhone ever. For shoppers who have never owned a foldable, marketing renders and keynote videos are unlikely to close a two-thousand-dollar sale. Gurman has also reported that Duo supply will be tight at launch — if customers can't buy one right away, flooding stores with demos keeps interest warm and demand alive.
Gurman also shared supply-chain news: about two months ago, Apple internally worried that production constraints could push sales into late November; it has since assembled enough inventory to hit the October 23 release date, though stock is expected to remain limited. Stores are also getting Duo-compatible Presto machines — Apple's wireless system that updates iPhones still sealed in their boxes, and the same technology behind the recently reported personalized startup greeting that displays the buyer's name on first boot.
The Duo's arrival puts Apple into a foldables market long dominated by Samsung and others. Unfolded, the device offers a 7.6-inch inner display, supports Duo FaceTime video calls, and will eventually work with Apple Pencil. Preorders open October 16, with sales starting October 23. The next things to watch are straightforward: what real customers think once the demos land in stores, and just how hard the first batch will be to get.