Pei's video lands four days before pre-orders open
Nothing chief executive Carl Pei used his latest video to deliver a blunt verdict on Apple's first foldable: the iPhone Duo "is a waste of money." PhoneArena, IBTimes UK, Gossip Herald and MacObserver all carried the comments on October 12, four days before pre-orders open at 5 a.m. Pacific on October 16 and a week before the handset reaches stores on October 23. His case rests on two omissions at a starting price of $1,999 for 256GB, rising to $3,199 for the 2TB configuration.
Missing Face ID is his first reason
Apple has shipped Face ID on every iPhone since the iPhone X, and Pei argues a $1,999 device should not be the exception. Apple has never officially explained the omission. The prevailing technical reading, echoed by PhoneArena and Tom's Guide, is that the Duo unfolds to just 5.2mm, leaving no room for the TrueDepth array, and that a two-screen device complicates unlock logic. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has described fitting Face ID and a telephoto into the Duo as "fundamentally a physics problem."
The camera sheet is his second
Apple's line is integration, not spec parity
Pei has a commercial stake, and cost pressure of his own
IBTimes UK notes that Nothing's chief executive has an obvious interest in questioning a rival's premium pricing. Nothing released its $399 Headphone (1) Pro on September 29, and Pei said around that time he was "warming up" to the idea of entering the foldable market the Duo is about to upend. He has attacked Apple before, telling followers on Instagram, "I'm gonna steal your customers. One bored iPhone user at a time." Nothing is squeezed too: memory prices killed this year's CMF phone, and Pei said memory costs on the Phone (4a) doubled between the decision to build it and its launch, then doubled again.
