Tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. Pacific, Apple opens pre-orders for the iPhone Duo, its first folding phone. It costs $1,999 to start, supply is tight, and two very different warnings have landed in the 48 hours before the store goes live.
The first came from a rival. Carl Pei, the co-founder of OnePlus and CEO of Nothing, posted a short video calling the Duo “a waste of money.” The second came from security researchers and a Hong Kong IT veteran, who are telling buyers that the shortcuts being sold to help them win the pre-order race are a far worse deal than the phone itself.
One of those warnings is an opinion you can weigh. The other is a risk you should simply avoid. Here is how to think about both before Friday.
What Carl Pei actually said
Pei’s argument fits in one sentence, and he delivered it that way: “It’s $2,000 and costs more than an iPhone Pro with fewer features… so you’re paying more and you’re getting less.” He listed three gaps: no telephoto camera, no Face ID and a weaker front camera than the iPhone 18 Pro.
He also took aim at what people seem most excited about, the Duo’s folding animation. It is a nice animation, he conceded, but “it’s just an animation at the end of the day.” In the same breath he credited Apple’s obsession with tiny details as the reason the Duo will probably sell well anyway.
It is worth remembering who is talking. Nothing does not sell a foldable, and Pei has built a brand on poking at bigger rivals. That does not make him wrong. It means his video is marketing as much as it is analysis, so it is worth checking the claims against the spec sheet.
Is he right? The specs side by side
| Spec | iPhone Duo | iPhone 18 Pro | Galaxy Z Fold 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $1,999 | $1,199 | $1,899 |
| Biometrics | Touch ID in side button | Face ID | Side fingerprint |
| Rear cameras | 48MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 2x crop from main | Triple, with dedicated telephoto | Triple, with dedicated telephoto |
| Front camera | 12MP, plus under display camera inside | 18MP | Cover and inner cameras |
| Screens | 7.6″ inner, 5.4″ cover | Single 6.3″ | Large inner plus cover |
| Thickness | 5.2mm open, 11.3mm closed | Single slab | Thinner when folded |
| Weight | 254g | Lighter | About 201g |
| Chip | A20 Pro, 12GB RAM | A20 Pro | Snapdragon for Galaxy |
| Published fold rating | None | Not applicable | 500,000 folds |
On the facts, Pei is right. The Duo is $800 more than an iPhone 18 Pro, shares the same A20 Pro chip, and gives up Face ID, a dedicated telephoto lens and the 18MP front camera. Reports tie those cuts to the Duo’s 5.2mm unfolded thickness, which likely left no room for the TrueDepth sensors or a periscope module, though Apple has not explained its choices.
Where he is selling it short is the screen. A 7.6-inch display that folds into your pocket is not a fancy animation. It is the whole product, and for reading, split screen work and video it changes what a phone is useful for. The fair comparison is not the iPhone 18 Pro but Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8, and there the Duo is only $100 more for the base model, while adding IP68 protection and up to 2TB of storage.
Why the Duo will be hard to get
None of that debate changes the supply picture. Analyst Jeff Pu has pointed to hinge constraints slowing production, and supply chain reports put assembly yields at just above 60 percent in September. Analysts expect Apple to sell roughly 6 million Duos in 2026, split across two colors, four storage tiers and more than 70 launch countries. That is a fraction of what a Pro model moves.
Scarcity is what creates a market for shortcuts. In Hong Kong, resellers already expect strong margins on launch day units, and that is where the bot story starts.
The pre-order bots: what is being sold
According to The Standard, a seller describing himself as a professional programmer has been promoting an ordering bot on Threads almost every day since September 10, drawing more than 2,000 comments. The pitch is specific:
- HK$399 (about $51) to secure two iPhone Duos “within seven seconds.”
- HK$899 (about $116) for a package with three attempts, refunded if all three fail.
- Payment up front by bank transfer, with the program and instructions sent only after you pay.
A reporter posing as a buyer was told exactly that. Asked whether the software could steal card data, the seller said it would “100 percent not take customers’ data.”
Francis Fong Po-kiu, honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, is not convinced, and his reasoning is simple. A bot that places an Apple order for you needs your Apple Account, your address and your card details. Whoever wrote it is now holding all three. Even if the seller means well, there is no way to know how that data is stored, and the program itself could carry a Trojan.
There is also a practical problem that has nothing to do with malware. Apple’s sales policy limits how many units one customer can buy and lets the company cancel orders it believes were placed for resale. A bot that grabs multiple phones in seven seconds is exactly the pattern that kind of policy exists to catch.
The fake pre-order page that attacks your iPhone
The bot pitch at least asks you to make a decision. The scam Malwarebytes found does not. Its researchers captured a fake Apple style page offering early iPhone Duo pre-orders with an “Authorized Partner Exclusive” $500 voucher and a countdown timer. It asks for a name, email and phone number, with WhatsApp “preferred.”
The form is a distraction. Behind it, the page loads the DarkSword exploit chain, a set of iOS vulnerabilities Google disclosed in March, and tries to break into the phone the moment the page opens. No tap, no download, no approval. If it succeeds, the payload goes after:
- Saved passwords from the iPhone keychain
- Crypto wallets including MetaMask, Phantom, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, Exodus and Tonkeeper
- Apple Notes, photos, messages, call history, contacts and cached location data
Apple has patched the vulnerabilities, and Malwarebytes says updated iPhones are protected. The danger is the target audience. Someone shopping for a new iPhone is often still using an old one, and when DarkSword was disclosed, iVerify estimated that up to 270 million devices were running the iOS 18.4 to 18.6.2 versions an earlier variant targeted.
How to pre-order the iPhone Duo safely
The honest way to be fast is also the safe way. Apple built a tool for exactly this situation.
- Update your current iPhone today. Settings > General > Software Update. This closes the hole the fake page relies on.
- Set up your order with Get Ready. In the Apple Store app or on apple.com, save your color, storage, carrier, AppleCare+, trade-in and payment method ahead of time. It does not reserve a phone, but it turns Friday’s checkout into close to a single tap. We broke down how Get Ready works and why Apple added it.
- Type the address yourself. Do not tap pre-order links in ads, texts, WhatsApp messages or social posts.
- Stick to known sellers. Apple, your carrier’s own app or site, and major retailers. Nobody else has stock before launch.
- Be ready at 5 a.m. Pacific, 8 a.m. Eastern. The first minutes decide who gets an October delivery date.
- Skip every bot. No exception is worth handing over your Apple Account and card details.
The bottom line
Carl Pei has a point, and it is a fair one for most buyers: the iPhone 18 Pro is the better iPhone for less money. But the Duo is not trying to be a better Pro. It is trying to be a different kind of device, and on that score its real rival is Samsung, which charges nearly the same.
What is not up for debate is the risk around launch day. The worst outcome on Friday is not missing out on an October delivery. It is paying a stranger for a bot, or opening a fake page, and finding out weeks later that your card, your passwords or your crypto went somewhere else. Wait a few weeks for stock if you have to. The phone will still be there.
FAQ
When do iPhone Duo pre-orders open?
Friday, October 16 at 5 a.m. Pacific, 8 a.m. Eastern. Deliveries start October 23 in the US and more than 70 other countries.
How much does the iPhone Duo cost?
$1,999 for 256GB, $2,199 for 512GB, $2,599 for 1TB and $3,199 for 2TB, in Star White or Night Sky.
Why did Carl Pei call the iPhone Duo a waste of money?
Because it costs $800 more than an iPhone 18 Pro while lacking Face ID, a telephoto camera and the Pro’s 18MP front camera.
Are iPhone Duo pre-order bots safe?
No. They need your Apple Account and payment details, can contain malware, and Apple can cancel orders it believes were placed for resale.
How do I spot a fake iPhone Duo pre-order site?
Look for pre-orders before October 16, vouchers from “authorized partners,” restarting countdown timers and sizes or colors Apple does not sell. Always type apple.com or your carrier’s address yourself.
About this article: GeekBlog covers U.S. technology news, AI, phones, smartwatches and gaming. Every story is written and checked under our Editorial Policy. Spotted a mistake or have a story tip? Contact our editors.
