iPhone Duo breaks and glitches, and people still can't stop buying it

Apple's first foldable iPhone is drawing complaints from every direction, and buyers don't seem to care. According to a Chinese leaker who regularly posts weekly smartphone activation numbers for China, the iPhone Duo logged about 125,000 activations in its first week. It was only on sale for three of those days: the week ran from October 19 to 25, and the phone hit shelves on the 23rd.

Apple took the entire weekly top five. The iPhone 18 Pro Max led with 724,000 activations, followed by the iPhone 18 Pro (335,000), last year's iPhone 17 (178,000) and iPhone 17 Pro (146,000). The Duo rounded out the list, even though every other model on it sold for the full week.

Preorders opened on October 16, the first batch vanished almost immediately, and delivery estimates on Apple's own store at one point slipped to late January 2027. Supply chain reports say component plans were raised from 10 million to 15 million units, with hinge orders up 30 to 40 percent. JPMorgan expects supply limits to cap 2026 shipments at around 8 to 9 million foldable iPhones, while several research firms have raised their 2027 forecasts to roughly 33 million.

The complaints are real, though. Around 80 percent of popular apps still don't work properly on the 7.6-inch inner screen, showing black bars, misplaced interface elements or stretched images. WeChat, TikTok, banking and travel apps all do this, and even the App Store needs manual scaling when the phone is unfolded. Apple has given developers until April 2027 to adapt. Reports of broken screens keep piling up, and bloggers say the protective film can be peeled off by hand, which makes the crease more visible. Apple itself has admitted the fold line will become more noticeable over time.

Raw, fragile and missing app support, yet the wait list runs into January. Apple has proved once again that people will forgive it almost anything.