A reporter worked a full day on Apple's $1,999 folding iPhone

A Wired reporter spent a full workday on Apple's new folding phone, the iPhone Duo, and wrote an entire review on it. The result: with a portable keyboard and a kickstand, light work is entirely doable. Replacing a laptop is another matter. Apple's software still gets in the way, and many apps are not ready for the bigger screen.

The price question

The Duo costs $1,999 and opens like a book to a 7.6-inch inner screen. For comparison, an iPhone 18 Pro costs $1,199 and an iPad costs $449. Buying both lands close to the price of one Duo. The test asked whether a single device can be both your phone and your travel workstation.

What worked

The setup was an older folding Bluetooth keyboard and Apple's Duo Folio case with a kickstand, which props the phone upright. The writing app Bear was already adjusted for the larger screen. Slack updated the day before the test and handled two side-by-side panes well. Apple's app pairs also helped. You can pin two apps together, such as email and calendar, and reopen them from Recents.

• Battery was near 45 percent at 6 pm after about six hours of screen time.
• Video quality from the inner and outer selfie cameras was called "really good."
• The two-pane view makes clearing email on the go much faster.

What got in the way

iOS does not recognize a Bluetooth mouse or trackpad by default. Users must turn on AssistiveTouch in accessibility settings to get an on-screen cursor. Even then, pasting links and quick web searches felt slower, and the final touches had to be finished on a desktop computer.

Apple also limits multitasking. Two apps in split screen can only share the display 50-50. In portrait orientation, two apps cannot be stacked, except with a video app pinned on top. Google's workspace apps, including Gmail, looked bad on the Duo. Zoom was not adjusted either, so the reporter laid the phone flat and used the 5.4-inch outer screen like a small laptop.

Who it suits

People who want one device for a phone and occasional work may find the Duo can stand in for a tablet. Anyone used to the iPad's bigger screen may feel cramped. The reporter notes that apps that are not yet optimized could take weeks or months to catch up.

What happens next

The Duo officially launches Friday, and Google is expected to update more of its apps soon. Apple Pencil support is due later this year. The reporter still wondered whether a do-it-all device is as good as it sounds, or whether separate tools, like a laptop, do their jobs better.