Apple's first foldable iPhone can't make you look at the camera on FaceTime

Apple's first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, does not have Eye Contact, a FaceTime feature that makes it look like you are staring straight into the camera. MacRumors confirmed the gap on Monday. It started when a Duo owner wrote on the MacRumors forums that something was "a little off" during FaceTime calls.

What Eye Contact does

On a video call, most people look at the other person's face on the screen, not at the camera. That makes you seem to look slightly away. Eye Contact uses artificial intelligence that runs on the phone itself to fix that. It has been on iPhones since iOS 14, an earlier version of Apple's phone software. The iPhone 14, the iPhone 13 mini and the SE 2 all have it.

Why it may be missing

Apple has not said why the Duo lacks the feature, or when it might arrive. MacRumors points to the cameras as a possible cause. The feature is presumably built for a front camera at the top center. Neither of the Duo's cameras sits there. Both the inner and outer cameras are off-center, and one is in a far corner.

Apple may have had to rebuild the feature around those new camera positions. That may not have been a priority for a first-generation device. If that theory is right, a software update could fix it, because the cause would not be a limit of the hardware. None of this is confirmed.

For now, anyone weighing the Duo who cares how they look on video calls should expect to go without Eye Contact.