iPhone Duo Owners Can Now Write on Both Screens With Apple Pencil After iOS 27.2

CUPERTINO, Calif. - The iPhone Duo just learned to take notes. Apple released iOS 27.2 on Monday, and the update turns on Apple Pencil support for its $1,999 foldable, days after the first units reached buyers. Apple had said only that Pencil support would come “later this year.” It came in October.

Screenshot: @9to5mac on X

There is a catch, and it is the Pencil itself. The Duo works only with Apple Pencil (USB-C), which Apple sells separately. Owners of an Apple Pencil Pro, a second-generation Pencil or the original model are out of luck, according to Apple’s support guide. Pairing is old school: slide open the end of the Pencil, run the included USB-C cable to the phone’s port and tap “Tap to Connect.” The Pencil charges while it is plugged in, and it stays paired until you restart the phone, turn off Bluetooth or pair it with another device.

Image: Apple

Once paired, the Pencil works on both the 7.6-inch inner display and the 5.4-inch outer screen, 9to5Mac reported. Apple says you can sketch in Notes and Freeform, mark up screenshots and photos, sign documents and jot quick notes. Scribble is here too, so handwriting in any text field becomes typed text, and you can scratch out a word to delete it or circle text to select it. MacRumors, which tested the Pencil on the Duo during the beta, said the stylus can rest magnetically on the hinge but does not charge there, and that the USB-C model lacks the pressure sensitivity, double-tap and squeeze of the Pencil Pro.

The second Duo exclusive is aimed at video calls. Edge Light, a feature borrowed from the Mac, lights a ring around the edge of the display to brighten your face on FaceTime and on third-party apps such as Zoom. It pairs naturally with the Duo’s half-folded seated position, which already props the phone up like a tiny laptop for hands-free calls.

Image: Apple

The rest of iOS 27.2 brings the Duo along with every other iPhone. Group FaceTime calls now support Dual Capture, which streams the front and rear cameras at once, The Verge noted. Shortcuts gains a new automation that fires when the Duo is opened or closed. The update also puts the Duo on the same version of iOS as other iPhones and fixes more than 160 security vulnerabilities, none of which Apple says were actively exploited.

*Video: MacRumors / YouTube*

The update lands in an awkward week for the phone. On Monday, Apple acknowledged that a “small number” of Duo inner displays are failing and said AppleCare will replace them. A stylus tip pressing on a folding screen will make some owners nervous. MacRumors found that Pencil lines on the soft cover layer wipe away with a polishing cloth, and Apple offers a replacement cover layer for $19 with AppleCare+ or $49 without. For anyone who bought the Duo to replace a small iPad, iOS 27.2 is the update that makes that pitch real.