A Handful of Dust Jams the iPhone Duo's Hinge in JerryRigEverything's Durability Test

CUPERTINO, Calif. - The iPhone Duo has its first durability verdict, and it is a harsh one. In a video published late Friday, Zack Nelson, who runs the JerryRigEverything channel on YouTube, packed dust and dirt into Apple’s first foldable until the hinge could no longer close, then bent the phone until its inner screen stopped responding. “I’ve been testing these folding phones since the first generation seven years ago, most do survive,” Nelson said, according to MacRumors. “The iPhone Duo did not.”

Image: JerryRigEverything / YouTube

The test started well. The outer screen, covered in Apple’s Ceramic Shield 2, showed only faint scratches at level 7 on the Mohs hardness scale. The flexible inner screen scratched at level 2 and took deeper marks from a fingernail, Dexerto reported, although Nelson credited Apple’s matte coating for hiding most of those marks once the display was switched on. The scratches themselves were permanent.

The dirt was the turning point. The iPhone Duo carries an IP68 rating for dust and water, but Nelson found that particles worked their way into the hinge through several gaps, and the magnets that hold the phone shut could no longer overcome the debris. “The dusty Duo is damaged,” he said.

Image: Apple

The bend test did the rest. Flexing the phone left a permanent green line across the inner display, a second attempt added two more, and by the end of the video the inner screen no longer responded to touch. Nelson said he could not tell whether the trapped dust had contributed or whether the hinge simply allowed too much movement, and he warned owners against putting pressure on the phone while it is open. His test goes well beyond everyday use, but it lands on the most expensive part of the phone. Apple charges $999 to replace the inner display without AppleCare+, and $49 to replace the nano-texture cover layer that sits on top of it, iThinkDifferent reported.

*Video: JerryRigEverything / YouTube*

Image: Apple

Apple has already published the official iPhone Duo Repair Manual, which went live on Oct. 23, the day the phone reached stores. It covers 22 procedures, among them separate guides for the two batteries, one in each half of the phone, along with the inner display, the inner display assembly, the cover layer and a heated fixture used to soften the adhesive behind the screen. Sixteen troubleshooting pages include one devoted to hinge issues. Genuine parts for the Duo are not yet listed in Apple’s Self Service Repair Store, 9to5Mac noted.

The video follows a handful of early complaints. One Reddit user said an inner screen cracked along the hinge about six hours after purchase and fewer than 20 openings, and that an Apple Store replaced the phone, The Verge reported. Apple has not said how widespread such failures are. The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999, and most new orders now ship in January after a sold-out launch weekend.