The iPhone Duo is now the foldable Samsung has to answer

Who copies whom in foldables? For years the answer was easy: everybody copied Samsung. Now, a week after the iPhone Duo reached stores, the arrow looks like it is pointing the other way.

The trigger is a rumor. As GSMArena framed it on October 31, the Galaxy Z Fold9 is set to bring back a long-lost feature that the iPhone Duo has, and the person quoted also says Samsung is positioning the phone as a direct competitor to Apple's device. Android Headlines separately reports that the Fold9 will bring back an under-display camera, at least if a tipster is to be believed. Treat all of it as leak territory until Samsung says otherwise.

Apple doesn't need to be first to set the pace

Look at what the leaks are about: not Samsung's own roadmap, but a response. Android Headlines goes further and, in a piece that reads like opinion, argues the passport-style Galaxy Z Fold 8 only exists because of the iPhone Duo. We can't verify that motive, but the pattern is hard to ignore: Samsung is reportedly reacting before Apple's phone has even been on sale for a month.

That is what "reference" means in practice. Apple arrives late, ships a $1,999 phone with a 5.4-inch cover screen and a 7.6-inch inner display, and the whole category starts measuring itself against it. PCMag's review of the Duo, as quoted by MacDailyNews, calls it "easily the best folding phone you can buy today." Strong praise, and in our view it is the polish more than any single spec that makes rivals nervous.

The skeptics are arguing with the wrong phone

The loudest complaints are real: Touch ID instead of Face ID, a small outer screen, apps with black bars, and limited multitasking compared with Samsung, which lets you pin a pair of apps and open them with one tap. Fair. But PCMag's own opinion pieces make the sharper point: these are trade-offs of the folding design, and Android users made peace with them years ago.

We would add something. Look at the form factor. Apple went wide and short, and Samsung reportedly followed with a passport-style Fold 8. When the two biggest players converge on a shape, the argument over "is this a gimmick" is, in our view, over. What remains is execution, and that is where it gets uncomfortable for Apple too.

The pressure is the best feature for buyers

Apple's execution is not flawless. IBTimes reports that Apple sent guidance to stores about cracked inner displays, which it says affect a small number of units, and that an out-of-warranty inner screen repair is listed at $999. iFixit, meanwhile, gave the phone a provisional 5 out of 10 for repairability, the highest it has awarded a foldable. Real praise and a worrying hinge story, in the same phone.

This is exactly why the rivalry helps you. Samsung has a water-resistance gap to close, since SamMobile notes the Duo's IP68 rating beats the Fold 8's IP48. Apple has the multitasking and durability questions to answer. Neither can coast. A feature Samsung dropped and now reportedly restores, if the leaks are right and, we think, in response to a rival, is not shameful; it is a market working.

Our caution: a copied feature is not a better phone. If the Fold9 returns with a camera under the display, the question is whether it is good, not whether it is Apple-inspired.

Our verdict

If you are an iPhone user, the Duo is the first foldable that makes sense for you, but wait for clarity on the inner-display reports before spending $1,999. If you are on Android, don't switch because of hype: wait for the Fold9 and judge it on what Samsung actually ships. Either way, the real winner of this week is anyone who buys a foldable in 2027.