You DON’T need to buy the iPhone Duo. You really don’t…

-

Three weeks ago I compared the upcoming Apple iPhone Duo to the old Microsoft Surface Duo, pointing out a lot of similarities in design and intent - and that the iPhone Duo is more tablet than phone - it’s designed to be used open.

Explaining a lot of the compromises in the new Duo. But I keep eyeing it up in the Apple Store anyway - and I suspect I’m not alone. But here is why you should save your £2000 and not buy it.


If you’ve been an Apple enthusiast for a while then you already have an iPhone - probably a 16 or 17 Pro, knowing my audience. Which is already way more capable than the iPhone Duo in many ways: better cameras (including a superb telephoto), better speakers, Face ID, which works so well to authenticate, better use of screen space, way better selfie camera quality when on a video call, longer battery life on a charge. And so on.


And you almost certainly own an iPad. Mine’s a humble 10th gen, but it does everything I ever ask of it. Compared to the upcoming iPhone Duo, which becomes an iPad mini, effectively, the 10th gen standard iPad has a way larger screen, far larger battery, and better stereo speakers. OK, so it doesn’t fold in half but still, it doesn’t exactly take up much room in a bag.



The point is that both your devices are better at their primary role than the compromise that is the iPhone Duo. Your existing iPhone is better at being a smartphone in almost every way. And your existing iPad is better at being a tablet than the Duo. 


AND YOU ALREADY OWN BOTH OF THEM. There is zero need to splash out two thousand dollars or pounds just to gain a cool new convergence gadget that is not as good at doing either of the things you already do with your Apple gear.


I know the temptation - I feel it myself every day when I look at the Duo promos. My heart says ‘want, want’, but my head (and my wallet) say ‘no, no’. I’d love unfolding and folding it for an hour and then I’d be hit by the lack of Face ID, the missing telephoto camera, the (probably) worse battery life and the (probably) worse speakers (than both my current devices).


So be strong on the 16th October 2026 and beyond. You don't need the iPhone Duo. You really don’t…


If you like this video and use PayPal, please encourage me to create more at https://paypal.me/stevelitchfield - thanks!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wavelet - and better sounding speakers (and headphones) on Android...

-
Image
You may well be fairly happy with the audio output (speakers and headphones) on your existing Android phone. Or, like me, you may welcome an extra step up. Perhaps more bass/punch, clearer treble, or perhaps just a volume boost overall. Now, there have been various 'boost' utilities for Android in the past and they've been a bit patchy in how well they work. But Wavelet, discovered by Ted Salmon back in 2021, is a whole different kettle of fish, in that it works supremely well, with extra bass, clarity, and volume,   BUT has a very confusing interface. Which is why a brief tutorial is in order. The steps come from Ted in bullet point form, but expanded by me here and with screenshots, which will hopefully help. By the way, ignore the 'headphone specific' text in the app's title - it works perfectly well for speakers too. In fact, by definition, I'd say that it's really ONLY for speakers, since with headphones you've usually got plenty of natural i...
Read more

Bluetooth keyboard incorrect PIN or password - SOLVED

-
Image
Just in case this helps anyone else, I had a nightmare today with my Bluetooth keyboard and my Android phone - but I used some common sense and found a geeky solution. In my case it was a ZTE Axon 7 running Lineage OS and a Microsoft Universal Folding Keyboard (UFK), but I suspect this cure will work for more general issues. The symptom was that when I tried to connect a previously paired keyboard I first of all got just the raw Bluetooth address shown and not the keyboard name. And then, when I tried connecting, I got an "incorrect PIN or password" error message. No chance to reenter a PIN and no amount of restarting keyboard or phone would fix it. The cure seemed to be to reset something in the phone's Bluetooth system, but what? The keyboard wasn't showing up as paired, so I couldn't 'forget' it. I tracked it down in the end. Settings, Apps, then 'Show system' on the '...' menu. Find and tap on 'Bluetooth extensions'....
Read more

The iPhone 16 range and 'Fusion' photos - how does it work and how WELL does it work?

-
Image
Even though I maintain to this day (2025) that photo resolutions of over 12MP are 'over the top' for 99% of people's needs, I have to concede that Apple's implementation in 2024 of 24MP 'Fusion' images is impressive and does work well. If the extra file size doesn't bother you, then it does give enough resolution margin of error to downscale or crop or process later, as needed. (Note that this is all aside from my favoured technique for important shots on the iPhone 'Pro' models, which is to use ProRAW, giving all the HDR and texture intelligence but without sharpening and edge enhancement, at the expense of huge file sizes, over 20MB per image.) Apple's idea stemmed from looking at the two alternatives from its 48MP camera sensors: a pixel-binned 12MP shot, with lower digital noise and greater 'purity'. a full resolution 48MP shot, with higher native resolution but more noise and more uncertainty at the pixel level. So I guess someone at...
Read more