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$2K starting price is rough. I’ve upgraded my iPhone every year since my first phone, the 3GS. It’s one of a few “splurge”-type things I allow myself. It’s a ho

$2K starting price is rough. I’ve upgraded my iPhone every year since my first phone, the 3GS. It’s one of a few “splurge”-type things I allow myself. It’s a hobby and just fun to play with the new hotness. This year might break the cycle. I don’t care for the 18 Pro colors, I still love my orange 17 Pro, and I’m not sold on the Duo (functionality or price). I might still end up with a Duo but I’m very much on the fence. I’ll tell myself it’s for development/testing reasons, or just to play with the newest offering but I’m just not sure. I worry this will suffer from the same lack of developer interest as the AVP did. Yes, it’s very different from the AVP and SwiftUI will almost certainly make this process easier but I’m still not sure.

Hamuko 7d ago
I don't know, $1999 seems almost kinda reasonable considering how much an iPhone Pro costs and how utterly fucked the current memory prices are.
- cromka 6d ago
  But the display prices are very low, in comparison, so this and some mechanical engineering cannot possibly cost 900 USD.
basisword 7d ago
I don’t think it’ll face the developer interest problem. Devs go where the money is and consumers seem to love foldables.
newman314 7d ago
You could do the leasing route if you upgrade every year. Might pinch less.
- beAbU 7d ago
  If leasing a fucking phone isn't a sign of the times then I don't know what is.
  - nozzlegear 7d ago
    People have been leasing phones since at least the mid naughties, they just did it via their carrier. I distinctly remember standing in the Alltel store in 2006-ish, before it got gobbled up by ATT, and wondering if I could afford the extra $15/mo that the new Nokia candybar phone would run me. The only thing that's new is that Apple is offering it directly.
    - beAbU 7d ago
      Leasing, as in long term renting, required to give it back after the lease period, in near perfect condition, or face a penalty? Or financing, paying it off over a fixed term, after which you own it outright? The latter, I understand. And I'm also familiar with it. But the former, I find hard to believe. Although, I'm not from the US. Are you telling me people rented nokia bricks in the aughts?
      - nozzlegear 7d ago
        You could and still can do both from your carrier, it's pretty standard. In my experience, it's somewhat uncommon for people to actually buy their phones outright unless you make a lot of money (like the folks who tend to frequent HN). Every two years, my wife and I would sign up for a new 24-month contract, which would include two new phones. After those 24 months, we could keep paying off the remainder of the phones and keep them, or we could return them and start a new contract with new phones. > Are you telling me people rented nokia bricks in the aughts? Myself and my family did, for sure. My parents made me pay my own phone bill too, so I spent a long time in the Alltel shop staring at the different phones and probably annoying the clerk.
        officeplant 7d ago
        > it's somewhat uncommon for people to actually buy their phones outright unless you make a lot of money Or like many of us, you buy cheaper phones outright for your prepaid phone plans. The fact that people still go for contract phone services and finance a new phone every two years blows my mind. Especially when I can get all the data/minutes/texts I need for $15 a month on a service like Tello, and just get a phone for $200-400 that I can use until it dies. Which is currently a used iPhone 11 I recently opened up to replace the battery.
fragmede 7d ago
It's high, but Apple's financing arm has it at $84/month, which is a bit more stomachable if you really want it.
MBCook 7d ago
I like that blue though.
alwillis 7d ago
> I worry this will suffer from the same lack of developer interest as the AVP did Pretty sure that developer interest is not to be a problem. The Duo will sell more units in a month (or less) than every AVP ever sold. Apple told developers in June at WWDC to not assume fixed screen sizes. Well-written apps will work on any screen size thanks to Apple's APIs. Some apps will need to be tweaked to take advantage of some Duo features no doubt, but I suspect that's not going to be a deal breaker.
- getsprite 7d ago
  Agree - this is going to have pretty wide adoption.
- hbn 6d ago
  The iPad has had great adoption for 16 years and there are still plenty of apps that don't adapt to its screen very well.
alwillis 7d ago
To get close to the same functionality as the Duo, you'd buy an iPhone 18 Pro ($1199) plus an iPad mini ($599); that gets you to $1,798. If you want more storage than the entry level iPhone 18 Pro or iPad mini, you're going to surpass $2000 pretty quickly.
gumby271 7d ago
> I worry this will suffer from the same lack of developer interest as the AVP did Apple can force iOS devs to do whatever they want. It may be basic support, but Apple devs will do whatever Apple tells them to do.
- endemic 6d ago
  It's because people who drop $2k on a new phone will also spend $$$ for cool programs to go with it.
upupupandaway 7d ago
Just checked the price in my home country (Brazil) and it's fantastic: the Duo starts at BRL 21999, which is roughly USD 4300.
- busymom0 7d ago
  Even in Canada, it starts at $3000
  - gregglain 6d ago
    This is decent used car territory.
    - mc3301 6d ago
      This is decent brand-new mountain bike territory.
      - cromka 6d ago
        Will be interesting to see what this bought on Epstein Island, once the files are out /s
fchicken 7d ago
Wait for 2nd gen, always
deergomoo 7d ago
I’m in the exact same situation. Been upgrading every year for a long time (via the Upgrade Programme, making doing so more or less “free”). I was absolutely jazzed they finally did an orange phone, and this is the first year in a while that…I just don’t care. The Duo is far more expensive than I could ever entertain (plus buying a first-gen Apple product has never been a good idea), and there is quite literally nothing in the 18 Pro that makes me want to upgrade. I may be swayed by a second gen Air in the spring, as I would like a lighter phone that feels less of an imposition in my pocket and my life in general. But it almost certainly won’t have the zoom camera, which has unexpectedly become one of my favourite and most used features of the 17 Pro. Why the two-camera phones all come with the ultrawide instead of the telephoto is baffling to me. Perhaps I’m an anomaly, but I never use the ultrawide lens.
- happyopossum 7d ago
  > making doing so more or less “free” except for those monthly payments you never get to stop making, yeah it's free.
  - deergomoo 7d ago
    Why do you think I put “free” in quotes? Realistically I was never going to keep the phone longer than the two year finance term anyway, because back when I started doing it a two-year old phone would be really starting to show its age running newer software. So I could either pay monthly and get a phone every two years, or pay monthly and get a phone every year. Of course, these days a three or four or more year old phone is often still perfectly usable even for a tech enthusiast.
not_a_bot_4sho 6d ago
> upgraded my iPhone every year Honest question: why? Why every year?
- joshstrange 6d ago
  Because it's fun. That's it. I like new tech, I like playing with the "new hotness", it's fun to always try out the newest features. That's 100% the reason. I could tell you it's because I always wanted to have the best camera, best battery life, etc and those are true too but the bottom line was: it was fun and I could afford it. I've always known it wasn't the smartest financial decision but no one acts 100% financially "smart" and joy is something you can't measure the value of quite so easily, I got a lot of joy out of having the newest phone. Not as a "look at me, I have the newest phone", I never would shove it someone's face or even call attention to it, buying the new phone was for me, not for anyone else or some kind of "status". It's a toy and I decided that it was worth the "waste" due to the excitement/joy I got from it.
  - generic_dev_47 6d ago
    To be honest, the phone is probably the piece of tech that most people use the most so per hour of use it's not that expensive. I guess the main question here is what you do with the old phones. Do you keep them as a museum or do you sell them/hand them down to family? I'm still rocking my iPhone 12 mini but am planning on getting an 18 when the normal one is released :-)
    - mptest 5d ago
      as someone who upgrades frequently i keep two one as a backup for travel and what not so my past two gens i keep third oldest trade in.
- jonplackett 6d ago
  Yeah like why did you upgrade last year or even the one before. I have a 15 and I can’t see anything I’m missing out on. I upgrade for the jumps. This year is the jump!
turtlebits 6d ago
$2k for a new product line isn't rough. It's on par with other competitors.

Hamuko 7d ago

I don't know, $1999 seems almost kinda reasonable considering how much an iPhone Pro costs and how utterly fucked the current memory prices are.

cromka 6d ago
But the display prices are very low, in comparison, so this and some mechanical engineering cannot possibly cost 900 USD.

basisword 7d ago

I don’t think it’ll face the developer interest problem. Devs go where the money is and consumers seem to love foldables.

newman314 7d ago

You could do the leasing route if you upgrade every year. Might pinch less.

beAbU 7d ago
If leasing a fucking phone isn't a sign of the times then I don't know what is.
- nozzlegear 7d ago
  People have been leasing phones since at least the mid naughties, they just did it via their carrier. I distinctly remember standing in the Alltel store in 2006-ish, before it got gobbled up by ATT, and wondering if I could afford the extra $15/mo that the new Nokia candybar phone would run me. The only thing that's new is that Apple is offering it directly.
  - beAbU 7d ago
    Leasing, as in long term renting, required to give it back after the lease period, in near perfect condition, or face a penalty? Or financing, paying it off over a fixed term, after which you own it outright? The latter, I understand. And I'm also familiar with it. But the former, I find hard to believe. Although, I'm not from the US. Are you telling me people rented nokia bricks in the aughts?
    - nozzlegear 7d ago
      You could and still can do both from your carrier, it's pretty standard. In my experience, it's somewhat uncommon for people to actually buy their phones outright unless you make a lot of money (like the folks who tend to frequent HN). Every two years, my wife and I would sign up for a new 24-month contract, which would include two new phones. After those 24 months, we could keep paying off the remainder of the phones and keep them, or we could return them and start a new contract with new phones. > Are you telling me people rented nokia bricks in the aughts? Myself and my family did, for sure. My parents made me pay my own phone bill too, so I spent a long time in the Alltel shop staring at the different phones and probably annoying the clerk.
      - officeplant 7d ago
        > it's somewhat uncommon for people to actually buy their phones outright unless you make a lot of money Or like many of us, you buy cheaper phones outright for your prepaid phone plans. The fact that people still go for contract phone services and finance a new phone every two years blows my mind. Especially when I can get all the data/minutes/texts I need for $15 a month on a service like Tello, and just get a phone for $200-400 that I can use until it dies. Which is currently a used iPhone 11 I recently opened up to replace the battery.

fragmede 7d ago

It's high, but Apple's financing arm has it at $84/month, which is a bit more stomachable if you really want it.

MBCook 7d ago

I like that blue though.

alwillis 7d ago

> I worry this will suffer from the same lack of developer interest as the AVP did Pretty sure that developer interest is not to be a problem. The Duo will sell more units in a month (or less) than every AVP ever sold. Apple told developers in June at WWDC to not assume fixed screen sizes. Well-written apps will work on any screen size thanks to Apple's APIs. Some apps will need to be tweaked to take advantage of some Duo features no doubt, but I suspect that's not going to be a deal breaker.

getsprite 7d ago
Agree - this is going to have pretty wide adoption.
hbn 6d ago
The iPad has had great adoption for 16 years and there are still plenty of apps that don't adapt to its screen very well.

alwillis 7d ago

To get close to the same functionality as the Duo, you'd buy an iPhone 18 Pro ($1199) plus an iPad mini ($599); that gets you to $1,798. If you want more storage than the entry level iPhone 18 Pro or iPad mini, you're going to surpass $2000 pretty quickly.

gumby271 7d ago

> I worry this will suffer from the same lack of developer interest as the AVP did Apple can force iOS devs to do whatever they want. It may be basic support, but Apple devs will do whatever Apple tells them to do.

endemic 6d ago
It's because people who drop $2k on a new phone will also spend $$$ for cool programs to go with it.

upupupandaway 7d ago

Just checked the price in my home country (Brazil) and it's fantastic: the Duo starts at BRL 21999, which is roughly USD 4300.

busymom0 7d ago
Even in Canada, it starts at $3000
- gregglain 6d ago
  This is decent used car territory.
  - mc3301 6d ago
    This is decent brand-new mountain bike territory.
    - cromka 6d ago
      Will be interesting to see what this bought on Epstein Island, once the files are out /s

fchicken 7d ago

Wait for 2nd gen, always

deergomoo 7d ago

I’m in the exact same situation. Been upgrading every year for a long time (via the Upgrade Programme, making doing so more or less “free”). I was absolutely jazzed they finally did an orange phone, and this is the first year in a while that…I just don’t care. The Duo is far more expensive than I could ever entertain (plus buying a first-gen Apple product has never been a good idea), and there is quite literally nothing in the 18 Pro that makes me want to upgrade. I may be swayed by a second gen Air in the spring, as I would like a lighter phone that feels less of an imposition in my pocket and my life in general. But it almost certainly won’t have the zoom camera, which has unexpectedly become one of my favourite and most used features of the 17 Pro. Why the two-camera phones all come with the ultrawide instead of the telephoto is baffling to me. Perhaps I’m an anomaly, but I never use the ultrawide lens.

happyopossum 7d ago
> making doing so more or less “free” except for those monthly payments you never get to stop making, yeah it's free.
- deergomoo 7d ago
  Why do you think I put “free” in quotes? Realistically I was never going to keep the phone longer than the two year finance term anyway, because back when I started doing it a two-year old phone would be really starting to show its age running newer software. So I could either pay monthly and get a phone every two years, or pay monthly and get a phone every year. Of course, these days a three or four or more year old phone is often still perfectly usable even for a tech enthusiast.

not_a_bot_4sho 6d ago

> upgraded my iPhone every year Honest question: why? Why every year?

joshstrange 6d ago
Because it's fun. That's it. I like new tech, I like playing with the "new hotness", it's fun to always try out the newest features. That's 100% the reason. I could tell you it's because I always wanted to have the best camera, best battery life, etc and those are true too but the bottom line was: it was fun and I could afford it. I've always known it wasn't the smartest financial decision but no one acts 100% financially "smart" and joy is something you can't measure the value of quite so easily, I got a lot of joy out of having the newest phone. Not as a "look at me, I have the newest phone", I never would shove it someone's face or even call attention to it, buying the new phone was for me, not for anyone else or some kind of "status". It's a toy and I decided that it was worth the "waste" due to the excitement/joy I got from it.
- generic_dev_47 6d ago
  To be honest, the phone is probably the piece of tech that most people use the most so per hour of use it's not that expensive. I guess the main question here is what you do with the old phones. Do you keep them as a museum or do you sell them/hand them down to family? I'm still rocking my iPhone 12 mini but am planning on getting an 18 when the normal one is released :-)
  - mptest 5d ago
    as someone who upgrades frequently i keep two one as a backup for travel and what not so my past two gens i keep third oldest trade in.
jonplackett 6d ago
Yeah like why did you upgrade last year or even the one before. I have a 15 and I can’t see anything I’m missing out on. I upgrade for the jumps. This year is the jump!

turtlebits 6d ago

$2k for a new product line isn't rough. It's on par with other competitors.