Third-Generation iPhone Duo May Restore Face ID and Add Telephoto Camera
Apple launched the iPhone Duo last week. It is the company’s first book-style foldable. The phone is shorter and wider than most rivals. That passport-like shape sets it apart from the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8.
The debut also brought Touch ID back. Apple dropped Face ID on this model. The folded size left too little room for the facial-recognition hardware. A new report now says Face ID could return on the third-generation foldable.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman made that forecast in his Power On newsletter. He said Apple’s top two priorities for a later Duo are Face ID and a telephoto camera. Both upgrades are hard to fit today. Unfolded, the first iPhone Duo is about 5.2mm thick. That makes it the thinnest iPhone yet. Depth-sensing and telephoto modules need more space. Gurman called this a physics problem.
He expects Apple to solve it by the third generation. That model could arrive in 2028 if a second-generation Duo ships next year. The plan, he wrote, would mix smaller parts with advances in artificial intelligence. Those steps could let Apple use slimmer depth-sensing and camera hardware. The current gaps would then shrink.
The first iPhone Duo went on sale in India and other markets on September 9. The 256GB model starts at Rs 2,99,900. It has a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR inner display. The cover screen is 5.4 inches. Inside is the A20 Pro chip, built on a 2nm process.
None of the 2028 upgrades is official. They remain a reporter’s prediction. For now, the first Duo still relies on Touch ID and lacks a dedicated telephoto lens.