iPhone Duo's 'Crackgate' Points to Hinge Flaw
AI-generated image · US National Wire · Based on a photo by Ka Kit Pang (CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
A teardown of Apple's foldable reveals a potential structural weakness causing screens to shatter.
Reports of Apple's foldable device, the iPhone Duo, failing shortly after purchase have surged across social media and the iPhone Duo subreddit, leading to the emergence of so-called "crackgate," as The Verge first reported. According to that reporting, some users claim the device's hinge catches and audibly cracks the screen within just a few hours of use.
YouTuber CuriousHagi investigated the failures through durability testing and a subsequent teardown of the device. The Verge reports that CuriousHagi identified the cause as a specific link in the phone's complex hinge system—which utilizes a gear-like central hinge and two types of linking hinges—that is thinner than the surrounding links. The component reportedly snapped at a small notch, the weakest point of the link. Additionally, CuriousHagi found marks where the hinge met the support plate, suggesting the mechanism may have become caught during operation.