I have thoughts about the iPhone Duo, which was announced yesterday and will somehow become my financial problem in October. Here we go:
Screen Real Estate
I was worried about how much space would be available when the iPhone Duo is closed, especially with the keyboard open, but it doesn’t seem to be as bad as I expected. A big reason for that is Apple’s decision to move the status bar, navigation bar, and toolbar to the side, which seems like a very smart move. Here’s a comparison of the usable screen real estate on regular-sized iPhones and the iPhone Duo:
That’s... more space for content on a much smaller device. Kind of incredible. It feels like one of those optical illusions where you’re supposed to tell which line is shorter, only to find out they’re actually the same length.
App Optimization
This is a screenshot from a video on Apple’s Developer site. It looks like apps not built with the 27.0 SDK won’t make use of the iPhone Duo’s additional screen space at all, even if they were already using the right APIs.
Building with the 27.0 SDK expands them up to the new sidebar status bar, but only apps built with the 27.1 SDK can actually use the full screen and extend under the sidebar as well.
I guess it’ll take quite a while before most apps are fully updated for this.
Hinge and Multi-Screen Possibilities
I love that there will be APIs for reading the hinge angle. Using the iPhone Duo half-open, like an actual book, is even an advertised feature! I can imagine this being a really nice way to read ebooks, especially with the matte display. Still worse than a Kindle, of course.
This is just some random image somebody generated, not an actual iPhone Duo feature (because why would it be), but it did make me wonder whether developers will be able to do anything with the outside screen while the inside display is active. I don’t think so, but it would open up some very fun possibilities.
iPhone Duo Folio
I’m not sure what it is about this absurdly expensive (€150?!) iPhone Duo Folio case, but I kind of love it? It has a kickstand, which is dorky but practical, and it covers the front screen, which couldn’t be more boomer-coded, but somehow that appeals to me too.
I like the idea of being able to close my phone completely. Of having an actual piece of fabric between me and the abyss of possibilities a smartphone offers. It makes the whole device feel a little calmer, and I think I kind of want that in my life.
Apple Pencil
I was very excited when they said in the keynote that the iPhone Duo would support Apple Pencil later this year. I’m still in the middle of my Year of Art, and a tiny iPad I could draw on would basically be my dream.
Then I remembered that the USB-C Apple Pencil doesn’t have pressure sensitivity. Which, for drawing, makes it feel a lot more like a very fancy stylus than an actual Apple Pencil. I’ll probably try it anyway, but I’m not convinced it’ll be the experience I’m hoping for.
On the other hand: I could scribble on the bus. I can’t really do that with a normal sketchbook because I get motion sick almost immediately, but Apple somehow fixed that problem for me with Vehicle Motion Cues. So there is at least a very specific little niche in my life waiting for this thing.
Anyway! That's it for now. I'm sure there's a lot more to come but I needed to get this off my chest.
