We are just days away from the Apple iPhone Duo going on pre-order, but recent reports suggest customers aren’t keen to spend extra on smartphones this year. If the $1,999 price tag of the foldable made you wince too, AT&T is offering to take a massive chunk of that price off for its customers.
The carrier says new and existing customers can get up to $1,200 off Apple’s first foldable with an eligible trade-in. Pre-orders begin Friday, October 16, while general availability kicks off on October 23.
As far as the fine print goes, getting the full $1,200 discount requires trading in an eligible phone worth at least $230. You also need to buy the iPhone Duo on AT&T’s 36-month installment plan and sign up for the Premium 2.0 plan, which starts at $100 per month before taxes, fees, and discounts.
So basically, you will be paying the full 1,999 over 36 months, which comes to around $55.50 a month, and the $1,200 credit over the same period will take about $33.33 off the bill each month. One thing to keep in mind is that if you cancel the service before 36 months, the remaining credits will also disappear.
So essentially, if you plan to stick with your iPhone Duo and AT&T for at least 3 years, then this deal is likely the best bet for you to get the foldable at the price of an iPhone. AT&T is also offering switchers up to $800 toward paying off their current device balance, which makes the pitch even more aggressive.
If you’d rather avoid AT&T’s three-year commitment, Apple Upgrade leases the iPhone Duo from $57.99 a month for 24 months. Apple sells iPhones unlocked in most cases, so you can switch carriers later. The catch is that you don’t own the phone, and early termination can get expensive.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.
Apple's first foldable phone is now on shelves, in short supply, but with an unreal amount of buzz around it. After all, it's the first foldable iPhone, and there's plenty that this phone gets right. But there's also a lot that is either broken or underwhelming. What's peculiar is the dialogue around this phone, and how it has completely overshadowed every other attempt at making a phone with a similar form factor.
I've spent some time with the iPhone Duo, and I've used the Galaxy Z Fold 8 for almost three months now. In my opinion, Samsung deserves more credit. When the Galaxy Z Fold 8 arrived earlier this year, it was celebrated in some circles and ridiculed in others for supposedly copying what Apple would eventually deliver with the iPhone Duo. The dialogue was pretty odd, for multiple reasons. Samsung has been making foldable phones for years, so claiming that it copied a product Apple hadn't even launched was simply absurd.
For years, Samsung’s Galaxy A phones have been some of the easiest recommendations for anyone who wants to go the Android route without paying flagship prices. But that part of the lineup could soon become harder to find at a good price.
According to South Korea’s Electronic Times, Samsung is cutting Galaxy A production by about 20% in the fourth quarter compared to its original plans. Component orders have reportedly dropped by a similar amount, which could mean roughly 10 million fewer phones over the year. Samsung is also said to be considering another production cut of more than 10% next year.