Apple hardware engineering VP Tom Marieb spoke with TechRadar and shared some candid thoughts about Apple's upcoming iPhone Duo.
The iPhone Duo uses a matte nano-texture display, which is meant to cut down on glare and minimize the visibility of the crease. When asked if the iPhone Duo's crease would be more visible over time, as that's what tends to happen on other foldables, Marieb said the nano-texture display would help. He asked people to hold the company "accountable" on crease visibility.
Hold us accountable to that, please. The choice of a matte finish — apart from it being beautiful — is part of that equation. When you look at glossy displays, their specularity makes it very easy to pick up topology differences. That's part of the reason we picked the matte finish — it's not only beautiful in terms of preventing glare, but it's also more forgiving of [hinge] changes over time.
Marieb said the iPhone Duo's hinge was something he was "especially proud of" because it took a long time to get the right design. Apple wanted a durable hinge that felt solid to open and close.
We really worked on the torque profile very heavily, and that means changing a lot of the mechanical properties of the hinge to have it feel solid, like a high-end automobile's car door, when you shut it. That was design intent, so people would have a feeling like, 'Oh, it's okay. This is well crafted, and it's safe for me to use and not worry about it.'
Apple didn't want the hinge to be "floppy," so torque had to be perfected for different use cases. The hinge Apple came up with lets the iPhone Duo be used in partially folded seated and standing modes, as well as open and closed. Marieb said "a lot of blood, sweat, and tears" went into the hinge design.
Marieb also spoke about Ceramic Shield 2, his dislike of screen protectors, and more, with the full interview available on TechRadar.
The iPhone Duo will be available for pre-order on October 16 and will launch on October 23. Pricing starts at $1,999.
