Earlier this week, Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone. Since seeing the announcement and listening to some of the coverage around it, I have become increasingly interested in what this new form factor could mean.

Part of that interest is simply because I love technology. I have always been fascinated by new devices, different ways of working and how technology evolves. But the other part of my interest is accessibility.

For me, that is where the iPhone Duo potentially becomes much more interesting than simply being another new phone.

Accessibility has always mattered to me

Let’s start with the basics.

I would argue that iOS is one of the most accessible mainstream mobile operating systems available. I use an iPhone every day and, as somebody who is neurodiverse, there are many parts of the Apple ecosystem that help me communicate, organise information, work and generally interact with technology in a way that works for me.

Apple’s accessibility features also go far beyond neurodiversity. There are tools including VoiceOver and Magnifier for people who are blind or have low vision, Voice Control, AssistiveTouch, Live Speech, Personal Voice, dictation, Focus, Accessibility Reader and many more.

Apple is also continuing to bring Apple Intelligence into some of its accessibility tools. In May, Apple announced further developments including more detailed descriptions through VoiceOver and Magnifier, natural-language interaction and developments to Accessibility Reader. Apple

That established accessibility ecosystem is one of the reasons the iPhone Duo interests me.

It isn’t asking me to move into a completely unfamiliar operating system simply because I want a foldable device. It takes an environment I already understand and use and puts it into a completely different physical format.

I have always been fascinated by foldable devices

I have been interested in foldable and dual-screen devices for years.

There is something incredibly appealing about carrying something relatively compact, opening it like a book and suddenly having significantly more space available to work with.

The iPhone Duo has a 5.4-inch outer display and opens to reveal a 7.6-inch inner display, which Apple says is its largest display ever on an iPhone. Apple

The screen size is interesting, but what really catches my attention is what you can actually do with it.

Apple has introduced Split View on the Duo, meaning you can have two apps running side by side. You can move between apps, open two windows of the same application, such as Safari, and save combinations of apps that you regularly use together. You can even have Siri AI running on one side while looking at information on the other. Apple

For me, that isn’t simply a productivity feature.

It could potentially be an accessibility feature as well.

Reducing the need to constantly switch

As somebody who is neurodiverse, one of the things I am particularly interested in is reducing cognitive load.

If I am reading something in one application, then have to close it, open another application, remember what I was looking at, type something, switch back and then find where I was again, that creates additional steps.

Every one of those steps requires me to retain information.

Having two things visible at the same time could make that very different.

I could have an email on one side and my calendar on the other. I could have a Teams or Zoom meeting alongside my notes. I could have research open while writing. I could have a document on one side and an AI assistant helping me work through it on the other.

That won’t necessarily help everybody. For some people, having more information visible could actually create more distraction or cognitive overload.

But that is the point.

Accessibility is about giving people options and allowing them to find what works for them.

The form factor matters

I have looked at devices such as the Microsoft Surface Duo and Google’s foldable Pixel devices in the past because I have always liked the idea behind them.

The difficulty for me has been moving away from an ecosystem that I know works for me.

That is why Apple entering this market is so interesting.

I can potentially have the foldable form factor that has fascinated me for years without losing the accessibility tools, applications, Apple Watch integration and wider ecosystem that I already use.

There are lots of small details about the Duo that interest me as well.

Apple has put Touch ID into the side button rather than using Face ID, and the phone can also be unlocked using an Apple Watch. Personally, I don’t see Touch ID as a major issue. I use it on other Apple devices and find it straightforward. Apple

Later this year, Apple also says the Duo will support Apple Pencil with USB-C, allowing people to write notes, sketch and mark up documents on either display. Apple

Again, I think there is an accessibility conversation hidden inside what might initially look like a standard productivity feature.

Being able to choose between typing, dictating, handwriting, drawing or using touch means you have different ways of getting information into a device.

And choice is incredibly important.

Then there is artificial intelligence

Of course, another area I am fascinated by is how Apple Intelligence and the new Siri experience work within this larger screen environment.

Apple says Siri AI can sit alongside other content on the Duo, allowing somebody to have a conversation with Siri while continuing to look at the information they are working with. Apple

That particularly interests me.

I already use artificial intelligence as part of the way I work, including helping me get thoughts out of my head, structure information, research ideas and develop content.

The idea of AI sitting alongside what I am actually working on, rather than constantly having to move in and out of another app, could be extremely useful.

This is where I think AI, assistive technology and mainstream technology increasingly start to come together.

Something doesn’t necessarily need to have been designed specifically as an accessibility tool to become incredibly useful from an accessibility perspective.

But accessibility needs to be tested

I also don’t want to automatically say that because the iPhone Duo has a bigger screen and more multitasking features, it will therefore be more accessible.

We simply don’t know that yet.

A bigger display does not automatically mean better accessibility. A foldable phone doesn’t automatically make somebody more productive. AI doesn’t automatically remove barriers.

There are lots of things I would want to test.

How comfortable is it to hold for a long period of time? How heavy does it feel in everyday use? What happens when somebody is using VoiceOver across two applications? How easy is it to navigate between the displays? Does having two applications visible reduce cognitive load or increase it?

How useful is Accessibility Reader on that much larger screen? How well does dictation work while another application remains visible? How practical is the Apple Pencil for somebody who processes information better by writing or drawing?

I am even interested in something as simple as the hinge.

I want to feel how it opens. I want to see how noticeable the crease is. I want to understand whether it actually feels like opening a book or whether the novelty disappears after a couple of days.

That is the technology geek in me.

Why this device has my attention

I am interested in the iPhone Duo because it sits at the intersection of several things I care about.

Technology.

Accessibility.

Neurodiversity.

Artificial intelligence.

Productivity.

And ultimately, understanding how different ways of interacting with technology can help different people.

Apple officially unveiled the iPhone Duo on 9 September 2026. It will not actually reach customers until October, so many of these questions can only really be answered once people have had the opportunity to use it properly. Apple

For me, the most interesting question isn’t simply whether Apple has made a good foldable phone.

It is whether this different form factor allows some of us to interact with information, technology and our work in a different way.

That is what I want to explore.

Yes, I am excited because it folds. Yes, I want to play with the technology. And yes, I am fascinated to see what Apple has done with the design.

But what really interests me is whether the iPhone Duo can become more than a new form factor.

Could it become another way of making technology work differently for the person using it?

That is the bit I find exciting.