iPhone Duo vs Galaxy Z Fold 8: Apple Is Late, but Did It Build the Better Foldable?

Apple has finally entered the foldable market with the iPhone Duo, which means there's one comparison we have to make. Samsung has spent years improving the Galaxy Z Fold, and the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 is easily its best version yet.

Both phones open into a 7.6-inch tablet, both start with 256GB of storage and both cost close to $2,000. But once you look closer, Apple and Samsung have taken very different paths.

This surprised me.

The iPhone Duo measures 11.3mm when folded and weighs 254g. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is only 9.7mm thick when folded and weighs 201g. That's a huge 53g difference.

Open them and Samsung is still thinner, at 4.5mm compared with 5.2mm for the Duo. Apple has used Grade 5 titanium, while Samsung uses an aluminum frame, but the Fold 8 is clearly the easier phone to carry.

For a foldable, I think this matters more than it does on a normal phone. These devices are already larger and heavier, so every gram you can remove makes a difference.

Both phones have a 7.6-inch inner display, but Apple has taken an unusual approach to the outer screen.

The iPhone Duo has a small 5.4-inch cover display. Apple says it still gives you 90 percent of the screen area of the iPhone 18 Pro, but it makes the Duo feel much more compact when closed.

Samsung goes bigger with the Fold 8's outer screen. That makes the Galaxy feel more like a normal smartphone when closed, while Apple is clearly pushing you to open the Duo more often.

I think Samsung has the better setup if you spend most of your day using the outer screen. Apple's design makes more sense if you want a small phone in your pocket that turns into a tablet when you need it.

Both inner displays run at up to 120Hz.

Apple also uses a nano-texture layer that helps hide the crease. I'll need to use both side by side before calling a winner here because foldable display creases can look very different in photos than they do in your hand.

Inside the Duo is Apple's new A20 Pro, built on a 2nm process. Samsung uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

Both are flagship chips, and I don't think performance should decide which phone you buy. These phones have far more power than most people will ever need.

Cooling matters more. Apple has added a large vapor chamber to help the A20 Pro stay fast during games and heavy multitasking. Samsung has its own cooling system in the Fold 8, and years of experience with foldables should help here too.

The real difference is software.

Apple has finally added proper split-screen multitasking to an iPhone.

Open the Duo and iOS 27 lets you run two apps side by side. You can resize them, swap apps and even open two windows from the same app. App pairs can also be saved for later.

It's a big step for iOS, and the larger screen finally gives Apple a reason to offer it.

But Samsung has been doing this for years.

The Fold 8 offers a much more mature multitasking system, and Samsung's software gives you more freedom when moving between apps and windows. If you're buying a foldable mainly to replace a small tablet, I still think the Galaxy has the edge.

Apple does have one trick I wasn't expecting: Apple Pencil support. It arrives later this year and works on both Duo displays.

That's a great addition. If you're going to carry a screen this large in your pocket, being able to write or draw on it makes perfect sense.

Apple has kept things simple with two rear cameras. The iPhone Duo gets a 48MP main camera and a 48MP ultrawide. The main sensor also gives you an optical-quality 2x zoom, but there is no dedicated telephoto camera.

That's hard to accept on a $1,999 phone.

Samsung gives the Galaxy Z Fold 8 a more flexible camera setup with a dedicated zoom camera. For travel or concerts, having real optical zoom makes the Fold 8 much more useful. Apple does have some clever foldable camera tricks. You can take selfies with the main cameras while using the outer screen as a preview, and Duo Preview lets the person you're photographing see themselves.

There's even Kid Cue, which plays animations on the outer screen to make children look toward the camera.

Fun? Yes. A replacement for a telephoto lens? No.

Durability is one area where Apple has done surprisingly well for its first foldable. The iPhone Duo has an IP68 rating, while the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is rated IP48.

Apple also uses Ceramic Shield 2 on the outer display and a titanium frame. The hinge contains more than 100 parts, while the inner display has extra glass layers and a titanium support plate underneath. Samsung has far more real-world experience building foldables, though. That's something no spec sheet can measure.

If I were spending $2,000 on either phone, I'd still be very interested to see how Apple's first-generation hinge looks after a year of daily use.

Samsung fits a 4,800mAh battery inside the Fold 8. Apple doesn't advertise the Duo's battery capacity, but its dual-cell design puts one battery on each side of the phone.

Apple claims up to 24 hours of mixed use, 31 hours of video on the inner display or 44 hours when using the outer screen.

The Duo can also reach 50 percent charge in around 20 minutes.

This is another area where real-world testing will matter far more than the numbers. Apple has a heavier phone, while Samsung has managed to keep the Fold 8 close to the weight of a normal flagship.

Personally, I'd give up a little battery life to save 53 grams. That's a difference you'll feel every single time you pick up the phone.

Neither phone is cheap. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 starts at $1,899, while the iPhone Duo starts at $1,999. Both give you 256GB at that price.

Apple also offers 512GB, 1TB and 2TB, with the top Duo reaching a crazy $3,199. So which one would I buy?

If I wanted the best foldable for multitasking, cameras and everyday portability, I'd still pick the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Samsung's eight generations of experience show in the weight, thickness and software.

But the iPhone Duo is much better than I expected from Apple's first attempt. IP68, a titanium body, Apple Pencil support, the A20 Pro and Apple's work on hiding the crease make it feel like a serious rival rather than a first-generation experiment.

Samsung still makes the more complete foldable for me. But Apple got close enough on its first try that the Galaxy Z Fold 9 suddenly has a much harder job ahead.