The foldable iPhone Duo gives you a bigger screen and bragging rights. Here's what you give up.

Here are some of the compromises that made their way into the iPhone Duo's fold.

Karl Mondon / AFP via Getty Images The $1,999 iPhone Duo immediately stands out.

Its foldable design also introduces some nifty new iPhone features.

But there are a few engineering taxes to achieve the foldable design.

Here are a few areas where the Duo differs from the iPhone 18 Pro in hardware.

The iPhone Duo may look flipping cool — but to get two screens and a hinge into a pocketable iPhone, Apple had to make some trade-offs.

Apple's first-ever foldable smartphone, which ranges between $1,999 and $3,199, gets a 7.6-inch inner display when unfolded, which Apple calls the "largest iPhone display ever." That's 50% larger than the screen on the next-gen iPhone 18 Pro.

But even at $700 more than the iPhone 18 Pro Max, the Duo had to put some hardware and capabilities on the cutting-room floor to make room inside the device for new mechanical components.

Sure, early adopters get immediate bragging rights and some cool features that are only available on the foldable phone — but it comes at a cost.

Debating between the iPhone Duo and the iPhone 18 Pro? Here are four of those trade-offs to consider.

A weaker camera system The Duo has slightly lower camera hardware quality than the iPhone 18 Pro Max.

Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images The camera is perhaps the most notable hardware compromise.

The Duo's outer, front-facing camera is 12 megapixels, while the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max have an 18-megapixel Center Stage camera with autofocus.

More importantly, the Pro models have a dedicated telephoto lens for distant subjects; the Duo does not.