The unveiling of the iPhone Duo left us with a surprise that would have surprised even Steve Jobs himself: Apple’s first foldable iPhone will be compatible with the USB-C Apple Pencil. The original plan, however, went quite a bit further. Apple had prepared a dedicated Apple Pencil for the iPhone Duo, smaller and designed to attach magnetically next to the hinge. What happened to it?
An Apple Pencil created for the iPhone Duo
We’d already heard about this accessory when rumors claimed that Apple was internally testing an Apple Pencil for its foldable iPhone. According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, however, the accessory ran into technical difficulties just before entering production and Apple preferred to rely on an already proven solution.
As far as we know, the stylus was shorter to better suit the iPhone Duo and its two screens. The idea was that we could place it on the hinge area to connect it, charge it, and also carry it. Removing it when opening the device, we’d have an iPhone that, when open, would offer the same experience as an iPad mini, something Craig Federighi has already spoken about.
Given the “technical difficulties,” of which we don’t know any details, Apple decided that the best option was to use the current USB-C Apple Pencil, and make it compatible with the inner and outer screens. That’s how it was announced during the presentation although support will still take a few months to arrive. Officially, it’s expected to arrive “later in 2026,” and Gurman adds that it’ll surely be shortly before the end of the year given the amount of testing.
Given that the iPhone Duo wasn’t going to be compatible with the USB-C Apple Pencil, Gurman explains that the work to enable that compatibility is substantial and that it also requires all the testing Apple will want to do to ensure it works properly. So, while we’ll already have the iPhone 18 Pro, to be able to write by hand on our iPhone Duo, we’ll have to wait a little bit longer.
