Some owners of the new iPhone Duo are reporting issues with the hinge that causes the folding screen to crack and break.
Pictures of the cracks in Apple’s first foldable smartphone spread across social media within hours of the $2,000 device going on sale last week, leading some users to dub the issue “crackgate”.
“Maybe folded it four times, hinge got tight and then made a loud pop when I pushed past it,” one owner wrote in a post to Reddit.
Similar experiences were reported online of the iPhone Duo making a noise as it folded, causing damage along the hinge and a line of bright pixels across part of the screen.
“Had my iPhone Duo for about six hours and had probably opened it fewer than 20 times,” one owner from Australia wrote.
“I was showing it to a friend, and as I opened it, I felt something around the internal hinge, underneath the screen. As I continued opening it, I heard an audible crack, and the screen broke right along the hinge.”
Apple reportedly apologised and replaced the broken device with a brand new one when the owner took it to an Apple Store.
The Independent has reached out to Apple for comment and further information about the reported issue.
The issue may result from particles of dust and dirt infiltrating the hinge mechanism of the iPhone Duo, according to the repair site iFixit.
“To see where the stresses build up from folding, we built a 3D hinge model from teardown footage, patents, and CT scans, then compared it with the reported damage locations,” iFixit wrote in a teardown of the smartphone.
“The breaks cluster near the transition from the gap for the crossing flex cable to the central hinge support... All those edges meeting in this spot mean lots of possible culprits.
“Here’s one possible answer. In our closing simulation, the centre support bar fails to drop far enough. The screen’s curved fold comes down into it, creating a small stress hotspot near the reported break location.”
iFixit also conducted a test that involved placing an iPhone Duo in a bag of fluorescent powder and then opening and closing the device.
The repair site noted that the “hinge started crunching” after traces of the powder reached the moving parts of the hinge.
Similar findings were made with foldable phones from rival manufacturers like Samsung and Google.
The widely-anticipated iPhone sold out within minutes of going live, with some customers queuing up outside stores across the UK on Friday.
Ahead of the launch, Apple said demand for the iPhone Duo was “nothing short of extraordinary”, adding that it was “working hard to get this revolutionary new product into customers’ hands”.
Read MoreApple releases iPhone Duo – but customers struggle to actually buy one
