iPhone Duo Durability Concerns Emerge as Teardown Reveals Cracks Reportedly Originating at Hinge

A teardown by YouTuber CuriousHagi has suggested that a damaged hinge component could be involved in reported iPhone Duo screen cracks. The account offers a possible explanation for a recurring damage pattern, although it does not establish a common cause across the reported cases.

Reports of cracked screens emerged within hours of the iPhone Duo's release, according to the supplied article. Some reportedly developed around the crease and extended horizontally towards the display's edge, raising questions about whether the screen itself was breaking during bending.

iPhone Duo Testing Leads to Teardown

The supplied account describes videos from JerryRigEverything and Reddit posts in which screens crack under stress. However, it provides no overall failure rate, and the similar appearance of the damage does not establish that every screen broke for the same reason.

CuriousHagi's test involved dirt and stress from folding the hinge backwards. According to the account, he attempted to close the phone, but it would not shut. When he tried to reopen it from a partially closed position, he heard a loud snap.

A large white fault then extended from the crease towards one side of the screen, resembling damage described in other reports. Rather than ending his examination there, CuriousHagi removed the display to inspect the hinge underneath.

The reported sequence followed testing involving dirt and backwards folding of the hinge. The supplied account does not establish whether the other phones had undergone comparable stress or whether the same mechanical failure occurred in those cases.

iPhone Duo Hinge Component Draws Attention

During the teardown, CuriousHagi identified a sheared element at the same location where the screen crack originated, according to the supplied account. The element appeared to connect to an upper support plate.

It was described as thinner than the hinges above and below it, a difference the account suggested could leave it more susceptible to breaking. Heavy crush marks were also visible on a nearby mechanism, although their role in the failure remained uncertain.

The underside of the display appeared to carry an impact mark. The account proposed that the broken hinge element may have struck the screen, offering a possible explanation for the damage near the crease.

Under that interpretation, the hinge failed to mesh correctly, a section sheared, and the broken piece hit the display. This remains a proposed sequence based on the teardown. The supplied material contains no confirmation that it explains the other reported cracks.

iPhone Duo Screen Reports Remain Limited

AppleInsider described the reported problem as small in scale, with no major online outcry over screens breaking in this particular way at the time of its account.

The publication contacted sources inside Apple Genius Bars at seven stores, four of them major flagships. AppleInsider stated that it had worked with those sources for more than 15 years.

None of the seven stores initially reported receiving a device for service or return because of a broken screen. A subsequent check identified one instance across the stores, according to AppleInsider.

Those enquiries concerned the seven stores surveyed and did not establish a failure rate across all iPhone Duo devices. The account anticipated that the number of cases would increase over time, while leaving open whether the proportion of devices affected would also rise.