Users report iPhone Duo screen cracks, dubbed ‘Crackgate’

Within days of launch, some early buyers of Apple's ↗ 0.93% first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, say the inner display cracked along the hinge, sometimes within hours of unboxing. The $2,000 device went on sale Friday, October 23, and by the weekend Reddit users were calling the problem "Crackgate," PCMag reported. Apple has not commented, given a technical explanation or said how widespread the issue is.pcmag.com

The reports so far describe a similar pattern. That has raised questions about how durable Apple's foldable is, but there is no evidence yet of a widespread failure.

What owners describe

In the most widely shared account, an owner in Australia said he had the phone "for about six hours and had probably opened it fewer than 20 times" when he felt something shift around the internal hinge and "heard an audible crack, and the screen broke right along the hinge," The Independent reported. Another owner wrote that the hinge "got tight and then made a loud pop" after about four folds. Damaged units often show a line of bright pixels near the crease, according to MacRumors.independent.co.uk+1

The number of confirmed cases is still small. Tbreak noted that 9to5Mac had counted about ten. AppleInsider checked Genius Bars at seven Apple Stores and found no broken Duo screens reported as of October 24, Wired Middle East reported. Separately, a robot set up by reporter Joanna Stern folded a Duo more than 32,000 times without it breaking.tbreak.com+1

Possible causes

Nobody has confirmed a cause. iFixit built a 3D model of the hinge from teardown footage, patents and CT scans. In its simulation, the center support bar "fails to drop far enough," which creates a stress hotspot near where the reported breaks occur, The Independent reported. In a separate test with fluorescent powder, iFixit found that dust getting into the hinge made it start "crunching." The leading theory cited by 9to5Mac is a batch of units with a slightly misaligned hinge part that presses into the inner screen, according to Tbreak. South Korean hinge supplier Fine M-Tec said its parts are not to blame and that it is considering legal action against "baseless speculation," Chosun Ilbo reported.chosun.com+2

Replacements and warranty

Most buyers who went back to the Apple Store where they bought the phone have gotten replacements, according to PCMag's summary of 9to5Mac's reporting. Customers who bought through carriers have had a harder time because carriers don't keep replacement stock on hand. Hinge failures from normal use, rather than accidents or abuse, are covered by Apple's one-year warranty, and buyers can return a faulty device within two weeks for a full refund, PCMag reported. Out-of-warranty repairs could cost up to $1,500. Apple's service documents say that "there aren't diagnostics or software remedies for hinge issues," and that the hinge can only be fixed by replacing the whole inner display assembly, Wired Middle East reported.wired.me+1