Waited for a foldable iPhone? Samsung Z Fold 8 still wins 7 rounds, starting with price
Apple finally did it. After years of watching Samsung fold phones in half like tiny expensive omelettes, the iPhone Duo is real — unveiled by brand-new CEO John Ternus as the biggest change to the iPhone in its two-decade life.
His pitch: "a larger display would open up entirely new possibilities." Sure. But possibilities were already open. Samsung has been holding the door for eight generations, and the Z Fold 8 still takes seven rounds off Apple's shiny debut.
The scoreboard
- Price. The Fold 8 starts at $1,899; the Duo starts at $1,999. And that $100 gap follows you up every storage tier like a loyal, annoying dog.
- Thinness and weight. The Fold 8 is 4.5mm unfolded and 201 grams — Samsung's lightest Fold ever. The Duo is 5.2mm and 254 grams, which makes Apple's foldable one of the heaviest iPhones in history. The thin one is the Android. Wild times.
- Multitasking. Four app windows plus floating panels on the Fold; two Split View windows on the Duo. You bought a pocket iPad that multitasks like a 2015 iPad.
- DeX. Plug the Fold into a monitor, get a desktop. The Duo's equivalent feature is: no.
- A physical SIM slot. The Duo is eSIM-only, worldwide, no exceptions. The Fold does both, because choices are nice.
- RAM. The Fold's 1TB tier bumps you to 16GB — pure fuel for on-device AI. The Duo caps at 12GB on every configuration.
- 8K video. Fold: 8K at 30fps. Duo: 4K ceiling. Do you need 8K? No. Is it satisfying to have? Deeply.
The obligatory reality check
None of this means the Duo flops — first-gen Apple products have a well-documented habit of eating the category alive by version three. Samsung knows exactly whose bus is coming; its own launch messaging leaned hard on experience, with mobile chief TM Roh promising that "we are once again advancing the premium mobile experience."
Translation: we've had eight generations to fix creases, hinges, and our mistakes. Enjoy year one, Cupertino.
For now, though? The wider, lighter, cheaper foldable is the one that's been doing this since 2019. Round eight begins whenever the Duo 2 shows up.
Previously we wrote: What to expect at The Traitors: New Blood premiere
