Apple has announced it will replace iPhone Duo handsets that have developed screen problems, just days after its first-ever foldable phone went on sale - a device with a starting price of £1,999 ($2,668) in the UK. Nothing says premium like a screen that gives up before the novelty wears off.

Photos posted by social media users show lines appearing on the Duo's displays. Apple says it is aware of "an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of units" and has urged affected users to contact the company for a replacement. The company did not say how many devices were affected, leaving the extent of the problem comfortably vague.

Some owners also posted images showing cracks along the screen's centre crease, while others reported a crunching noise when opening the device - a sound no one wants to hear from a gadget costing up to £3,199 for the most well-equipped models.

One Duo user, Justin Lokos, posted an image of a device with lines across the right side of the display, then later uploaded a picture of a new handset alongside the broken one, thanking an Apple store in New York for its help. A happy ending, at least for one person.

It's worth noting that some images showing faulty devices may have been created using artificial intelligence - because in 2025, even a broken screen can be fake news.

The launch attracted long queues at Apple stores around the world last week, as the brand tries to reinvigorate its catalogue and challenge the foldable phones offered by rivals. The Duo's 7.6-inch (19.3cm) inner display is held together by a central hinge - a complex piece of engineering that has resulted in flaws for some of Apple's competitors, too. Samsung's first foldable, the Galaxy Fold, suffered an early setback in 2019 when reviewers reported broken screens. Apple, it seems, is determined to prove it can stumble in exactly the same way.

Android users already have a broad selection of foldable phones to choose from - technology Apple spent years developing before the Duo's release. The device marks Apple's first major iPhone redesign in almost two decades and was unveiled by new chief executive John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook in September.

When closed, the Duo looks like a wider version of an iPhone; open, it resembles a small tablet computer. "Others have created foldables that just feel like two phones awkwardly stuck together," Ternus told an audience at Apple's California headquarters last month. The Duo, he said, would "redefine the experience of using a foldable phone." Redefining it, apparently, to include lines, cracks, and a crunching noise. Apple's new boss starts with a big gamble on a £1,999 first folding iPhone - and the folding phone revolution, it turns out, still has a way to go.