Foldables have always had a durability problem. Every crease, every fold, every hinge click adds up, and most foldable phones show it. Apple knows this, and the hinge on its first foldable, the Duo, might be the most technically interesting part of the whole device.
According to TechCrunch, Apple’s chief hardware officer Johny Srouji broke down exactly how the Duo’s hinge gets built during the company’s Surprise and Shine event. The process is wild. AI algorithms are used during manufacturing to match each individual hinge with its best-fit housing, making sure the alignment is as precise as possible. Then a confocal laser scans the topology of every single unit and 3D prints up to 25 micro layers of a custom photopolymer directly onto it, eliminating what Srouji called “residual waviness.” That is not standard phone manufacturing. That’s closer to aerospace-level quality control.
Why does this matter? Because the foldable category has been stuck in a frustrating loop for years. Consumers are genuinely excited about the form factor, but the hardware rarely holds up over time. Screens crease badly, hinges loosen, and the wear shows faster than on a regular phone. Samsung, Google, and others have improved things, but durability is still the category’s Achilles heel. Apple entering the space with a process this specific signals that it’s taking the problem seriously rather than just shipping a folding screen and calling it done.
Srouji also mentioned that the Duo gets a custom nano-texture finish to reduce glare and reflections, plus a multi-layer lamination strategy designed to add durability. So Apple isn’t just relying on the hinge work alone. The whole device seems engineered with longevity in mind.
Still, promises are promises. We won’t really know if any of this holds up until real users have carried the Duo in their pockets for six months or a year. Apple has put serious thought into the engineering here, but the foldable durability question never gets answered at a launch event. It gets answered in the real world.
For now, the Duo’s hinge story is genuinely compelling. And for a category that’s been begging for someone to take durability seriously, that counts for something.