The Folding iPhone That Sold Out in Minutes

By Evan · Monday, October 19, 2026 · 2-minute read

Two iPhone Duo phones, star white and night sky, partly open like books.
Photo: Apple. · Source

The short version

Apple's first iPhone that folds open like a book, the iPhone Duo, went up for preorder Friday at $1,999. Within minutes, delivery dates slid into next year. By 8:30 a.m., every model said January 25. One eBay listing for the top model was marked sold for about $5,000.

A phone that opens like a book

It’s called the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first foldable iPhone. It opens and closes like a little book.

It went up for preorder on Friday, October 16. Prices start at $1,999. The top model, with the most storage, costs $3,199. That makes it Apple’s most expensive iPhone ever.

Here’s a surprise: analyst Anshel Sag said many people expected it to start even higher, between $2,400 and $2,500.

Gone in minutes

Within minutes of preorders opening, delivery dates started slipping into next year.

By 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, every model, in every color and size, showed a delivery date of January 25. Some buyers even saw January 29.

The lucky people who ordered in time should get their phones starting October 23.

Apple called the demand “nothing short of extraordinary.”

Enter the scalpers

You know the people outside a ballgame selling tickets for three times the price? The same thing happened here, online.

On preorder day, 9to5Mac counted dozens of iPhone Duos listed on eBay by scalpers, asking as much as $5,200.

And some people paid. MacRumors spotted an eBay listing for the top model marked sold for about $5,000. That’s about $1,800 more than Apple charges.

Another listing, for a “confirmed pre-order” of a 1TB model, was marked sold for $4,400. Apple sells that one for $2,599.

Be careful buying from a stranger

Some of these sellers didn’t have a phone in hand yet. They were selling a confirmed Apple preorder.

Dexerto reported that the eBay listings were marked sold, but the sellers’ screenshots don’t prove every sale was actually completed or delivered.

If you want one, you can still order straight from Apple. Apple says it will keep taking orders online. You’ll just have to wait, with delivery estimates now stretching into January.

Sources

  • CNBC, “Apple’s $1,999 iPhone Duo puts the company’s status-symbol power to the test” (Oct. 16, 2026): cnbc.com
  • 9to5Mac, “iPhone Duo sells out immediately, now backordered until next year” (Oct. 16, 2026): 9to5mac.com
  • MacRumors, “iPhone Duo Resold for $5,000 on eBay After Selling Out” (Oct. 16, 2026): macrumors.com
  • Dexerto, “Apple’s iPhone Duo preorders are reselling for thousands more as shipping slips to January” (Oct. 16, 2026): dexerto.com

This story was in the issue of Monday, October 19, 2026.