iStore expects the iPhone Duo to attract premium buyers.
The iPhone Duo, Apple’s first foldable iPhone, is expected to appeal to consumers at the upper end of the smartphone market when it launches locally in a few weeks.
The device is expected to cost more than R50 000 in SA, although iStore has yet to announce official local pricing.
Social media discussions around Apple’s move into foldable smartphones reflect long-running speculation from local consumers.
Media reports on Apple’s lengthy development period for the device pointed to the technical complexity of producing a durable foldable, including engineering and manufacturing challenges. Reuters reports Apple encountered issues during engineering testing that could have delayed production.
Chris Dodd, CEO of iStore South Africa, tells ITWeb the iPhone Duo will open a new category for Apple, despite its price point likely to limit its addressable market.
While SA’s tightly-contested market is considered “price-sensitive”, Dodd notes there is a growing appetite for high-end smartphones, as consumers in the premium segment increasingly seek unique features from their devices.
Discussing the market likely to buy the iPhone Duo, Dodd comments: “It’s certainly not going to be your youngsters, well, from an affordability point of view. But look, it’ll be interesting to see where most of the interest comes from. I don’t want to prejudge it before it’s out here. But based on affordability, it’s probably going to be a slightly older profile customer.”
Apple says the iPhone Duo features a 7.6-inch internal display when opened, with a 5.4-inch external display when closed. The device is powered by Apple’s A20 Pro chip and runs iOS 27.
It is designed around different orientations and multitasking use cases, with Apple highlighting side-by-side applications, hands-free FaceTime and flexible viewing angles.
While Dodd could not confirm the local launch date, according to the Apple SA website, Apple has set 23 October as the availability date for the iPhone Duo in SA, as well as across 70 countries and regions. Pre-orders open on 16 October through iStore and other selected channels.
According to iStore, storage options range from 256GB to 2TB. It weighs 254g when open and measures 5.2mm thick in its unfolded state, according to Apple’s specifications.
Dodd adds iStore has observed strong initial demand for Apple’s latest conventional flagship range, the iPhone 18, in SA.
iStore unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in SA on Friday, following Apple’s global unveiling earlier in the month.
Prices for the range start at R28 799 for the iPhone 18 Pro and R31 299 for the Pro Max.
The retailer has been taking pre-orders for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, with Dodd saying the initial response exceeded previous Pro Max pre-order levels.
“What I can tell you is that the early signs are very positive. So, we’ve been running our pre-orders for the last week, and those pre-orders were with the same-day delivery this morning, and it’s been our strongest pre-order for Pro and Pro Max ever. So that’s a good sign. We’ve also had a little bit more stock than we normally get, so there’s been demand in stores as well,” he states.
According to Dodd, iStore had seen customers queue at its stores following the launch, with more than 20 people outside the Sandton store and similar reports at stores elsewhere in the country.
According to Apple, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max introduce a 48MP Fusion main camera with variable aperture, giving the user manual control over aperture for the first time on an iPhone.
The company also highlights the A20 Pro chip, which it says delivers up to 40% faster GPU performance than the previous generation, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max offers up to 45 hours of video playback, six hours more than the previous Pro Max.
Apple describes the new Pro range as delivering “huge leaps in battery life and performance”, alongside its “most advanced” iPhone camera system.
For iStore, trade-ins have become an increasingly important part of how customers finance upgrades to newer iPhones.
Dodd says following the launch of the iPhone 18, the company anticipates a large number of customers will be trading in their older phones for the latest device.
According to Dodd, roughly a quarter of the phones sold by iStore have a trade-in associated with the transaction, making the programme a significant mechanism for customers looking to offset the cost of a new device.
“Our trade-in programme’s performance is really strong. We offer up to R25 000 on the previous models – this is the previous year’s model and the value goes down from there. So, you could still trade in your iPhone 13 and we’ll give you good value for that. Obviously the older it is, the less you’re going to get,” he said.
iStore’s ability to resell traded-in devices allows it to return more value to customers rather than passing the devices through an intermediary, it states.
Alongside trade-ins and cellular contracts, iStore is also expanding its own financing offering as it looks to give customers more ways to purchase Apple devices.
Dodd points out the iStore finance service allows customers to choose repayment periods of 12, 24 or 36 months, with the retailer currently rolling out the offering across its store network.
“It’s early days, so we’ve got it [iStore finance] running in 14 of our local stores now. In the next few months, we’ll extend it to all the stores. But what we like about it is it gives the customer total flexibility; they can decide what deposit they put down and they can decide what period they want to finance it over.”
