Apple's $2,000 Folding iPhone Duo Gets Apple Pencil Support in iOS 27.2

The iPhone Duo, Apple's $2,000 folding phone, gained official Apple Pencil support this week through the iOS 27.2 update. The Duo is the first iPhone to accept the stylus at all. That single software change turns a heavy, chunky device into a plausible stand-in for a $20 notebook, according to a hands-on account published by The Verge and photographed by Allison Johnson.

The Verge's reviewer, who previously produced a 26-minute video review of the device, reports that the new form factor enables genuinely different use cases. The Duo can serve as a vintage Hasselblad-style camera with a waist-level viewfinder. It can act as a book-shaped e-reader. With the Pencil, it can now be a notebook.

Which Pencil works, and what it lacks

The supported accessory is the USB-C Apple Pencil. It carries no pressure sensitivity. Users do retain the "scribble" feature, which converts handwriting into text automatically in apps such as Messages and Safari, matching the iPad experience. The reviewer describes doodling and handwritten notes as genuinely fun even with the basic stylus, and let a five-year-old loose on a blank note. The phone survived.

What does the Notes app add?

Notes is where the Pencil performs best, and few third-party apps are ready for the new stylus support. Handwriting in Notes enables an auto-refine feature that neatens writing while preserving its characteristics. Apple shipped this capability on the iPad in 2024. On the Duo's comparatively small screens, the reviewer calls it particularly useful.

The feature has limits. It misread a "u" as an "o" in one instance. Refinement also runs after a short pause, which could disrupt a flow state. Even so, the reviewer rates it a useful middle ground between raw scribbles and full handwriting-to-text conversion, and handy for tasks like a grocery list.

A large Notes homescreen widget partly turned the phone into a notebook but looked poor. The reviewer then found TypeDraw, a $4.99 one-time-purchase app optimized for the Duo.

• Turns the cover screen into the front of a notebook.
• Flips pages via a swipe on the cover or by opening the phone.
• Builds a table of contents automatically from note headings.
• Limited to one notebook, with no tags or links between notes, unlike Bear.
• Features a stretchable "elastic" on the cover with haptic feedback.

The reviewer reports zero regrets about the five dollars spent.

How does the hardware feel?

The matte finish on the inner display gives the Pencil slight resistance, which the reviewer finds more satisfying than the "lifeless plastic-on-glass" feel of writing on the cover screen. It does not match a Remarkable tablet. The Pencil also attaches magnetically to the Duo's hinge when the phone is closed. The stylus is longer than the phone, making the fit awkward, but the pairing works for carrying both around a house.

Does a $2,000 phone fix attention habits?

The reviewer built a minimalist home and lock screen oriented toward creating rather than consuming, and set a shortcut to launch TypeDraw on opening the inner screen. The conclusion is measured. Most tasks need only Spotlight Search, Control Center, or Siri, and the familiar app grid serves mostly as emotional support.

The piece opens with an admitted pattern: every new notebook promises changed habits and ends in a graveyard on the desk corner. The reviewer cites a David Sedaris line from a MasterClass: "Inspiration can strike at any moment, and you have to be ready." The shiny new thing, the reviewer concludes, eventually fades into the background, and nobody needs a $2,000 phone to reevaluate a homescreen. The second generation, per the original review's verdict, remains the version worth waiting for.