Dezeen Weekly Asks: Can Apple's iPhone Duo Take Folding Phones Mainstream?

Apple has released its first folding smartphone, and the latest episode of Dezeen Weekly asks whether the device — reported by Dezeen on 9 September 2026 — will finally push folding phones into the mainstream. The phone folds to the size of a passport, according to the design publication.

The episode, published 25 September 2026, brings together three of the magazine's editors: Tom Ravenscroft, Dezeen editor; Nat Barker, features editor; and Jennifer Hahn, design editor. Their conversation opens with the iPhone Duo, Apple's entry into a category that, until now, the company had left to rivals.

The question framing the discussion is direct: "Has Apple just triggered another paradigm shift in smartphone design?" For years, folding phones have remained a niche product despite launches from other manufacturers. Apple's arrival changes the calculus. The editors debate whether the Cupertino company's brand power and industrial design record can convert a curiosity into a default purchase — the same way the original iPhone redefined what a phone could be.

The passport-sized footprint is the episode's anchor detail. When folded, the device becomes small enough to slip into a jacket pocket, addressing the bulk that has long been folding phones' central compromise. Whether that form factor, combined with Apple's market reach, is enough to move the category from early adopters to the general public is the question the editors unpack.

The second half of the episode turns to Washington DC — and to a surprising policy announcement. Donald Trump declared on 21 September 2026 that the triumphal arch planned for the capital will be, in his words, a "top grade military complex". The phrase, reported verbatim by Dezeen, signals a striking change of function for a monument type with a two-thousand-year history of commemorating victory and power.

The editors also examine reporting that the arch is intended as a base for drones and snipers. That detail transforms the project from a question of classical revivalism into one of security infrastructure, raising issues about what it means to build a defensive installation at the heart of the American capital's ceremonial landscape.

Dezeen Weekly is an original podcast in which the publication's journalists discuss the week's key design and architecture stories. The episode's artwork is by Simon Volt, and editing is by Miguel Santa Clara. Listeners can find the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Both stories will continue to develop: the iPhone Duo's commercial performance will test whether folding form factors can dominate, and the Washington arch proposal will face the scrutiny that any militarised monument in the US capital inevitably attracts.