This Is My Last

iPhone Duo? Or, Perhaps, iPhone + iPad?

Do you want an iPhone Duo?

The iPhone Duo is one device in one of your pocket. You have the flexibility of either using the small screen or the big screen, all day long. You have one big (logical) battery that you can use the electrons whichever way you fancy all day. There is no need to wait for data to sync across different devices. And we all know there isn't a button to force iCloud to do its job.

Apple doesn't sell iPhone minis anymore, So if you really want a small screen, you'll want the iPhone Duo's outer screen. As a bonus, if you want a smaller iPad screen than the iPad mini, you'll also want the iPhone Duo's inner screen.

And, of course, the iPhone Duo is one heck of a status symbol.

Or maybe stick with an iPhone + an iPad?

Well, for starters, you get to upgrade both of them at their own paces, whether because you are lusting for the new features, or if you break one of the devices. You'll also get more cameras, except you will not get any underneath a screen. And Face IDs, of course.

Personally, I am also not sure about the longevity of the new iOS-for-Duo. Apple seems to be trying out a bunch of new user interfaces for iPhone Duo, such as moving the Dock and buttons to the side of the screen. None of these new stuff came from iPadOS, which have bigger screens all along. Why invent new user interfaces, especially multi-tasking ones, for iPadOS, and then throw them all away and re-invent something completely different for the iPhone Duo?

Maybe the new interfaces are great, and will migrate to iPadOS in the next couple of years. But it also seem plausible that the iPadOS will win out, and we will see some changes with the iPhone Duo soon. There is a third option: Apple will stop selling the iPad mini, and iOS will be redefined for any screen below the iPad mini's screen, and iPadOS for any screens above.

It certainly seems to me we may have an Apple Watch situation here, where Apple didn't find out what the new devices need to be yet.

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