iPhone Duo is here: Apple’s first foldable phone lands in UAE today, but late orders won’t arrive until January 2027

Dubai: Today, the UAE markets are witnessing the delivery of the first version of the foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, through Apple outlets and electronic device stores. Customers who completed the pre-order process will be the first to receive the devices. Apple outlets in the country, along with electronics stores and the two major telecommunications service providers in UAE, made pre-orders available for the phone, starting from October 16, amid a large demand from consumers for the device. However, consumers said that they were surprised when they tried to reserve the phone during the last few days through Apple's official website in the UAE, to find that January 22, 2027 was set as the delivery date for a number of device models. They considered the waiting period to be relatively long. For their part, two officials in the electronics trade sector said that local markets have witnessed a surge in demand for pre-ordering the phone, given that it is the first foldable iPhone release, noting that this demand may lead to delays in delivery dates for some consumers who were late in making reservations, or were unable to complete them during the initial period of opening the pre-order. The iPhone Duo starts at AED8,499 in the UAE for the 256GB version, while it reaches AED13,599 for the 2TB version. Specifically, consumer Ahmed Ali said that he tried during the last few days to reserve the new iPhone Duo from Apple through the company’s official store, but he was surprised that the shipping and delivery dates specified for the device would be on January 2027, which means waiting a longer period to get the phone. Consumer Mazen Emad also confirmed that when he finally tried to reserve the phone through the company's store website in the UAE, he discovered that the available delivery dates extend to January 2027, noting that these dates are relatively long for consumers who want to get the phone within a short period of time after completing the reservation process. For his part, consumer Samer Hassan said that he and his wife tried to reserve an iPhone Duo during the past two days, but he was surprised that the official Apple store in the country had set January 2027 as the date for delivering a number of devices, noting that the long waiting period prompted them to cancel the reservation, as they did not want to wait until the specified date to get the phone. For his part, Vikas Nilesh, a sales manager at an electronics store, stated that pre-orders for the new iPhone Duo have seen a wide turnout from consumers of various nationalities, which may naturally lead to delays in the delivery dates of some devices, especially for consumers who were unable to complete the pre-orders during the first phase, when the pre-order was opened. Dilip Ashwin, a sales manager at an electronics store, confirmed that local markets have witnessed a remarkable turnout from consumers for pre-orders of the new foldable iPhone models, given that they are the first of their kind. He said that consumers who completed their pre-orders early would receive their devices today, while deliveries to consumers who made their reservations late were expected to be delayed.