Apple's first foldable, the $1,999 iPhone Duo, is sold out, and the company says it has no idea when that will change. "iPhone Duo is constrained as of today," executives told Reuters, adding it is "really hard to predict when supply and demand will be in balance."

Pre-orders sold out within an hour on October 16, and anyone ordering now faces delivery estimates stretching into January 2027 — far outside the days-long waits typical of a major iPhone launch. Store inventory remains thin, with units reserved online rather than sold walk-in.

The Duo was called the "most transformational iPhone since the original" by CEO John Ternus, yet even a $2,000 price tag and reports of cracking screens have not slowed demand.

Yahoo Tech reports the backlog is tied directly to the global memory shortage dubbed "RAMageddon," driven by AI data centers from OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta devouring RAM supply.

Ternus called current memory pricing "unprecedented," and the hinge has been identified as the production bottleneck holding back the manufacturing ramp.

Some early buyers are seeing bright lines and cracks develop around the inner screen and hinge area, where the folding mechanism places repeated stress on the panel.

Apple has confirmed the issue affects a small number of units and is directing affected owners to contact AppleCare for replacement, but no recall has been announced and the root cause remains under evaluation.

Ternus put display-related returns at "a very small percentage" of units — an Apple estimate with no number attached, so buyers still have no independent data on the risk.

Apple's September quarter delivered a record $114.5 billion in revenue, up 12% year over year, with iPhone revenue at $57.6 billion and Services at an all-time high — yet none of those figures include a single iPhone Duo sale, because the device launched after the quarter closed on September 26.

Pasquale Pillitteri reports net income hit $30.7 billion, a September-quarter record, while gross margin of 47.9% is expected to slide to 45-46% next quarter as memory costs bite. The stock slid about 4% during the analyst call before narrowing to 2%.

For buyers, the delivery estimate at checkout is the most reliable indicator of wait time, with January the current window and timelines varying by model and configuration. Owners with cracked inner displays should contact AppleCare, the only replacement path Apple has announced.

Beyond the Duo, memory costs are already limiting Mac and iPad supply in the holiday quarter, and Apple has raised prices twice this year — Macs and iPads in June, the iPhone 17 by $100 in September — leaving open the question of further increases once its inventory buffer runs down.