Before You Rush to Buy the iPhone Duo, Here’s Why I Chose the 18 Pro Instead

OpinionMobile Phones Before You Rush to Buy the iPhone Duo, Here's Why I Chose the 18 Pro Instead Updated Oct 11, 2026 As Apple’s first foldable phone, the Duo is intriguing, but here are eight reasons why the iPhone 18 Pro is the better choice for me and how to use my favorite features.  & Lance Whitney Contributor Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

Apple’s fall 2026 lineup is all about premium devices. It pushed the base iPhone 18 to 2027 to make room for the foldable iPhone Duo, which launches on Oct. 23. However, for those unwilling to spend $2,000+ on an entirely new form factor, Apple also released the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. I’ve been evaluating these phones as a worthy upgrade to my iPhone 16 Pro, and the Pro came out on top for several reasons. Here are the features I can’t do without. For Middle East shoppers, local stock and pricing are part of the decision, too. A UAE retailer lists the iPhone Duo, but the available regional research does not establish a matching iPhone 18 Pro price or availability in Saudi Arabia or Egypt. 1. Telephoto Camera I snap a lot of faraway photos, so I love the telephoto lens and advanced camera features on the 18 Pro. The Duo doesn’t have one, which was a deal breaker for me. Additionally, the 18 Pro’s 48-megapixel telephoto camera is a substantial improvement over the 16 Pro’s 12-megapixel version. My current phone can achieve a 5x zoom, equivalent to 120mm on a DSLR, but the 18 Pro offers an 8x zoom, equivalent to 200mm on a DSLR. (Credit: PCMag / Apple) Even at a longer zoom, the 18 Pro offers an “optical quality” setting that aims to preserve your photo’s details. Collectively, this means that the 18 Pro can capture finer, sharper pixels in a scene than you can by zooming in. I’ve already seen a huge difference in the photos I’ve taken on the 18 Pro compared with the ones I used to snap on my 16 Pro. Until the Duo gets a telephoto camera, I’ll be sticking with the Pro lineup. 2. Advanced Camera Controls The iPhone 18 Pro lineup introduces four advanced camera controls. These include manual adjustments for aperture and shutter speed, just like on a DSLR. The new and improved white balance lets you set the color temperature for your photos. Furthermore, an exposure histogram provides a visual way to ensure you’re getting the best exposure. As a photographer, I enjoy tinkering around with different settings to obtain the best shot. The Duo lacks any of these advanced controls. Here’s what you get with the 18 Pro: Variable Aperture This control lets you adjust the iris, or f-stop, of the camera. The wider the iris, the more light, but the less depth of field. The narrower the iris, the less light, but the greater the depth of field. To use the aperture control in the Camera app, line up your shot, then open the Controls menu by tapping the six-dot icon at the bottom or by swiping up from the bottom. Tap Lens Aperture, and change the setting among Auto, f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8, and f/4.0 depending on how well-lit the scene is and how much depth of field you want to achieve. (Credit: PCMag / Apple) Shutter Speed Control The shutter speed control lets you set how long the shutter should stay open. The longer the shutter is open, the more light it receives, and vice versa. A shorter shutter speed is ideal for shooting fast-moving objects, while a longer shutter speed is better suited to static scenes or to things in motion where you want to intentionally capture some blur. To try this, open the Controls menu and tap Shutter Speed. Swipe your finger on the slider to the right to increase the speed and to the left to decrease it. (Credit: PCMag / Apple) White Balance With the new White Balance control, you can choose a specific color temperature to ensure white objects look white under any lighting conditions. To use this, open the Controls menu and tap White Balance. By default, it will be set to Auto White Balance, but you can change it to Tungsten, Fluorescent, Daylight, Cloudy, or Shadow. After you select a temperature, you’ll see the value expressed in Kelvin. The higher the value, the warmer the temperature. (Credit: PCMag / Apple) Exposure Histogram The exposure histogram essentially shows you what your camera sensor is seeing rather than what you’re viewing. The goal is to help you determine the right exposure for a scene. For this, open the Controls menu and select Histogram. The small graph that appears indicates the overall exposure divided into three areas. The left side shows shadows and darker areas, the middle part shows midtones, and the right side shows highlights and brighter areas. As a rule, you want to avoid seeing high peaks on either side of the graph.Recommended by Our EditorsGalaxy Z Fold8 Ultra My FanCam: Capture First, Frame LaterThe Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra’s Biggest Camera Upgrade Isn’t 200MPYour iPhone’s Vibration Tech Cost Apple $5.7B in Damages After Patent Lawsuit (Credit: PCMag / Apple) 3. Apple Reference Image to View AI-Based Changes to a Photo With Apple Intelligence built in, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo can use three editing tools: Clean Up to erase certain elements, Extend to zoom out or adjust cropping, and Reframe to alter the image’s perspective. However, only the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max can see the original image when compared with these AI-powered modifications. To do this, open the Camera app and switch to Reference mode at the bottom. Once you’ve taken a picture and modified the image, you can tap Reference at the top to show the original image without any of the AI modifications you made. (Credit: PCMag / Apple) 4. LiDAR Scanner Like my iPhone 16 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro has a LiDAR scanner, whereas the Duo does not. Why is this important to me? I depend on the LiDAR scanner to snap photos in low light conditions, measure items with the built-in Measure app, and even play certain augmented reality (AR) games. This is just another feature I would miss if I opted for the iPhone Duo. (Credit: PCMag / Apple) 5. Action Button In 2023, Apple replaced its mute switch with the Action button, offering a way to quickly access favorite features and shortcuts. While the iPhone 18 Pro continues to offer this, the iPhone Duo does not. It’s not necessarily a deal-breaker, but it’s something that’s nice to have when you need to quickly enable a setting. To set what the Action button does, open Settings > Action Button and choose your preferred action. I tend to change the action based on where I am and what I’m doing. Some of my favorites are the flashlight, music recognition, the magnifier, and the translator. To trigger that feature, just press the Action button. (Credit: PCMag / Apple) 6. Face ID for Authentication I rely on Face ID to easily authenticate my identity when I need to unlock my phone, sign in to an app or website, or make a purchase via Apple Pay. I just couldn’t go back to Touch ID at this point with the Duo. I get that Apple couldn’t physically add Face ID to the first-gen iPhone Duo, but this limitation is a huge turnoff for me. (Credit: PCMag / Apple) 7. Compatibility With My Power Banks I’ve bought a variety of MagSafe power banks for my iPhone Pro models over the years and want to keep using them. Yes, the Duo supports MagSafe and can use power banks, but certain banks may not fit as well as they do on a standard iPhone. I’d hate to have to get rid of all my existing power banks and buy a new crop just to fit a new phone. (Credit: Lance Whitney) 8. Price Tag And my final reason for choosing an iPhone 18 Pro over the Duo is simply the price. My 18 Pro with 512GB of storage cost me $1,400. That’s high enough to pay for a smartphone. A similarly configured iPhone Duo would cost me $2,200, a cool $800 more. Thanks, but no thanks. (Credit: PCMag / Apple) iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro pricing in the UAE A Noon UAE listing shows the iPhone Duo 256GB at AED 8,499. The available research does not provide a verified UAE price for the iPhone 18 Pro, so there is no reliable local price comparison for the author’s 512GB Pro and similarly configured Duo. The $1,400 and $2,200 figures above are the author’s US prices, not UAE prices. 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About Our Expert Lance Whitney Contributor My ExperienceI’ve been working for PCMag since early 2016 writing tutorials, how-to pieces, and other articles on consumer technology. Beyond PCMag, I’ve written news stories and tutorials for a variety of other websites and publications, including CNET, ZDNet, TechRepublic, Macworld, PC World, Time, US News & World Report, and AARP Magazine. I spent seven years writing breaking news for CNET as one of the site’s East Coast reporters. I’ve also written two books for Wiley & Sons—Windows 8: Five Minutes at a Time and Teach Yourself Visually LinkedIn.

I’ve used Windows, Office, and other Microsoft products for years so I’m well versed in that world. I also know the Mac quite well. I’m always working with iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and Android on my various mobile devices. And these days, I write a lot about AI, so that’s become another key area for me.

My wife always jokes about all the tech products we have around the house, but I manage to put them to good use for my articles. I like Lenovo computers, so I own a couple of Lenovo desktops and several laptops. I have three MacBooks and a Mac mini. For my mobile life and work, I use an iPhone 16 Pro, iPad Pro, and iPad mini as well as an Apple Watch. But since I write about Android, I own several Android phones and tablets. Like any tech person, I have a cabinet full of cables, wires, and assorted mysterious gadgets. And when it’s time to take a break from writing, I have an old Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, both of which I use for exercise and fitness games.