Apple has built the biggest display ever put inside an iPhone. Its $2,000 foldable goes wide rather than tall, just like the Galaxy Z Fold 8. But this has caused a new problem with thumbs. The iPhone Duo debuted with a 7.6-inch foldable screen, and it seems an accessibility feature won’t be ready on day one.
According to WIRED’s Julian Chokkattu, Apple plans to add Reachability later this year, specifically to make the Duo’s left and right edges easier to access for people with smaller hands.
Reachability is learning to move sideways
On a regular iPhone, Reachability is designed around height. Turn it on under Settings > Accessibility > Touch, swipe downward along the bottom edge, and iOS moves the upper half of the interface closer to your thumb. Apple has offered that behavior for years as phones have grown taller.
But the problem with the passport-like iPhone Duo is the width. Apple’s upcoming implementation will let users more easily access the left or right edges of the display with a tap. Apple hasn’t detailed the exact interface publicly yet.
This makes sense given the hardware. Apple says the open Duo offers 50% more display area than an iPhone 18 Pro Max, while even the compact outer screen delivers 90% of the screen area of an iPhone 18 Pro. So we might see the feature appear for both the inner and outer displays.
The Duo’s software still has some maturing to do
The timing also reinforces something we’re already seeing from early reviews: Apple’s foldable hardware may be polished, while iOS is still learning what to do with all that extra width. Reachability won’t fundamentally change that software experience. It should make basic functionality much more intuitive.
There’s no precise release date yet beyond later this year.
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