Apple recently launched its first foldable smartphone: the iPhone Duo. As expected, the Cupertino tech giant is charging a premium for the device. But if you live in the US and think the $1,999 US starting price is a lot, think again.

Out of all the markets, the iPhone Duo is cheapest in the US. I was looking at what Apple is charging for the iPhone Duo in other countries, and the price difference across markets is staggering.

The iPhone Duo is significantly more expensive in global markets

The price gap gets harder to ignore as you look beyond North America

The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 in the US for the 256GB model. But that price looks considerably different once you compare it with Apple’s pricing in other regions.

The company uses different local prices across markets, and this year the gap seems to be widening, especially if you convert those back into US dollars using current exchange rates.

Note that the converted rates are approximate values and may be subject to change depending on the exchange rate, price fluctuations, and other factors.

Canada’s pricing is the closest to the US. In Australia, the gap grows to roughly $460. Markets such as Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, China, South Korea, the UAE, and Hong Kong all sit comfortably above the $2,000 US starting price.

Europe is more expensive still: the £1,999 UK price converts to about $2,649, while Germany and France come in at roughly $2,619 and $2,665, respectively. In India, the difference is even more noticeable, with the device priced at ₹2,99,900, which comes to around $3,130, or more than $1,100 above the US price.

The device is most expensive in Türkiye and Brazil. In Türkiye, the iPhone Duo will cost you $4,709 (TRY 229,999), while users in Brazil would need to pay $4,236. (R$21,999), both of which are more than double the US starting price.

While still expensive in the US, the price disparity is what makes Apple’s US pricing so interesting, especially when users in some other regions need to pay up to double the amount.

The US price still isn’t the whole story

State taxes can affect prices

It is important to note that the mentioned US price is a pre-tax sticker price. The final amount you pay will depend on the sales tax in the state where you purchase the smartphone, and the same could be true for other markets.

So it would be wrong to assume everyone in the US universally pays $1,999. Still, the underlying gap is hard to ignore. Even after considering the ways different countries handle taxes, Apple’s regional pricing shows that the US starting point is considerably below the listed price in other markets.

The interesting part is that Apple isn’t selling completely different hardware in each country. The fundamental device remains the same, yet prices are wildly incoherent.

The iPhone Duo is the biggest redesign in years

The device packs two screens and four cameras

Credit: Apple

While the iPhone Duo is the company’s first take on the technology, it seems to be highly refined with competent hardware and well-tuned software. The device comes with a 7.6-inch (1878 x 2670 pixels) internal screen and a 5.4-inch (1398 x 2034 pixels) outer display. Both screens are OLED, support adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz, HDR, and 3,000 nits of peak brightness.

The iPhone Duo runs on Apple’s A20 Pro chip with a six-core CPU, a seven-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a dual 16-core Neural Engine. You get support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and Apple Intelligence, including the new Siri AI.

As for cameras, the foldable smartphone packs a 48MP primary camera with an f/1.6 aperture and sensor-shift optical image stabilization. You also get a 48MP ultra-wide shooter with an f/2.2 lens. On the outer display, the smartphone packs a 12MP selfie shooter with an f/2.2 aperture, and the inner screen gets an under-display camera with an f/1.8 aperture. The phone uses a dual-battery design and is rated for up to 24 hours of typical use.

The device is 5.2mm thick when open and 11.3mm when folded and weighs 254 grams. It uses a titanium frame and hinge cover, while Apple has also added Ceramic Shield 2 to the front. The iPhone Duo is available with 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB of storage and comes with IP68 certification for added water and dust resistance.

The iPhone Duo’s US price makes more sense in context

The iPhone Duo is expensive, but the global pricing difference gives the $1,999 starting price in the US a new perspective. The US is essentially getting Apple’s first foldable at the lowest listed price among the major markets. With several countries paying hundreds more, and a few paying more than twice the US price, the $1,999 figure starts to look comparatively reasonable.