iPhone Duo 2 Face ID is already in testing, a day before Duo ships

The report comes from Gurman’s Power On podcast, not from Apple, so treat it as unconfirmed. According to Gurman, hiding Face ID beneath the screen is an active project inside Apple, and prototypes of the second Duo already have the sensor and camera beneath the outer display.

He was careful not to promise anything. Apple hasn’t locked in whether the feature will make the next model, which is expected next fall. Gurman’s own guess is that the switch from Touch ID back to Face ID happens with the first or second update, somewhere in the next two to three years.

He also said Apple staff have looked at adding the Action button, the customizable shortcut key Apple introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro, to a future Duo. He sounded less sure about that one.

This builds on what Gurman said in September, when he predicted that smaller parts and AI advances could bring Face ID and a dedicated telephoto camera to the Duo by its third generation. Prototypes in testing now suggest the timeline could be moving up.

The short version: there wasn’t room. Face ID needs a cluster of depth-sensing parts, and the Duo’s body is extremely thin. Fitting those parts behind a screen that folds left very little space.

There’s a design reason too. The Duo gets used folded and unfolded, in different orientations. To make face unlock work everywhere, Apple would likely have needed sensors for both the inner and outer screens, which would have added cost to a phone that’s already about $2,000. Apple wanted both screens to behave the same, so putting Face ID on one and not the other was unlikely.

So Apple did what most foldable makers already do and put a fingerprint sensor in the power button, the same setup used on most iPads. It’s the first time an iPhone has used Touch ID since the 2022 iPhone SE. Reviews say it’s accurate but can be a touch slower to unlock than you’d expect.

That’s a bigger adjustment than it sounds. Most iPhone owners have unlocked their phones by looking at them since the iPhone X dropped the home button almost a decade ago. Muscle memory built over years of glancing at a screen doesn’t switch off overnight, which is why the complaint keeps coming up in reviews.

Apple has been shrinking Face ID one step at a time, and you can already see the progress. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max moved the infrared camera, one of the Face ID parts, under the display, which made the Dynamic Island cutout smaller. The first Duo also has Apple’s first under-display camera.

The next step would be hiding the rest of the system, including the flood illuminator (the part that lights your face with invisible light so it works in the dark), behind the screen as well. That’s the same trick rumored for Apple’s 20th-anniversary iPhone, which is also tipped for under-display Face ID next year. If Apple gets it working on one phone, it makes sense to bring it to both.

One open question is what happens to the fingerprint reader. Apple could drop Touch ID entirely or keep both, letting you use your face on the outer screen and your thumb when the phone is open. Nobody has reported which way Apple is leaning.

For most buyers, this report shouldn’t change much. Here’s a simple way to think about it:

• Buy now if you want a big folding iPhone and you’re fine pressing a button to unlock. Plenty of iPad and Android foldable owners use side-button fingerprint readers every day without complaint.
• Consider waiting if face unlock is a big part of how you use your phone, for example glancing at it on a desk, using it with gloves on, or relying on it for apps and payments without touching anything.
• Remember the risk of waiting: the feature is still in testing and could slip to the iPhone Duo 3. Waiting a year doesn’t guarantee you get it.

Getting one right away won’t be easy anyway. Strong preorders have already pushed Canadian delivery estimates into February 2027, and Apple has reportedly raised Duo production targets by 44% to keep up.