The first foldable phone from Apple, the iPhone Duo, goes on sale in October. Before then, there are plenty of dates for your calendar. Here’s everything you need to know, with details down to the very minute.

Apple iPhone Duo Pre-Orders Date And Time

The first date to take note of is when pre-orders open, confirmed by Apple as Friday, Oct. 16. The exact time hasn’t been specified but it’s highly likely to be the same as for the iPhone 18 Pro, that is, 5 a.m. Pacific, 8 a.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. BST, the name for U.K. daylight saving time.

Demand is expected to be high, and there are rumors of limited supply at the beginning at least, so this is an important date to note.

You can get ahead of yourself right now by going to the iPhone Duo page on apple.com . Here you can pick the color you prefer (Night Sky or Star White), choose the storage level and then pick whether or not you’d like to trade in a phone, fix a payment option, choose a carrier and decide on AppleCare. Towards the base of this page, there’s a mechanism to save your choices for later, so when Oct. 16 rolls around, you’re ready to go.

Apple iPhone Duo First Reviews Appear

Apple doesn’t announce when the reviews from the key press will appear. For the iPhone 18 Pro, this was the Wednesday before the on-sale date. However, I think that was because of the keynote falling a day later than usual. Normally, iPhone reviews land on the Tuesday before the phones go on sale. That means Tuesday, Oct. 20. The timing is likely to be the same as for the recent Apple launches, that is, 5 a.m. Pacific, 8 a.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. BST.

Apple iPhone Duo Software: iOS 27.1 Release Date

Apple has already said that the foldable iPhone will come with new software, iOS 27.1, so it’s clear that the general release of that software (which Apple has withheld from public beta testing so far) will land at or before the iPhone Duo going on sale.

The fact that it isn’t available for beta release right now suggests that it has some Duo secrets up its sleeve which Apple is keeping quiet about for now, or indeed that the .1 release concerns iPhone Duo only.

Which makes me think the software will land after the first reviews (which will have access to iOS 27.1) have been published.

I think Tuesday, Oct. 20 or Wednesday, Oct. 21 are the most likely dates for the software release, which will, of course, benefit users of iOS 27-compatible devices, that is, every iPhone from the iPhone 11 onwards.

Apple iPhone Duo On-Sale Date

The big day is Friday, Oct. 23. Apple Stores will open at 8 a.m. local time, probably with lines that iPhone launches haven’t seen for years.