"From 3.29 Million Won": iPhone Duo Preorders Open... Which Carrier Offers the Best Deal?

Pre-orders open at 9 p.m. on the 16th...Official launch on the 23rd
Starting at 3.29 million won...High-end models top 5 million won
Three mobile carriers offer discounts, including trade-in and partner card benefits
Limited initial supply...Pre-orders expected to be fiercely competitive

Apple's iPhone Duo will go on pre-order on the 16th and officially launch on the 23rd. As Apple's first foldable smartphone, it has drawn strong consumer interest, but its high price of more than 3 million won and limited initial supply have emerged as factors that could affect the success of pre-orders.

South Korea's three mobile carriers will begin taking pre-orders for the iPhone Duo at 9 p.m. today. Pre-orders for unlocked devices will also open on Apple's online store and major e-commerce platforms.

iPhone Duo. Apple

The iPhone Duo will start at 3.29 million won in South Korea for the 256-gigabyte (GB) storage model, making it about 1 million won more expensive than the Samsung Electronics Galaxy Z Fold8, a competing foldable smartphone, which costs 2.28 million won. The price climbs to 5.09 million won for the top-capacity model with 2 terabytes (TB) of storage.

In light of the high price, the three carriers are focusing on easing the burden on buyers through used-phone trade-in offers and benefits from partner credit cards.

SK Telecom is offering trade-in compensation for used phones, special trade-in offers through its online direct store, and discounts on installment purchases with partner credit cards. Customers who use all these benefits can receive up to 2.21 million won in savings. KT is offering benefits worth about 1.44 million won in total through partner credit-card cashback and discounts on plans and devices, while LG Uplus is offering benefits worth about 1.13 million won, including a 300,000-won device discount coupon for customers switching carriers and partner credit-card cashback.

Nevertheless, the prevailing expectation is that pre-orders starting today will sell out quickly regardless of the price. The iPhone Duo's initial supply is limited. According to technology news outlets such as 9to5Mac, the assembly yield for the iPhone Duo at Taiwan's Foxconn, which handles iPhone assembly, is reportedly in the low 60% range. This means that only about 60% of assembled iPhone Duo units pass Apple's quality checks and reach consumers.

Apple is believed to be encountering manufacturing challenges as it works through the learning curve involved in producing its first foldable smartphone. Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro together at an event last month, but the initial supply issues led it to schedule their release dates about a month apart.

The iPhone Duo is an inward-folding smartphone whose screen folds inward. When folded, its screen measures 136 mm (5.4 inches), and the device is 11.3 mm thick. When unfolded, the screen measures 193 mm (7.6 inches), and the device is 5.2 mm thick. The inner display has a 4:3 aspect ratio optimized for viewing content, and a nano-texture layer that reduces screen reflections, with a focus on minimizing the crease often cited as a weakness of foldable smartphones. The device is powered by Apple's A20 Pro chip, the same application processor (AP) used in the iPhone 18 Pro, and features a dual-camera system with two 48-megapixel cameras.

The iPhone Duo's screen opening and closing. Photo by Lee Myunghwan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.