Apple is finally bringing its first foldable iPhone to South Africa. The iPhone Duo is expected to appeal to buyers at the top end of the smartphone market when it launches locally in the coming weeks, and iStore is confident it will attract premium customers.
The device is expected to carry a price tag above R50 000 in South Africa, even though iStore has not yet released official local pricing.
Talk on social media about Apple entering the foldable space reflects years of speculation from local consumers. Media reports about Apple’s long development process for the device highlighted the technical complexity of building a durable foldable, including engineering and manufacturing hurdles. According to Reuters, Apple ran into problems during engineering testing that could have held up production.
Chris Dodd, CEO of iStore South Africa, told ITWeb that the iPhone Duo will open an entirely new category for Apple, although its steep price is likely to shrink the pool of potential buyers.
South Africa’s fiercely contested smartphone market is widely seen as price-sensitive, but Dodd points out that appetite for high-end devices is growing, with premium segment customers increasingly looking for unique features in their phones.
When asked who is likely to buy the iPhone Duo, Dodd said it will probably not be younger consumers, mainly because of affordability. He added that it will be interesting to see where most of the demand comes from, and he does not want to prejudge it before the device arrives, but based on affordability, the typical buyer is likely to be a slightly older customer.
According to Apple, the iPhone Duo features a 7.6-inch internal display when opened and a 5.4-inch external display when closed. It runs on Apple’s A20 Pro chip with iOS 27, and the design focuses on different orientations and multitasking use cases. Apple is highlighting side-by-side applications, hands-free FaceTime, and flexible viewing angles.
Dodd could not confirm the local launch date, but Apple’s South African website lists 23 October as the availability date for the iPhone Duo in South Africa and across 70 countries and regions. Pre-orders open on 16 October through iStore and other selected channels.
Storage options range from 256GB to 2TB, according to iStore. Apple says the device weighs 254g when open and measures just 5.2mm thick in its unfolded state.
Strong early demand for iPhone 18
Dodd also shared that iStore has seen strong initial demand for Apple’s latest conventional flagship range, the iPhone 18, in South Africa.
iStore launched the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max locally on Friday, after Apple’s global unveiling earlier in the month. Pricing for the range starts at R28 799 for the iPhone 18 Pro and R31 299 for the Pro Max.
The retailer has been taking pre-orders for both models, and Dodd said the early response has surpassed previous Pro Max pre-order records.
He explained that the early signs are very positive, with pre-orders running over the past week and same-day delivery on launch morning. It turned out to be their strongest pre-order period for Pro and Pro Max models ever. iStore also had slightly more stock than usual, so stores saw plenty of walk-in demand as well.
Dodd said customers queued at iStore locations after the launch, with more than 20 people lined up outside the Sandton store and similar scenes reported at stores around the country.
According to Apple, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max introduce a 48MP Fusion main camera with variable aperture, giving users manual aperture control for the first time on an iPhone.
The company is also highlighting the A20 Pro chip, which it says delivers up to 40% faster GPU performance than the previous generation. The iPhone 18 Pro Max offers up to 45 hours of video playback, six hours more than the previous Pro Max.
Apple describes the new Pro range as delivering huge leaps in battery life and performance, paired with its most advanced iPhone camera system to date.
Trade-ins and financing drive upgrades
For iStore, trade-ins have become an increasingly important way for customers to afford upgrades to newer iPhones.
Dodd said that after the iPhone 18 launch, the company expects a large number of customers to trade in their older phones for the latest device. Roughly a quarter of phones sold by iStore involve a trade-in, making the programme a key tool for customers trying to offset the cost of a new phone.
He said the trade-in programme is performing really well, with iStore offering up to R25 000 for previous-year models, with values decreasing for older devices. Customers can still trade in an iPhone 13 and get good value, although the older the phone, the less it will fetch.
iStore says its ability to resell traded-in devices directly allows it to pass more value back to customers instead of routing devices through an intermediary.
Alongside trade-ins and cellular contracts, iStore is also growing its own financing option to give customers more ways to buy Apple devices. The iStore finance service lets customers choose repayment periods of 12, 24, or 36 months, and the retailer is currently rolling the offering out across its store network.
Dodd said it is early days, with the service now running in 14 local stores, and plans to extend it to all stores in the coming months. What he likes about it, he said, is that it gives customers total flexibility to decide on their deposit and their financing period.
