Apple finally made the folding iPhone

I've always been an Apple person. iPhones from the 6 right through to whatever I'm currently on, which means most of my phone-buying life has been 'same shape, slightly better camera, more expensive.'

So the iPhone Duo actually got my attention. Closed, it's a normal-looking 5.4-inch phone. Opened, it's a 7.6-inch inner display, basically a phone that becomes a small tablet.

The interesting part isn't 'Apple made a foldable.' Samsung and others have been doing that for years, with mixed results and a lot of visible creases. What's interesting is what it means when Apple decides a category is finally ready for them.

Apple has this habit that's somewhere between annoying and genuinely impressive: let everyone else prove the concept, wait until the hinge technology and the software are actually good, then arrive and make it look obvious. They did it with wireless earbuds. They did it with the smartwatch, kind of.

What I actually want to know is whether this is the thing that makes folding phones normal, or whether it stays an expensive toy for people like me who read spec sheets for fun. There's a difference between 'Apple entered the category' and 'the category becomes mainstream,' and I don't think we know which one this is yet.

(Separately: I know there are also rumours about a smaller flip-style iPhone. Different device, different rumour, please don't conflate the two in my replies.)