With pre-orders for Apple’s debut foldable device, the iPhone Duo, set to open this Friday, excitement in the UAE has reached a fever pitch. Despite the handset’s base price of Dh8,499, traders in Deira’s phone market report that many dedicated fans are eager to pay a premium of up to Dh2,500 just to secure the device on its October 23 release date. This behavior mirrors past major Apple releases, where early adopters prove willing to pay significant markups to be among the first to experience a groundbreaking design shift.

Market insiders note that the primary demographic driving this demand includes existing iPhone 17 Pro Max users who deliberately bypassed the iPhone 18 Pro Max in anticipation of this foldable release. While the new Star White and Night Sky colorways are both seeing high interest, some enthusiasts are taking a more cautious approach. Long-time users like Abdul Rafique, for instance, are opting to sit this generation out due to missing features like Face ID, choosing instead to assist friends with pre-orders while waiting for a more refined, feature-packed successor expected in the coming year.