Apple Tests Face ID and Action Button for iPhone Duo, Considers Larger Display [Gurman]

Apple is testing ways to bring Face ID and an Action button to the iPhone Duo, according to Mark Gurman. Both features are missing from the first model, which goes on sale October 23.

"I'm told there are iPhone Duo 2 prototypes at Apple already," Gurman said on the Power On podcast. Those prototypes put an under-display Face ID sensor and camera on the outside screen.

Face ID could arrive with either the first or second update to the phone, so it is not certain for Duo 2. For now, the Duo uses Touch ID in its side button, accessible whether the phone is open or closed. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max have already moved more Face ID components under the display, shrinking the Dynamic Island.

The Action button is less settled. Apple has tested it internally for Duo 2, but its position on the phone is unclear and it may not make the final design. The original Duo has neither an Action button nor a mute switch, leaving users to change that setting in Control Center.

A later generation may grow a little, too. Apple has looked at adding roughly half an inch to the inner display. This would be a gradual increase to the same product, rather than a second, larger size sold alongside it. No release timetable was given for that change.

The current 7.6-inch inner display is paired with a 5.4-inch outer screen. Both share the same aspect ratio, allowing an app to keep a similar layout when the phone opens.

A telephoto camera is also on the list of possible additions, but there is no schedule for it. The problem, he believes, is fitting the lens into such a thin body rather than its cost. The first Duo reviews have already highlighted the missing zoom lens and Face ID among the compromises buyers face compared with an iPhone Pro.