The hinge for Apple’s new foldable phone was built with AI
Apple has introduced its first foldable smartphone, the Duo, featuring a hinge engineered with AI algorithms and 3D printing technology. The company claims these manufacturing techniques, combined with a custom nano-texture finish, will address common durability issues found in foldable devices.
Why it matters
This marks Apple's entry into the competitive foldable phone market, signaling a potential shift in industry standards for device durability and manufacturing precision.
Apple’s long-awaited foldable phone, the Duo, contains a number of surprises, including a critical hinge that was designed and built with the help of AI and 3D printing.
The new phone represents Apple’s first entry into the foldable phone genre — a category of devices that has seen significant consumer enthusiasm, but whose form factors haven’t always lived up to that enthusiasm. As you might expect from a product that, by design, undergoes twice as much wear as a traditional device, most foldables suffer significant degradation and don’t have the durability of other smartphones.
Apple claims that it has integrated innovative protections into the Duo’s design to keep the phone from falling prey to the typical wear and tear associated with foldables. That includes the hinge, according to Johny Srouji, the company’s chief hardware officer.
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