Apple Launches iPhone Duo With USB-C Pencil Support, Pressuring Samsung After Fold 8 Dropped Stylus
Updated
Updated · 9to5Google · Sep 21
Apple Launches iPhone Duo With USB-C Pencil Support, Pressuring Samsung After Fold 8 Dropped Stylus
3 articles · Updated · 9to5Google · Sep 21
Summary
Apple’s new iPhone Duo will support the USB-C Apple Pencil, giving its foldable a stylus option that Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra currently lack.
Bloomberg reported Apple had planned a smaller dedicated Pencil that would magnetically attach to the Duo’s hinge, but scrapped it after technical problems emerged before mass production.
That fallback is not ready at launch: Apple still needs a software update to enable USB-C Pencil support, and the feature is not expected until fairly late in 2026.
Samsung removed S Pen support starting with the Z Fold 7 to make its foldables thinner, because the traditional stylus requires an extra display layer that adds thickness and weight.
Apple’s move, alongside stylus support from other Android foldables, increases pressure on Samsung to restore pen input in a future Galaxy Z Fold 9.