The hinge for Apple’s new foldable phone was built with AI
TechCrunch Lucas Ropek ● Covered by 6 sources
Apple’s foldable Duo has a hinge built with AI and 3D printing. Apple says that should help fix the durability problem that haunts foldables.
Based on reporting by TechCrunch, Lucas Ropek — read the original for the full story.
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Apple finally has a foldable phone, and the detail that stands out is the hinge. The Duo is the company’s first entry into the foldable category, and Apple says the hinge was designed and built with help from AI and 3D printing.
That matters because foldables live a rough life. They open and close over and over, which means more wear than a обычный smartphone gets. Apple’s pitch is that the Duo has been built to fight the usual degradation that has dogged the category.
Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer, said the manufacturing process uses AI algorithms to match each hinge with a best-fit housing for alignment. He also said a confocal laser scans the topology of every unit, and 3D printing adds up to 25 micro layers of a custom photopolymer to remove residual waviness.
Apple also says the Duo has a custom nano-texture finish to cut glare and reflections, plus a multi-layer lamination strategy meant to improve durability. That is a lot of engineering for a phone hinge, but then foldables have a habit of turning small mechanical weaknesses into very public problems.
The real test is still ahead. Apple can stack up the protective tricks, but whether the Duo stays in good shape over time is the part nobody can prove on stage.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
Apple is doing what Apple does best: turning a known hardware headache into a polished demo and calling it progress. The AI angle is almost beside the point; the bigger story is that foldables still need a lot of expensive engineering just to avoid embarrassing themselves. Closed systems love to talk about elegance right up until the hinge shows up and ruins the mood.
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