Ever since the iPhone 17 series, Apple has introduced vapor chamber cooling technology to its iPhones. The iPhone Duo is no exception. But it turns out that Apple actually came up with a slightly different solution to deal with the thickness of the phone when it is folded shut. This includes taking advantage of the iPhone Duo hinge for cooling. Here’s how it works.
Apple is using the iPhone Duo hinge for cooling
Speaking to Dan Murray, Apple’s vice president of silicon engineering, and Banafsheh Barabadi, the company’s senior manager of thermal product design in an exclusive interview, the folks at PCMag uncovered additional details about the design of Apple’s new iPhones. This includes the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the iPhone Duo and discovered how the hinge was used in cooling the phone.
Now, the hinges in foldables are largely there to help the phone open and close. Depending on the design, it can also affect the overall visibility of the crease. But Apple went one step further by leveraging the hardware to help with thermals.
According to the report, the vapor chamber in the iPhone Duo is slightly different in the sense that it is thinner to accommodate the thinner body of the phone when it is unfolded. However, when folded shut, the phone becomes thicker which creates a thermal problem.
So in order to address that, Apple routed a flexible graphite pipe through the hinge. This allows the heat to transfer between both halves of the phone. Ultimately, it increases the surface area for heat dissipation.
According to Barabadi, “This was one of the most technically challenging aspects of our design. This part need[ed] to be co-engineered between our thermal team and the mechanical team. It’s a flexible material that needs to survive, as you can imagine, many hinge cycles while maintaining its thermal connectivity, and also its structural integrity throughout the product life cycle.”
Only time will tell
Honestly, based on that report it actually sounds like an ingenious feat of engineering. But of course, things can sound good on paper. Whether it actually holds up in real-world usage remains to be seen.
This is because after the iPhone Duo’s announcement, Apple gave some creators an exclusive hands-on experience with the phone. In one creator’s tests, he found that the phone got incredibly hot while shooting 4K video. It was speculated that maybe it’s because of unfinished software. The alternative is that the vapor chamber isn’t working as well as it should.
Either way, with the iPhone Duo set for a release next Friday, we should have our answers soon enough.
The post iPhone Duo’s Hinge Has a Second Job: Keeping the Phone Cool appeared first on Android Headlines.
