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Apple Isn't Revealing the iPhone Duo's Under-Screen Camera Resolution

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Hidden beneath the 7.6-inch inner screen of the foldable iPhone Duo is an under-display FaceTime camera. The long-rumored feature is a first for Apple, yet the company hasn't provided as much detail about it as the device's other cameras.

iphone-duo-under-screen-camera-scaled.jpg

For example, unlike the 12-megapixel sensor on the outer front display and the two 48-megapixel lenses on the back, Apple has not revealed the megapixel count of the under-screen camera. Apple's tech specs page for the iPhone Duo offers the following details about its capabilities:
  • Under-display FaceTime camera
  • Center Stage for video calls
  • ƒ/1.8 aperture
  • Tap to zoom and rotate
  • Ultra‑stabilized video
  • 1080p video recording at 30 or 60 fps
  • Animoji and Memoji in FaceTime
  • Wide color capture for photos and Live Photos
  • Lens correction
  • Auto image stabilization
  • QuickTake video at 1080p at 30 fps and 60 fps
  • Spatial Audio and stereo recording
  • Wind noise reduction
  • Audio Mix
Apple says the under-display camera records video at up to 1080p at 60 frames per second, compared to 4K at up to 60 fps for the outer front camera and 4K at up to 120 fps for the Main rear camera. This means the sensor is at least 2 megapixels – the minimum necessary to shoot 1080p video. However, its apparent inability to shoot 4K video may suggest it is less than 8 megapixels. Given that Apple has kept quiet, perhaps it's closer to 2 megapixels.

The under-screen camera's f/1.8 aperture is faster than the outer camera's f/2.2 aperture, which makes sense since it is probably helping to compensate for light lost through the display. Of course, Apple has not detailed the resulting trade-offs in image quality. How it affects photos and video is only likely to become clear once we get more time with the device.

According to a December 2023 report, LG Innotek was developing an under-display camera for Apple using a "freeform optic" lens array designed to reduce distortion and compensate for brightness loss. Again though, we don't know if this is the camera that made it into the iPhone Duo.

Another thing to note is that the display layer over the camera appears to lack the anti-reflective nano-texture coating found on the rest of the screen, resulting in a glossy dot. The screen also likely covers the lens with a lower density patch of pixels.

Regardless, the difference means the camera's location is less discreet than one might expect depending on the angle of ambient light. Apple even subtly acknowledges this in its marketing materials with a circular shadow on the screen, but going on the video below and the variable reflectivity, the effect can be more pronounced than the company is letting on.

Under-screen camera visibility on the iPhone Duo (video credit: Instant Digital https://t.co/teZ9DhbDkT) pic.twitter.com/tCbR81B52F— Tim Hardwick (@waxeditorial) September 10, 2026​

Video shared by Instant Digital on Weibo​

Samsung has grappled with the same issue. The Korean company previously used under-display cameras in models including the Galaxy Z Fold6, before switching to a conventional 10-megapixel punch-hole camera with the Galaxy Z Fold7. This is Apple's first attempt at under-screen camera technology, so future iterations of the Duo may be better at hiding what can appear like a small smudge or blemish in the display – depending how you look at it.

Apple says preorders for the iPhone Duo will go live at 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, October 16, with availability beginning Friday, October 23.

Article Link: Apple Isn't Revealing the iPhone Duo's Under-Screen Camera Resolution
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/09/10/iphone-duo-apple-under-display-camera-mystery/
Given it can do Center Stage, it is likely a 12MP camera, as that is what the Macs needed for Center Stage.
 
Your preferences may differ, but I clearly prefer an under-display front camera over cutouts and pinholes.

The under-display front camera, even in its current form, will be good enough for video calls. And there will be room to further improve it, using a larger and/or better sensor, better lens, sensor stabilization, etc.

For maximum-quality selfies on slab phones, the front camera in the cheap-ass way it has so far been implemented was never ideal to begin with. I'd rather have a small additional rear display, and voilà you can realistically have 48 MP vanity shots on a large sensor, plus a variety of other benefits, at really no substantial added cost (or else it would not feature on so many sub-$200 phones). 2026 and going forward, and with this annoying issue having persisted for many years now, and its long-overdue solution rumored and re-rumored, I really don't care anymore how they solve this design wart, as long as it stops being a literal hole in the display. So it's either the under-display camera, or using any of the other manifold solutions to the problem, such as miniaturizing the front lens into the in-bezel speaker slot, using an on-demand periscope, or using a rotatable back camera. Of all of these approaches, the under-display camera, potentially combined with a rear display in the future, seems the most Apple-like.

Under-display is a great step ahead. Bravo! Thank you, Apple!
 
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Paddle1 said:
The video looks like it was shot on iPhone 4.
Click to expand...
I said this a while back, that under-display cameras are terrible and haven't advanced much. I hope Apple doesn't consider one for an "all-display" iPhone".

It’s fine here, as it’s a secondary front facing camera, but it’s also not as "invisible" under the screen as you would think since the area over the camera is much lower resolution, which can be very obvious depending on what's being displayed
 
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I would expect that, unlike Android phones where they tried to put a grid in front of a high resolution CCD and say it was good, Apple dealt with the limitations physics forces and put a CCD of a low enough resolution that the display is essentially running between the pixels of the CCD, thus very low light loss on those lo res pixels. I doubt I use it often.

(And Android phones did that because it’s always a specs race, not an end quality race. No one’s going to come out with an iOS phone with better specs. )
 
sleep_to_dream said:
I said this a while back, that under-display cameras are terrible and haven't advanced much. I hope Apple doesn't consider one for an "all-display" iPhone".

It’s fine here, as it’s a secondary front facing camera, but it’s also not as "invisible" under the screen as you would think since the area over the camera is much lower resolution, which can be very obvious depending on what's being displayed
Click to expand...
Yeah, it appears the industry has come to the realization that putting things in front of the lens that impedes light getting into the lens is not good for photography. 🙂
 
dontwalkhand said:
I love when Apple just reuses ancient names like QuickTake.

Control Strip made a brief return in the touch bar MacBook pros too.
Click to expand...
Not to mention that the name Duo originally comes from a somewhat obscure line of laptops with a desktop dock used throughout the 90s. Interestingly, a Duo Dock was visible in Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment for a bunch of seasons.
 
Will not be surprised if it has a poor resolution. Hopefully next year or the year after it will be much better. Feels like too many compromises for 1st gen. Quality of main camera appears to be worse than iPhone 17, no telephoto, no FaceID and matte screen.
 
MKBHD talked about this and said the quality was not as good as the regular iPhone. Even saying that other have done the under screen tech but then moved away from it due to the poorer camera quality.
 
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Daniel Alvarez Arribas said:
Your preferences may differ, but I clearly prefer an under-display front camera over cutouts and pinholes.

The under-display front camera, even in its current form, will be good enough for video calls. And there will be room to further improve it, using a larger and/or better sensor, better lens, sensor stabilization, etc.

For maximum-quality selfies on slab phones, the front camera in the cheap-ass way it has so far been realized so far was never ideal to begin with. I'd rather have a small additional rear display, and voilà you can realistically have 48 MP vanity shots on a large sensor, plus a variety of other benefits, at really no substantial added cost (or else it would not feature on so many sub-$200 phones). 2026 and going forward, and with this annoying issue having persisted for many years now, and its long-overdue solution rumored and re-rumored, I really don't care anymore how they solve this design wart, as long as it stops being a literal hole in the display. So it's either the under-display camera, or using any of the other manifold solutions to the problem, such as miniaturizing the front lens into the in-bezel speaker slot, using an on-demand periscope, or using a rotatable back camera. Of all of these approaches, the under-display camera, potentially combined with a rear display in the future, seems the most Apple-like.

Under-display is a great step ahead. Bravo! Thank you, Apple!
Click to expand...
An under-display camera is actually not very Apple-like imo. It’s a compromise in every way, and Apple usually doesn't like compromises. Image quality is worse, and it’s still visible under the display since that area has significantly lower resolution than the rest of the display

Apple design tends to be minimalist in a form-follows-function type of way. They also like having easily recognizable designs, which is why iMac still has a chin, and the pill/notch at the top makes it recognizable as an iPhone. I doubt they'll get rid of it until they have another unique design choice to replace it that they plan to make part of the iPhone brand identity

This is why the Duo has the asymmetrically shaped front display with curves only on the right side. That was very intentional I can assure you, despite it not being the "ideal" display shape
 
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