Apple's first foldable goes on sale tomorrow, and its second-generation model is already alive inside the company. Mark Gurman reports on his Power On podcast that iPhone Duo 2 prototypes inside Apple include Face ID, with the sensor integrated beneath the display on the outer screen, according to 9to5Mac.

That's a telling about-face on the most criticized part of the first Duo. With the phone's enclosure too thin to house the depth-sensing hardware, Apple swapped Face ID for a Touch ID fingerprint sensor in the side button — and reviewers noticed. 9to5Mac's Chance Miller called the switch "the hardest thing to get used to" on the new foldable. The new report says Apple isn't waiting long to fix it: under-display Face ID, already shipping in subtler form on the iPhone 18 Pro, is the obvious path to a notchless foldable, and Duo 2 prototypes are already testing it.

But this is prototype news, not a product plan. Gurman is clear that testing doesn't equal shipping — the feature could just as easily slip to Duo 3, and it's unclear whether Apple would keep side-button Touch ID alongside Face ID so users can authenticate with the phone open or closed. Gurman also says Apple employees have explored adding an Action button to a next-generation Duo, though he sounds less confident about that one actually materializing.

Further out, Gurman added details on a third-generation model, which he'd previously reported could be slightly larger. The inner display would grow by "roughly half an inch" — high sevens or very low eights versus today's 7.6 inches — and a dedicated telephoto camera is "on their list," though Gurman calls the lens a physics problem rather than a cost one: there's simply not enough depth in a foldable this thin.

The read between the lines: pre-order demand is strong enough that Apple is already accelerating its foldable roadmap, and the sequel list reads like a direct response to the launch reviews. Nothing about a 2027 Duo is locked, so nobody standing in line Friday should walk away over this — a prototype a year out is a promise, not a product. But if Touch ID was your biggest hesitation, patience might pay off. Watch whether a later report moves Face ID from "testing" to "design locked" — that's the signal a face-unlock Duo is real.

— via 9to5Mac