Customers try out the new iPhone Duo at a Apple Store in Shanghai on October 25, 2026. Photo: VCG

Recently, two flagship additions to Apple's product lineup - the iPhone 18 Pro series and its first foldable model, the iPhone Duo - have triggered a tidal wave of user complaints. Within days of its launch, the iPhone Duo suffered widespread reports of stiff hinges, inner screen cracks along the fold, and display problems. 

Meanwhile, the iPhone 18 Pro Max experienced cellular failures that rendered users unable to place calls, with no immediate fix available. This concentrated surge of quality-control controversies has dealt a rare blow to the global reputational standing of a tech giant long associated with premium quality and reliable user experience.

As speculation mounted over these quality lapses, a Foxconn employee leaked to the media that during the critical crunch period for the iPhone Duo's initial rollout, Apple temporarily relaxed certain quality inspection standards to meet launch demand. Similarly, the sudden "panic full" reboots recently plaguing the iPhone 18 Pro series were linked directly to Apple's decision to drastically compress internal OS testing cycles in a bid to chase the on-device AI trend.

While these claims remain unverified by relevant parties, a broader consensus has emerged: the pioneering spirit that once defined industry standards and led technological iterations has now been supplanted by a path characterized by "heavy marketing, light innovation" and a rigid adherence to its own product cycle. 

The hastily released iPhone Duo even falls far behind market competitors - whose foldable lineups have already evolved across multiple generations - in foundational experience such as hinge engineering and crease mitigation. While Apple pushes flagship pricing to record highs, it continues to undercut the baseline of fundamental user experience. In doing so, the trust it once earned through "precision" and "reliability" is being eroded by short-term pursuits of rushing schedules, driving sales, and safeguarding profit margins.

Viewed through the broader lens of the global industrial landscape, Apple's recent trajectory mirrors the growth dilemmas shared by many Western tech titans. Rather than committing core resources to long-term R&D, these enterprises have turned to shortcuts - using marketing concepts to command premiums, supply chain efficiencies to squeeze costs, and brand inertia to sustain sales volume. 

While publicly championing their position at the pinnacle of high-end innovation, they quietly lower quality control baselines on the factory floor, passing the costs of technological trial and error onto global consumers and supply chain partners. The disillusionment among consumers regarding Apple's "innovation myth" is unfolding against this very backdrop.

The gravity center of innovation in the global consumer electronics industry has shifted. In foldable smartphones, for instance, Chinese players such as Huawei, Honor, OPPO, and vivo have leveraged complete supply-chain ecosystems and vast domestic application scenarios to complete dozens of process iterations over several years. 

The very pitfalls now plaguing the iPhone Duo - hinge mechanics, crease integrity, and software adaptation - were hurdles that Chinese firms also encountered. Yet, through relentless trial, error, and innovation, Chinese enterprises have accumulated extensive deployment expertise, raising yield rates and operational stability for foldables to new heights. 

This long-term commitment, rooted on the front lines of manufacturing and centered on real-world user experience, represents precisely the capability now missing among certain traditional global giants.

Today's global high-tech industry has outgrown the era when one-trick ponies can secure an indefinite market lead. Only those participants who genuinely respect industrial laws, uphold quality control baselines, and deliver grounded innovations will prevail in intense global competition. This is a lesson that the likes of Apple must take to heart, as well as a shared imperative facing all global industry players.