Crowds packed the sidewalks outside Apple’s Fifth Avenue store before sunrise on Friday, Oct 23, 2026, as the iPhone Duo reached stores and went on sale online around the world. A video circulating online showed a “massive queue” outside the glass-cube flagship as early as 4:15 a.m. By 10 a.m., the store was reportedly out of stock for walk-ins, and buyers without a prior order were turned away.
The phone is Apple’s first foldable iPhone. The New York Post, Deccan Herald and Firstpost covered the launch-day rush, and Apple’s own Newsroom published launch-day materials for the handset.
The Oct 23 launch put the phone on sale online and in Apple stores around the world on the same day. The New York lines formed as the first US customers got their hands on the folding handset.
iPhone Duo lines formed before dawn in Manhattan
The Fifth Avenue crowd gathered hours before the store began its first sales of the day. Videos showed the line stretching along the sidewalk outside the glass cube in the pre-dawn dark, with buyers waiting to purchase one of the first units sold in New York.
The glass-cube store on Fifth Avenue is Apple’s flagship in New York City, and its launch-day lines drew coverage from multiple outlets beyond the Post. The early turnout set the tone for a launch day defined by long waits and fast-selling stock.
The World Trade Center store saw a similar rush. Employees there started taking orders at 6 a.m., with about 200 people already waiting in line, according to the New York Post.
The lines followed a pre-order period that opened Oct 16. Some iPhone Duo configurations slipped to January 2027 delivery dates during the pre-order window, the Post reported, a wait stretching past the holiday season.
iPhone Duo resale listings reached $10,000 on eBay
Resellers moved quickly. eBay listings for the iPhone Duo climbed as high as $10,000 on launch day. One listing for a 2TB Night Sky model hit that figure, and another was listed at $8,000, over three times the $3,199 purchase price.
The priciest listings centered on high-storage models. The $10,000 eBay listing was for a 2TB Night Sky unit, the largest storage configuration named in the launch-day resale reports. A separate buyer paid $5,200 for a Star White 1TB model with overnight shipping, while a New York Craigslist reseller listed a phone at $7,999, according to the Post.
The resale market had warmed up before launch day. Similar near-$10,000 listings appeared when pre-orders opened Oct 16, the Post reported.
The iPhone Duo markups reflect a familiar launch-day pattern: short early supply meets buyers unwilling to wait months for a delayed configuration. With January 2027 dates on some pre-order configurations, the resale market became the fastest path to the phone for shoppers who missed the first wave.
At $3,199, the purchase price is the baseline every resale listing is measured against. The $10,000 eBay listing asked more than three times that amount. The $8,000 listing and the $7,999 Craigslist asking price each came in at roughly two and a half times retail, while the completed $5,200 sale for the Star White 1TB model with overnight shipping still cleared the purchase price by $2,001.
iPhone Duo specs: biggest iPhone display yet
The 7.6-inch inner display is the largest Apple has ever put on an iPhone. It pairs with a 5.4-inch outer screen, giving the iPhone Duo two usable displays in a single folding device.
The handset uses a grade-5 titanium build and runs on the A20 Pro chip. It is eSIM-only, with no physical SIM tray.
Apple lists the 7.6-inch inner display as its largest ever on an iPhone, a headline specification for the company’s first folding handset.
This site has covered the iPhone Duo across eight earlier posts. The Oct 23 in-store launch and the resale frenzy are a new event angle, distinct from the Oct 16 pre-order sellout covered previously.
Some pre-order configurations still show January 2027 shipping dates, the Post reported.