Apple's first foldable iPhone case costs $149 — and customers aren't happy

A case for the iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable iPhone [Apple]

"200,000 won for just a case — way too expensive."

Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, has already drawn attention for its steep starting price of 3.29 million won ($2,460), and now its dedicated cases are adding to the sticker shock, with prices reaching the 200,000-won range.

That is roughly double the price of an official case for Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Z Fold8.

According to Apple, the iPhone Duo kickstand case is priced at 199,000 won in South Korea. The standard iPhone Duo case without a kickstand costs 119,000 won.

News that the cases alone cost close to 200,000 won has sparked a wave of customer complaints about Apple's pricing policy. "It's tacky — I wouldn't take it even for free," one user wrote, while another asked, "Is there really anyone who would pay that much for a case?"

Apple's earlier eco-friendly iPhone case — made from a fine-woven material — also drew harsh criticism, with reviewers calling it "the worst product failure" after it proved prone to scratching and other durability issues despite its price of around 90,000 won.

The iPhone Duo case prices look even steeper next to Samsung Electronics' foldable lineup. Official Galaxy Z Fold8 cases start at 44,000 won, while a model with a stand function costs 110,000 won — 89,000 won less than the comparable iPhone Duo case.

The iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable iPhone [Yonhap]

The iPhone Duo's domestic launch prices are 3.29 million won for the 256-gigabyte model, 3.59 million won for 512GB, 4.19 million won for 1 terabyte and 5.09 million won for 2TB — roughly 1 million won more than Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Z Fold8 across the board.

The iPhone Duo is also heavier and thicker than the Galaxy Z Fold8. It weighs 254 grams with a folded thickness of 5.2 millimeters, while the Galaxy Z Fold8 is no more than 201 grams and 4.5 millimeters thin. Screen sizes are comparable — the iPhone Duo measures 5.2 inches folded and 7.6 inches unfolded, similar to the Galaxy Z Fold8 — but Apple has not matched Samsung in hardware weight reduction, and priced the device around 1 million won higher.

Meanwhile, Apple launched pre-orders in South Korea on Saturday for its new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. The iPhone Duo will follow about a month later, with pre-orders opening Oct. 16 and the official release set for Oct. 23.

park@heraldcorp.com