A poll of 9to5Mac readers who were lucky enough to take delivery of their iPhone Duo in the first few days shows that 30% of them have returned it for a refund.
While that could be considered bad news for the future of the device, I don’t personally consider it either surprising or worrying …
Following a report by The Verge on iPhone Duo buyers who opted to return the device for a refund within Apple’s 14-day “no questions asked” period, we thought it would be interesting to get a sense of how many people may have done this.
9to5Mac readers were always likely to have had their fingers hovering over the pre-order button for the best shot at taking early delivery, with the first of these having hit the end of the 14-day window. We ask those of you who fall into this category to tell us whether you kept or returned the device.
With close to 6,000 total votes, the results showed that close to a third of you returned your Duo.
For any other device, that would be a disastrous return rate. For the Duo, however, I don’t think it’s terribly surprising.
As we noted yesterday, Apple described the iPhone Duo as “the most transformational change to iPhone since the original.” The size of that change shows up in a whole range of ways, from the weight of the device through the changed aspect ratio of the front display to a completely new way of using an iPhone.
Throw in the extremely high price tag, and I’ve always suspected that a significant number of iPhone Duo buyers would be viewing it as an experiment rather than a committed purchase. Our own Ryan Christoffel is an example of that “try it and see” attitude. One week in, he’s reached an interim conclusion that it’s probably not for him.
For those who’ve decided to return it, a number of readers shared their reasons.
“Returned it – I can’t go back to Touch ID.”
“Returned it. Cameras are key for me.”
“I want to like it, but I just can’t get there. It’s awkward, and the outside screen is way too small.”
“Returned it. Not for me. I do not want to open the phone every time I want a larger screen and Apple made the outer display much less usable than it should be with that silly permanent dock. I also use my phones left-handed.”
“During a vacation in Morocco, we spent a night camping in the Sahara Desert. I was extremely careful with the phone and tried to avoid using it in the sand altogether. However, on the second day, when I opened it inside the tent, I heard a crunching sound coming from the hinge. Sand had somehow gotten inside. I tried everything I could to clean it, but nothing worked. The inner display was still functioning perfectly, but the phone would no longer open all the way. Even worse, when I tried to close it, I had to force it shut.”
For me personally, it couldn’t be my only phone, given the priority I place on the device as a camera, but I am still lusting after it. Given the continued extended delivery times – with random checks showing shipping in late January – I don’t think Apple has much to worry about here.
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