Games remain one of the challenges for foldable smartphones even several years after such devices appeared on the market. The main difficulty is not performance, but the unusual shape of the internal displays. For example, the screen of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold is close to a 4:3 format, whereas many games are designed for more elongated panels. Without proper adaptation, developers get a stretched image or black bars that can occupy a significant part of the screen. In Hearthstone on the unfolded Fold, part of the game field in full-screen mode is cut off, making elements on the edges difficult to distinguish. As a result, owners of foldable devices often switch to the external display, although it also has a narrower format.
According to available data, both screens of the iPhone Duo will use an aspect ratio of 1.4:1, which lies between 16:9 and 4:3. It does not fully replicate any of the common formats, but Apple's design offers another advantage: the external and internal displays have the same geometry. Therefore, developers will not have to create completely different interface variants for the folded and unfolded states of the device. One layout can remain the basis, which the system will scale depending on the size of the available area. Apple's experience with the iPad may play an additional role. Many mobile games, including Hearthstone, already support different tablet display sizes, and requirements for scalable interfaces have long been present in the company's documentation.
However, immediate compatibility of all games should not be expected. Major studios will need time to adapt existing projects to the new format, so after the release of the iPhone Duo, some applications may initially display with limitations. However, Apple may gain an advantage due to its own approach to developer requirements. The company already recommends creating interfaces with support for resizing. Google has similar recommendations for Android, but games are highlighted separately in the documentation, and developers do not always ensure correct operation on foldable displays. In the case of the iPhone Duo, the identical aspect ratio of the two screens and Apple's stricter guidelines can reduce technical difficulties when switching between device modes.