--- title: "The Hinge on Apple’s Constantly Breaking New Foldable iPhone Was “Built With AI”" description: "Apple said it designed the hinge on its folding iPhone Duo using AI algorithms — and now those phone screens are cracking." date: "2026-10-28" modified: "2026-10-28" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore.md" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/hinge-apple-breaking-foldable-iphone-built-with-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" --- # The Hinge on Apple’s Constantly Breaking New Foldable iPhone Was “Built With AI” ![An iPhone Duo with a cracked screen.]() *Surya Mangi* The success of Apple's new folding iPhone Duo hinged on its, well, hinge. But sadly for the multi trillion dollar company, some of the larger, inner screens on its $2,000-plus devices [are already cracking](), and early postmortems point to their faulty hinge design. In light of that fiasco, now feels like a good time to bring up how the hinge was designed: with the help of AI. Here's what Johny Srouji, the company's chief hardware officer, said during an event last month. Per [*TechCrunch's* coverage]()*:* "During manufacturing, we use AI algorithms to precisely match each individual hinge with its best-fit housing to ensure perfect alignment," Srouji explained, "and a confocal laser progressively scans the topology of every single unit and 3D prints up to 25 micro layers of a custom photopolymer to eliminate residual waviness." To be clear, "AI algorithms" could mean a lot of things. A machine learning design tool is not the same thing as Claude or ChatGPT, and these algorithms have had a place in industrial applications for years. Apple itself has long boasted about using machine learning [to help design and improve its software and devices](). For instance, machine learning, or "AI" if you will, powers its iPad's palm rejection technology that lets you rest your hand on the screen while using a stylus. Still, Srouji made the conscious decision to conflate machine learning algorithms — if that's what's going on here — with what people take "AI" to mean today: a catchall term for chatbots, autonomous agents, and other large language model powered systems that appear intelligent. Maybe he thought it'd sound more impressive to investors and the general public. Whether the hinge was vibe-designed or not, it's clearly causing some notable issues, with a small but sizable minority of customers complaining that their screens are cracking along it just hours after unboxing. Shahram Mokhtari, the lead teardown technician at iFixit [explained to *The Verge*]() that part of the "extremely sensitive" flexible inner screen is pushing up against the hinge. It appears that a center support bar that makes space for the hinge to fold without crease isn't retracting far enough and creating stress on the screen. Apple, at least, acknowledged there was an "issue" Monday and said it's replacing the damaged units. **More on AI:** [*Nike’s AI Designed World Cup Jerseys Are a Disaster*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() ## More - [Apple’s Folding Phone Is Already Breaking at an Incredible Rate, Just Hours Into Use]() - [Apple Files Patent for iPhone That Rolls Up Like a Stack of Money]() - [New Apple Patent Shows a Bendable iPhone Using Carbon Nanotubes]() - [LIVE Updates: Everything You Need to Know From Apple’s iPhone Keynote]() - [iPhone Owners Extremely Unimpressed With Apple Intelligence AI]() - [Foldable Smartphones? Samsung Files Patent for Rollable, Folding Phones]() - [Apple iPhones Are Calling 911 When Owners Go Dancing]() - [Apple Scrambling After New iPhones Getting Too Hot]()