Apple's $1,999 iPhone Duo hits stores Friday amid limited supplies

Apple's ( AAPL ) iPhone Duo goes on sale Friday, but you may be hard-pressed to get your hands on one.

Preorders for the company's first foldable smartphone sold out almost immediately last week, with delivery times pushed out well into late January.

As for getting a Duo on launch day, either you're already in line at an Apple Store, or you'll need to get extremely lucky.

The company said that while it has allocated some supply for walk-in customers, it expects that supply to sell out quickly.

"On Friday morning, our teams look forward to welcoming customers at Apple Stores to experience iPhone Duo and the incredible iPhone line-up for themselves," Apple said in a statement.

"Apple Stores will have limited iPhone Duo available for walk-in customers, and we're working hard to get this revolutionary new product into customers' hands as quickly as possible."

At least some of the preorder madness comes down to scalpers hawking the foldable iPhone on sites like eBay at a stiff markup.

While the iPhone Duo starts at $1,999, sellers are asking for upwards of $4,000 for the pricey smartphone.

The Duo is one of Apple's most anticipated products in years. The biggest update to the company's most important device since it launched in 2007, the iPhone Duo could help raise the iPhone's average selling price, boosting Apple's bottom line.

The iPhone represented $209.58 billion of Apple's $416.16 billion in total revenue in 2025. That's well ahead of the company's second-largest business segment, Services, which brought in $109.15 billion.

The Duo also comes as Apple revamps its iPhone release schedule. Rather than debuting its full lineup of phones at its annual September event last month, Apple revealed only its top-tier smartphones, including the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max.

The company is widely expected to unveil its standard iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2 early next year. That should help even out the lumpiness in Apple's seasonal sales and provide a clearer picture of which devices consumers are purchasing.

Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley .