Brief
Apple routes heat through iPhone Duo hinge with flexible graphite pipe
A flexible graphite pipe runs through the iPhone Duo's hinge to improve thermal performance, Apple says.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Apple has devised a novel cooling solution for its upcoming iPhone Duo, routing heat through the device's hinge via a flexible graphite pipe, 9to5Mac reported.
What happened
The iPhone Duo, a folding smartphone that will launch on October 23, incorporates a new vapor‑chamber system to manage heat from its A20 Pro chip. To increase the surface area for heat dissipation, Apple engineers placed a flexible graphite pipe inside the hinge, connecting the two halves of the device. The pipe must survive thousands of hinge cycles while maintaining thermal conductivity and structural integrity.
What the report adds
According to the article, the pipe is a "flexible material" co‑engineered by Apple’s thermal and mechanical teams. The design "creates a direct thermal and mechanically compliant coupling" between the SoC and the vapor chamber, a material Apple calls “metal over foam.” The same source notes that the A20 Pro also features a second display engine for the Duo’s inner and outer screens and supports a FaceTime camera behind the inner display.
What was said
"This part needed to be co‑engineered between our thermal team and the mechanical team. It’s a flexible material that needs to survive, as you can imagine, many hinge cycles while maintaining its thermal connectivity, and also its structural integrity throughout the product life cycle," said Banafsheh Barabadi, senior manager of thermal product design, as quoted by 9to5Mac.
"For iPhone Duo, we added a second display engine to support simultaneous operation of the inner and outer displays," said Dan Murray, Apple’s vice president of silicon engineering, also quoted by 9to5Mac.
Key facts
- Apple routes heat through a flexible graphite pipe inside the iPhone Duo hinge. (9to5mac.com)
- The pipe connects the A20 Pro chip to a new vapor‑chamber cooling system. (9to5mac.com)
- The material, dubbed "metal over foam," provides direct thermal coupling while meeting mechanical requirements. (9to5mac.com)
- iPhone Duo also includes a second display engine to run both screens simultaneously. (9to5mac.com)
Sources
- [1] 9to5mac.com — originally reported as “The iPhone Duo’s cooling system hides a clever trick inside its hinge”
