Apple‘s new foldable iPhone Duo can do many things, including side-by-side screen multitasking and hands-free video viewing at different angles.
Yet the company also pitched the $1,999 device as a “delightful bedside clock” during its Apple Event 2026 presentation on Wednesday.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said the Duo has the “ability to wake you up with a gentle glow timed perfectly with your alarm.”
In the imagery shared by Apple, the partly folded Duo rests on a nightstand — exactly where numerous health and wellness experts say it should not be.
Why you shouldn’t sleep with your phone
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, for example, recommends keeping your phone in another room and relying on a digital clock instead. That’s because research suggests sleeping next to a phone can worsen sleep quality in different ways.
First, there’s the temptation of one last scroll, whether that’s to check your social media feed or browse a shopping app for last-minute deals. Five minutes can quickly turn into 50, whittling down the amount of sleep you get.
Mashable Light Speed
Then, even if you expect pre-bedtime screentime to be relaxing, there’s always the risk of mental stimulation that keeps your brain buzzing well after the phone is off for the night.
Experts also suspect that nonstop notifications during the day prime people to anticipate them at night, too. On its own, that dynamic may diminish sleep quality. But so will checking your phone after you’ve randomly woken up.
Apple surprises with pitch to use Duo as alarm clock
The emphasis on Duo as a bedside clock is surprising coming from Apple, given the company’s emphasis on health and wellness. Among Apple’s announcements on Wednesday were a raft of new Apple Watch health features designed to optimize and maximize physical well-being.
The new Apple Watch Ultra 4, for example, debuts a readiness feature that analyzes metrics like recent activity, training load, and — you guessed it — a sleep score to determine how a user should tackle their day.
Perhaps Apple has been rattled by the growing popularity of smart or screen-free alarm clocks like the Dreamie, Hatch Sleep Clock, and Hatch Restore 3, which can displace the smartphone as the first and last device people interact with every day.
Yes, you can really sleep without your phone
Whatever the case, sleeping without a phone in your bedroom isn’t as nerve-wracking as it seems.
My own recent attempt at this led to one of the best nights of sleep I’ve ever enjoyed — and a permanent shift in my behavior. My phone stays in another room overnight and I use a screen-free alarm clock. To catch any emergency calls, I put my phone in do-not-disturb but turn the ringer on and all the way up so favorites can break through the silence if needed.
It can feel like an annoying hack just to get a peaceful night’s rest, but it’s far better than waking up, reaching for my phone, and getting pulled into text or email messages before I’m even out of bed.
