If the iPhone Duo looks familiar, there is a reason. Huawei launched the Pura X Max in April 2026, five months before Apple revealed its foldable, and the two phones are strikingly similar: both are wide, book-style foldables with a 5.4-inch cover screen, an inner screen of about 7.6 to 7.7 inches, and a thickness of about 5.2mm when open. The Huawei is lighter, has a telephoto camera and costs less. The iPhone runs iOS and is sold worldwide.

What is the Huawei Pura X Max?

The Pura X Max is Huawei's wide-format foldable. Unlike Huawei's earlier Pura X from March 2025, which unfolded vertically, the Pura X Max opens sideways like a book into a squarish, tablet-like screen. That is the same layout Apple chose for the iPhone Duo. GadgetMatch and Android Authority described it as the first phone of the new "wide foldable" type to reach the market, ahead of both Apple and Samsung.

How similar do they look?

Very. When renders of the Pura X Max circulated in April, MacRumors ran the headline "New Huawei Foldable Looks a Lot Like Apple's Rumored iPhone Fold", and PhoneArena published leaker Ice Universe's side-by-side images. The screen aspect ratios are almost identical, both open horizontally, and both use a horizontal, rail-shaped camera island across the back. Size measurements reported by Huawei Central show how close they are:

  • Huawei Pura X Max: 120 x 166.5 x 5.2mm unfolded, 11.2mm folded, 229 grams
  • iPhone Duo: 117.8 x 164.6 x 5.2mm unfolded, 11.3mm folded, 254 grams

Who copied whom?

Probably neither, directly. Apple's foldable was in development for years and its dimensions leaked repeatedly through the supply chain, which gave rivals time to build phones of a similar shape. After the launch, Apple's marketing chief Greg Joswiak said "people knew through leaks that we were working on a foldable", and Apple suggested rivals had followed its design. Huawei's supporters point out that Huawei shipped a wide foldable first. What is clear is that the industry has converged on the same idea: a foldable that opens into a small tablet rather than a tall phone.

Huawei Pura X Max vs iPhone Duo specs

  • Screens: Huawei 7.7-inch inner and 5.4-inch outer, both 1-120Hz LTPO OLED. Apple 7.6-inch inner and 5.4-inch outer.
  • Chip: Huawei Kirin 9030 Pro. Apple A20 Pro.
  • Rear cameras: Huawei has a 50MP main, 12.5MP ultra-wide, 50MP 3.5x periscope telephoto and a multispectral sensor. Apple has a main and ultra-wide camera, with no telephoto.
  • Battery and charging: Huawei 5,300mAh with 66W wired and 50W wireless charging.
  • Software: Huawei runs HarmonyOS 6.1; Apple runs iOS 27.
  • Extras: Huawei supports the M-Pen 3 Mini stylus. Apple uses Touch ID in the side button.
  • Price: Huawei Central's comparison found the Pura X Max undercuts the iPhone Duo by about $389 at the entry level and by more than $1,100 at the top storage tier.

Can you buy the Huawei Pura X Max outside China?

This is the biggest practical difference. Huawei phones cannot ship with Google services such as the Play Store, Gmail or Google Maps because of US trade restrictions, and HarmonyOS is built primarily for the Chinese market. Huawei sells some foldables internationally, but availability is limited and many Western apps are missing. The iPhone Duo launches in more than 70 countries on October 23, 2026.

Which one should you choose?

On hardware alone, the Pura X Max is hard to beat: it is lighter, cheaper, has a periscope zoom camera and supports a stylus. If you live in China or are comfortable without Google apps, it is the better-value foldable. For everyone else, and especially for expats and travellers who rely on apps from their home country, the iPhone Duo is the easier choice despite its higher price.