Remember the old flip phones from the early 2000s? They were practically indestructible, unless you dropped one just right or slammed it shut a few thousand times. Now, a new foldable phone is bringing back that folding design, but some early owners are dealing with a problem nobody wants on a nearly $2,000 device.

The iPhone Duo, which reportedly launched last Friday with a starting price of $1,999, is already facing complaints from customers who say the phone's inner screen cracked within hours of opening the box.

According to posts shared online, some owners heard a cracking sound while opening or closing their new phones. They then discovered damaged displays, with lines running along the screen's folding crease and across the display.

And the timing is raising eyebrows. One customer reportedly experienced the problem just six hours after purchasing the phone. Another said the screen was damaged before they had even finished setting it up. One owner allegedly noticed the issue while driving away from the Apple Store.

That's a pretty rough start for a phone that costs as much as some people's monthly rent.

Apple says it is aware of an issue affecting the inner displays of a small number of iPhone Duo devices. The company has advised customers experiencing display problems to contact AppleCare about a replacement.

So, is this a defective batch of phones, or could there be a bigger problem with the design? It's too early to know.

There's another wrinkle in the story, too. Some of the cracked-screen photos circulating online appear to be AI-generated, while other users are reportedly creating fake cracks with wallpapers to fool people. That makes it difficult to determine just how widespread the problem really is.

For now, early reports don't necessarily mean every iPhone Duo is in trouble. But if the complaints continue and the issue turns out to be a design flaw, Apple could have a very expensive headache on its hands.