How to get the iPhone Duo simulator in Xcode 27.1 and 27.2

Apple announced the iPhone Duo on September 9, and Xcode 27.1 beta followed on September 18 with the SDK and a simulator that folds. Early reports suggest most “it is not there” problems come down to one of the causes below, roughly in order of how often they appear.

1. Check you are on Xcode 27.1 or later, on a Mac that can run it

The Duo simulator arrived with Xcode 27.1, and Xcode 27.2 (released October 29) keeps it. Xcode 27.0 does not have it, however current its runtimes are. Open Xcode → About Xcode and check the version.

Xcode 27.1 and 27.2 both need macOS 26.6 or later (Apple, Xcode 27.2 release notes). Since the 27.1 beta, Xcode has run only on an Apple silicon Mac (MacRumors). No setting on an Intel Mac or an older macOS makes the Duo appear. If that is your machine, skip to running it in a browser.

2. Install or update the Duo’s runtime

On Xcode 27.1: update the iOS 27.1 runtime

Installing Xcode 27.1 and the iOS 27.1 runtime is not always enough. The fix confirmed on the Apple Developer Forums is to fetch the runtime again:

You can confirm from Terminal that the device type is now known to the simulator:

xcrun simctl list devicetypes | grep -i duo
xcrun simctl list runtimes | grep -i "iOS 27.1"

If the first command prints an iPhone Duo line and the second prints the runtime, the pieces are installed and only the device itself is missing.

On Xcode 27.2: check for the Duo’s own runtime

Xcode 27.2 comes with two iOS 27.2 runtimes. One is for the iPhone Duo, and the other is for every other iPhone and iPad. A developer on the Apple Developer Forums found both downloaded with Xcode 27.2: builds 24B8117 and 24B91016s. The accepted answer, from another developer, says 24B91016s is the Duo’s.

We checked both on a Mac. Each takes close to 8 GB on disk, and the general runtime’s device profile lists the Duo’s model, iPhone19,4, as unsupported. So the runtime other iPhones use can’t run the Duo, and deleting the Duo’s runtime (24B91016s) to save space removes the Duo.

Check what you have:

xcrun simctl list runtimes | grep "iOS 27.2"

Look for two builds: 24B8117 for every other iPhone and iPad, and 24B91016s for the Duo. The Duo’s line also ends in its own identifier, com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRuntime.iOS-27-2-iPhone19-4. If the Duo’s build is missing, fetch iOS 27.2 again from Settings → Components. Expect both runtimes to come back as one download; that’s what the developer in the same thread was offered. Then add the device as in step 3.

Apple’s Xcode 27.2 release notes list a few more changes that touch the Duo:

• Device Hub adds StandBy for the iPhone Duo.
• Known issue: screenshots and recordings of a Duo can be black for up to a few minutes after it boots. Wait before capturing.
• Known issue: after switching between the inner and cover screens, modifier keys such as Shift and Command can stop working. Apple’s workaround is to click the screen that is showing.
• Fixed, for all runtimes, not only the Duo’s: some removed simulator runtimes came back after a reboot.

3. Still not showing? Add the iPhone Duo in Device Hub

Xcode usually creates simulators for a new runtime on its own, but not always. The same forum thread describes adding it by hand in Device Hub: click +, choose iPhone, then iPhone Duo. From Terminal, xcrun simctl create does the same. Take the device type identifier from xcrun simctl list devicetypes and the runtime identifier from xcrun simctl list runtimes:

xcrun simctl create "iPhone Duo" <device-type-identifier> <runtime-identifier>

On Xcode 27.2, pick the Duo’s runtime (build 24B91016s, identifier com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRuntime.iOS-27-2-iPhone19-4), not the general iOS 27.2 one.

4. Fold controls missing? Open the right Device Hub

If the Duo boots but there is no way to fold it, with no posture buttons at the bottom of the window and nothing in the menus, you are probably looking at the Device Hub from Xcode 27. After an upgrade, Spotlight can keep opening the older copy, which can show the device but has no posture controls (Apple Developer Forums).

Open the one bundled with your Xcode 27.1 or 27.2 instead: in Xcode, choose Xcode → Open Developer Tool → Device Hub. The Duo’s toolbar then has buttons to fold and unfold it, and holding Option reveals a slider for the exact hinge angle (SwiftLee).

Skip the install: run the Duo in a browser

If your Mac is Intel, is on an older macOS, or you would rather not give Xcode 27.2 and its two runtimes (close to 16 GB) the disk space, VibeView runs Apple’s iPhone Duo simulator on its own Macs and streams it to your browser. It is Apple’s simulator, not a resized web page.

Taps go to whichever screen the device is using. Opening the device switches the stream to the inner screen, in landscape when it is flat. To start already unfolded, add ?posture=open or ?posture=partial to the session’s page URL.

The whole loop can stay off your machine: build a React Native or Expo app in the cloud, then run and test it on the Duo in the same place, from Windows, Linux or any Mac. Build a React Native iOS app without a Mac walks through the build side, and the iPhone Duo simulator page covers sharing and agent control.

Limits worth knowing

• It is a beta runtime here. The Duo on VibeView runs on the iOS 27.1 beta runtime, and behaviour can change between builds.
• A simulator is not the device. Camera, real hinge feel, sensors and performance are not simulated. The simulator’s inner screen is 2007 × 2853 pixels, the size App Store Connect asks for in iPhone Duo screenshots, not the 1878 × 2670 Apple lists for the hardware, so test layout in points, not pixels.

Apple’s release notes, its developer releases page and the forum threads cited here were checked on November 7, 2026.