Make iPhone Duo App Store screenshots without the phone

Why now

iPhone Duo goes on sale on October 23, 2026. Apple says that starting April 2027, apps and games submitted will need iPhone Duo screenshots. Apps that submit them now get a badge on their App Store page. It tells people the app is optimized for iPhone Duo.

The sizes Apple asks for

Apple's screenshot specifications list two displays for iPhone Duo. We read them on October 18, 2026:

Display   Portrait       Landscape
Outer     1398 x 2034    2034 x 1398
Inner     2007 x 2853    2853 x 2007

• Upload at least 1 and up to 10 screenshots per device size.
• Use .png, .jpeg or .jpg files, with no alpha channel.
• The same page says the requirement covers apps built with the iOS 27.1 SDK or later.

Our capture from the booted simulator was 1398 by 2034 pixels in the default pose. That matches the outer display size. Apple can change these sizes, so check App Store Connect before you upload.

What the rented Mac has

• A dedicated M6 Mac mini with 16 GB of memory. No one else uses it.
• Xcode 27.1 at /Applications/Xcode-27.1.app, set as the default. Xcode 26.6 is installed too.
• The iOS 27.1 runtime, build 24A94425. Its only device type is iPhone Duo.
• Device Hub, at Xcode.app/Contents/Applications/DeviceHub.app. Apple points to it for every pose and orientation.
• Admin access, SSH and screen sharing over a private Tailscale network.

You see the screen from any computer, including Windows.

Steps

• Buy a day pass. We email how to connect within 5 minutes.
• Open the desktop with screen sharing.
• Boot iPhone Duo and install your build. Or open your project in Xcode and run it.
• Set up each screen with the content you want to show.
• Capture each screen, in each pose you need.
• Copy the files to your own computer.

From the terminal, the first part looks like this:

xcrun simctl boot "iPhone Duo"
open -a Simulator
xcrun simctl install booted MyApp.app
xcrun simctl launch booted com.example.myapp

Clean captures

Set the status bar to 9:41 with full bars and a full battery. Then pick light or dark mode:

xcrun simctl status_bar booted override --time "9:41" \
  --batteryState charged --batteryLevel 100 \
  --wifiBars 3 --cellularBars 4
xcrun simctl ui booted appearance light
xcrun simctl io booted screenshot duo-01.png

The screenshot command can also take a --display flag. Run xcrun simctl io booted enumerate to list the screens. When you are done, clear the override with xcrun simctl status_bar booted clear. Check the pixel size of each file before you upload:

sips -g pixelWidth -g pixelHeight duo-01.png

Get the files off the Mac

Copy them with scp over the private network. Replace the user and host with the ones in your welcome email:

scp 'you@your-mac:~/Desktop/duo-*.png' .

Or drag them out through screen sharing. When your pass ends, we wipe the Mac, so copy everything first.

What it costs

• One day: $15, paid once. Nothing renews.
• One week: $59, if you also want to test the app on iPhone Duo.
• You can add a day from your portal before the pass ends.

More on passes is on the day rental page. For booting, testing and CI on iPhone Duo, see our iPhone Duo simulator guide.

Who should not rent this

• You have a Mac on macOS 26.6 or later. Install Xcode 27.1 for free instead.
• You need the camera or other hardware. Test on a real iPhone Duo.
• You need a Mac for an hour. The shortest rental is a day.