QuickTake: Why iPhone Duo is the 2027 Sony Walkman

For the last few months, I've been looking at Sony Walkmans to buy, and it's been a lot of fun. But when the iPhone Duo was announced in September, its design kept bothering me, and I wasn't sure why. It wasn't until I saw a Walkman-inspired app called Duo-Man, developed by Vidit Bhargava, that made me realise why the Duo feels tailor-made to be the Walkman for 2027.

It's no secret that Apple has long been inspired by Sony - from Steve Jobs' own choice of clothes to labelling early iPhone prototypes as 'Sony' and 'Jony'. Even the camera sensors in the iPhone originate from Sony.

But as I saw someone hold a closed iPhone Duo, it struck me that it was so similar to how people used to hold their Walkmans. Back in the mid-1990s, I was gifted one for my birthday, complete with Disney singalong tapes and the Power Rangers compilation. I'd hold it and place my thumb on the play, rewind, stop, and fast-forward, ready to skip past my least-favourite tracks.

It was fun. But while the Duo's design seems inspired by the Walkman, both the iTunes Store and Apple Music apps need to change to reflect the fun of finding and listening to music like it's 1983 all over again.

An iPhone that broke the sound barrier

Even from the ads above, you can see the Apple influences that have carried over to today. From the headlines to the one-line quips for each Walkman model, I wouldn't be surprised to see something similar for the Duo someday.

But then there's my issue with both the Apple Music and the less-talked-about iTunes Store apps. I haven't gotten on with the Music app since its iOS 7 redesign; I find it too busy, some toggles are unnecessarily hidden, and it crashes more often for me than Spotify does.

I'm also a big proponent of buying music, so I use the iTunes Store app regularly. But every time I launch it, I feel overwhelmed by what's displayed:

It's a lot, as the screenshot shows, and if I had one wish for next year's inevitable iOS 28 update, it's to redesign this app. But even so, there's an opportunity for this and the Music app to take advantage of the Duo and its Walkman-inspired design.

Let's find a way to use your right or left thumb to navigate these apps beyond the navigation bar, with music controls that stay on the side, like a Walkman. But above all, make the Music app fun. It feels like a chore to browse - the wonder of putting in a cassette or a CD later on has been lost. Even the iPod kept the fun while updating it for modern users.

With my Walkman arriving next month, I want to see Apple home in on the fun of listening to music, just as Sony's products once did.