DIY project · 3D printing · MagSafe · Bluetooth

An old TV
for the iPhone Duo

Retro Dock is a charging dock I designed specifically for the iPhone Duo, Apple's new foldable iPhone. Its shape comes from vintage TV sets: drop the phone in, press down to charge, slide up to take it out, just like using the gadgets of the old days.

1 Nov 2026Duong Tran~6 min read
Red and white Retro Dock shaped like a vintage TV, tilted on a workbench, the iPhone Duo playing music, a wooden front with a knob, slide latch and buttons, the antenna glowing behind
MagSafePress down to charge
3 buttons · 1 knobBluetooth controls
Glowing antennaMagnetic, doubles as a night light

Some things you want to make for years and just wait for the right moment. This vintage TV is one of them. The hand sketch has been sitting in my notebook since before I moved back to my hometown, but it took Apple launching the iPhone Duo for it to finally get a screen that fits.

Inspiration

From a hand sketch to a folding iPhone

I grew up with the industrial design of the old days: tube TVs, tape decks, disc players. Rounded corners, wood-panel fronts, knobs that clicked and buttons you had to really push. A lot of what I make starts from childhood memories like these, and I think many people my age feel the same.

I sketched this TV a long time ago and always wanted to turn it into a phone dock. The problem was that no phone had a screen shaped like a TV. Phones were too tall, tablets too big.

The iPhone Duo is the first iPhone with a folding design, and when it opens up, its screen has almost the proportions of a TV. So I dug the old sketch back out, and Retro Dock was born.

I always wanted to build this TV. I just had to wait for a phone that looked enough like a TV screen.

— Duong Tran

A piece of childhood, made for a phone of today.

Exploded 3D render of Retro Dock: red TV body, white back cover and base, bezel, wooden front with a knob, button set, glowing antenna and a NO SIGNAL color bar screen

Exploded 3D render: TV body, back cover, base, bezel, wood front, knob, buttons, antenna and the NO SIGNAL screen.

Design

Designed before the phone even existed

When I started, the iPhone Duo hadn't launched yet. I downloaded a mockup model, sized it against the leaked images to get the dimensions roughly right, and built the dock around it. Nobody knew exactly where the MagSafe coil would sit on the back, so I left an empty slot to lock in once I had the real thing.

The body is a vintage TV with rounded corners, vents on both sides and a thick bezel like an old CRT. The first version was red and black. For the final one, with Christmas around the corner, I switched to red and white just for fun.

1Vintage TV shape

Rounded corners, side vents, a thick bezel. The iPhone Duo screen sits in the frame just like a real TV.

2Laser-cut wood front

The front is a wood panel cut on Bambu Lab's new laser, held on by 4 magnets. The buttons drop in first, then the wood panel goes on.

3Magnetic antenna

The antenna on top attaches with a magnet, comes off and goes back on in a second, and it lights up.

First-version 3D-printed parts laid out on a desk: red TV body, black frame, grey bezel, buttons and back cover
Close-up of the buttons, knob, button frame and black front panel of the first version

The first version fresh off the printer: TV body, phone frame, screen bezel, back cover and button set.

3D view

Spin it, zoom in, take it apart

Drag to rotate, scroll or pinch to zoom. Tap Exploded to see every part inside. The model is exported from Shapr3D at real scale.

Drag to rotate · Scroll to zoom
Electronics

Buttons that actually work

Retro Dock isn't just for looks. Inside is an ESP32 microcontroller wired to three buttons and an endless rotary encoder. The encoder has no end stops, so you can keep turning it as long as you like, and adjusting the volume feels smooth and continuous, like the knobs on audio gear from the old days.

I wrote the firmware myself and tailored it to exactly what this project needs: the ESP32 pairs with the iPhone Duo over Bluetooth as a controller. The knob sets the volume and the buttons play, pause and skip tracks, so music, movies, YouTube or Netflix are all under control. The electronics sit in their own box, the MagSafe charger mounts behind the frame, and a switch on the back powers the control board.

Retro Dock electronics on a wooden board: helping hands, an endless rotary encoder, three buttons, an ESP32 board and red and black wires

Endless rotary encoder, three buttons and the ESP32 board before going into the body.

Retro Dock with the back cover off: MagSafe charger at the top, white electronics box with a switch below
Close-up of the Retro Dock front: white knob, slide latch, yellow and white buttons on the wood panel

Left: back cover off, MagSafe charger and the electronics box with its switch. Right: knob, slide latch and buttons on the wood panel.

Top-down view of Retro Dock: the iPhone Duo in the slot on top, a yellow antenna, the slide latch on the front

The phone drops in through the slot on top. The latch on the front lifts it up or lets you press it down.

How it works

Drop in, press down, slide up

I wanted to use this dock the way you use an old gadget: with real motions you can feel in your hand. The iPhone Duo drops in through a slot on top, and a spring-loaded latch catches it halfway.

To charge, press the phone down, like pushing a cassette into a tape deck. Once it's in place, the pull of the MagSafe magnets holds it tight and charging starts. To stop charging or take it out, slide the latch up.

1Drop in

Drop the iPhone Duo into the top slot. The spring latch catches it, no more banging.

2Press down

Push the phone down through the cutout on the front. The MagSafe magnets pull it into place and charging starts.

3Slide up

Slide the latch past the threshold to stop charging, all the way up and the phone rises high enough to grab.

Prototype vs. the real thing

When the real iPhone Duo arrived

The first version was built on a mockup, so I knew something would be off. As soon as the iPhone Duo launched, I went into the city to get one and test it. First impression: the real phone is about 1 mm thinner than the mockup, and the moment I dropped it in, every problem showed up.

#ProblemFix
1

Dropping the phone in made a loud clack. The iPhone Duo isn't cheap, and that hurt to hear.

Added a spring to the latch to catch and cushion it, so the phone no longer free-falls.

2

Too little of the phone stuck out, making it hard to pull out.

The latch now lifts the phone higher, plus a cutout to put your finger in to press and lift.

3

The frame edge got in the way of swiping up to go home.

Added a notch in the frame edge so your finger glides through.

4

The MagSafe position was unknown, and the wiring inside was a mess.

Repositioned the charger for the real phone, gave the electronics their own box, added a switch on the back.

These are the kind of flaws you only find with the real phone in your hand. I fixed them one by one, reprinted and retested until every motion felt natural.

The first red and black Retro Dock next to a Bambu Lab 3D printer
Mid-way prototype: red Retro Dock with a white bezel playing a video, no wood front yet

Left: the first red and black version, built on a mockup. Right: the prototype tested with the real phone, white bezel, no wood front yet.

Night light

An antenna that glows

On top of the TV sits a small antenna held on by a magnet. It's both a decorative detail and a light. It has a few modes, including a flame mode that flickers like a candle.

In the evening, drop the iPhone Duo in to charge, put on some quiet music and let the antenna glow, and the corner of your desk becomes a bedside lamp. Turn off the room lights and Retro Dock looks just like an old TV that's just been switched on in a room from decades ago.

By day, a charging dock and a controller. By night, a lamp with a tiny flame on top of a TV.

Retro Dock in a dark workshop, the iPhone Duo playing music, the antenna on top glowing like a candle

Flame mode: the antenna flickers on top of the TV while music plays.

Video · DIY Retro MagSafe Charging Dock for iPhone Duo

The full 18-minute video on the Ariel Studio channel — from the hand sketch and the first print to testing with a real iPhone Duo and the laser-cut wood front.

Build

What makes Retro Dock

DeviceiPhone Duo. Designed ahead on a mockup, then adjusted for the real phone
Body3D printed, red and white, removable back cover
SizeAbout 198 × 194 × 222 mm (W × D × H, including the antenna), from the 3D model
Front panelWood cut on a Bambu Lab laser, held on by 4 magnets
ChargingMagSafe. Press down and the magnets hold the phone and charge it, slide up to stop
ControlsESP32, 3 buttons and 1 endless rotary encoder, firmware written for this project. Controls music, movies, YouTube, Netflix over Bluetooth
MechanismSpring-cushioned slide latch, a cutout to press the phone down, a notch for the swipe-home gesture
LightMagnetic glowing antenna with several modes, including a flame mode
Inspired byTVs, tape decks, disc players: the classic industrial design of my childhood

Switch on your own TV

Watch the whole Retro Dock build in the video, and follow Ariel Studio so you don't miss the next project.

Watch on YouTube Follow on Facebook