Xiaomi Announces Foldable iPhone Rival

Xiaomi today officially announced the 18 Fold, its first wide-format foldable, at a product event in China, two days before Apple should unveil its own first foldable iPhone. The Xiaomi 18 Fold uses a similar wide-folding design to the Samsung Z Fold8 and Apple’s upcoming foldable iPhone. It features a 5.38-inch outer display and a 7.58-inch inner display, both with 120Hz LTPO technology and 4000 nits of peak brightness.

The display is protected by a new double-layer ultra-thin glass structure. The phone folds around a redesigned hinge Xiaomi calls the "Dragon Bone" hinge, which the company says underwent 492 structural optimizations, facilitating a noticeably more rounded design than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8. It launches in four finishes, including a Nishino Red colorway and a limited Ceramic Special Edition capped at 1,500 units.

The 18 Fold is the first flagship to contain Xiaomi’s in-house Xring O3 chip, built using a 3nm process with a 10-core CPU clocked to 4.35GHz and a 16-core GPU. Xiaomi says the chip delivers a 60% multi-core CPU gain and an 85% GPU performance gain over its predecessor, with power draw down 25% and 64% respectively, alongside a dedicated NPU rated at 200 TOPS. The rear camera system was developed with Leica and is led by a 200-megapixel main sensor, alongside a 50-megapixel ultrawide and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto lens with 3.5x optical zoom.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 gets its first Amazon deal with 13% off, dropping the new foldable to a new best price. Amazon slashes the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 by $250, bringing it down to $1,649.99.

There have long been reports and rumours about Apple working on a foldable clamshell device that is either an iPad, a Mac, one of each, or a hybrid of the two. A recent report said that although this was once a priority for new CEO John Ternus, the project had been cancelled – but I don’t think that’s entirely accurate … more….

That saves you $250, a 13% discount off the RRP, and it is the first Amazon discount we’ve seen on this recently released foldable. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is built around a 7.6-inch main display with a squarer 4:3-style aspect ratio that suits reading, split-screen work, and tablet-like app use.

A foldable Mac is years away, but Apple is still working on it. All of the best Apple Labor Day deals: AirPods, Mac, charging gear, accessories, more Justin Kahn Sep 7 2026.

Samsung also gave it a noticeably wider outer screen and a more balanced shape, which makes using it while closed feel more natural than narrower foldables. Power comes from the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, with AI features focused on multitasking, camera help, and on-device productivity.

Battery capacity is listed at 5,000mAh, and Samsung highlights a silicon-based battery design with safeguards around that newer chemistry. The phone is also rated 4.4 out of 5, which adds another reason to keep it on your shortlist.

Apple’s first foldable iPhone should feature two rear cameras only, with no dedicated telephoto camera. The device ships with Xiaomi’s HyperOS 4 software and a 6,000mAh battery supporting 67W wired and 50W wireless charging.

Pricing starts at 10,999 yuan (about $1,638), for the base 12GB RAM and 256GB storage configuration, rising to 14,999 yuan (about $2,235) for the top 16GB/1TB model, with a limited Ceramic Special Edition at 15,999 yuan (about $2,384). Apple’s foldable is widely expected to be priced above $2,000.

Xiaomi also introduced the Xiaomi Pad 9 Pro Max tablet at the event, which shares the Xring O3 chip, along with three electric vehicles under its Pengcheng brand. The company has not announced global availability for the 18 Fold; its earlier Mix Fold foldables have stayed exclusive to China.

Apple will hold its own event on September 9 at Apple Park, where the company should unveil its first foldable iPhone alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max. Related Roundup: iPhone Fold Tags: Foldable iPhone, Xiaomi This article, " Xiaomi Announces Foldable iPhone Rival " first appeared on com Discuss this article in our forums.

Xiaomi Announces Foldable iPhone Rival.