Xiaomi has officially unveiled the 18 Fold, a new passport-style foldable smartphone arriving just days before Apple is expected to enter the category with its first folding iPhone.
Shown at IFA 2026, the Xiaomi 18 Fold features a 5.38-inch outer display that opens to reveal a 7.58-inch folding screen. Both use 120Hz LTPO technology and can reach up to 4,000 nits of peak brightness. The phone weighs 219g and measures 10.68mm thick when folded. It’s a similar short-and-wide approach to what Apple is reportedly planning for the iPhone Ultra, which is expected to pair a roughly 5.5-inch cover screen with a 7.8-inch inner display.
Xiaomi isn’t holding back on the hardware, either. The 18 Fold is the company’s first flagship powered by its in-house XRING O3 processor. Built on a 3nm process, the chip combines a 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU, while select configurations introduce LPDDR6 memory. There’s also a sizeable 6,000mAh battery with 67W wired and 50W wireless charging.
On the back, Xiaomi partnered with Leica on a triple-camera system: a 200-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide, and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto with 3.5x optical zoom. That’s notable given Apple’s foldable is reportedly limited to two rear cameras, with no dedicated telephoto lens.
The Xiaomi 18 Fold starts at 10,999 yuan (around $2,266 CAD) for 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, with higher-end configurations reaching 14,999 yuan (roughly $3,091 CAD. A limited ceramic model costs 15,999 yuan (around $3,297 CAD). For now, the phone is limited to China, and Xiaomi hasn’t announced Canadian availability.
The timing couldn’t be more interesting. Apple is expected to reveal its first foldable at its September 9 event, although production was reportedly limited to only a few hundred units per day in late August. Xiaomi may not be beating Apple to the foldable category, but it certainly isn’t giving Cupertino much time to enjoy the spotlight.
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