A strategic launch before Apple's event
Xiaomi today officially announced the 18 Fold, its first wide-format foldable device, at a product event in China. The strategic announcement occurred just two days before Apple is expected to unveil its own first foldable iPhone.
Apple is set to hold its hardware event on September 9 at Apple Park. At this event, the company is expected to announce its new foldable alongside the standard iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
Design and build specifications
The Xiaomi 18 Fold uses a wide-folding design similar to the Samsung Z Fold8 and Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone. It features a 5.38-inch outer display and a large 7.58-inch inner display.
Both screens utilize 120Hz LTPO technology and achieve 4000 nits of peak brightness. To ensure durability, the display is protected by a new double-layer ultra-thin glass structure.
The phone folds around a redesigned hinge that Xiaomi refers to as the "Dragon Bone" hinge. The company says this component underwent 492 structural optimizations, facilitating a noticeably more rounded design than Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold8. The device launches in four distinct finishes, including a Nishino Red colorway and a limited Ceramic Special Edition capped at just 1,500 units.
Performance and the Xring O3 chip
The 18 Fold is the first flagship to contain Xiaomi's in-house Xring O3 processor. Built using a 3nm process, the silicon features 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. Efficiency has also been significantly addressed by the manufacturer. Power draw is down 25% and 64% respectively, alongside a dedicated NPU rated at 200 TOPS.
The device ships with Xiaomi's HyperOS 4 software out of the box. It is powered by a 6,000mAh battery that supports 67W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.
Leica camera capabilities
The rear camera system was developed with Leica and is led by a 200-megapixel main sensor. It sits alongside a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto lens with 3.5x optical zoom.
For comparison, Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to take a different approach. The Apple device is anticipated to feature two rear cameras only, with no dedicated telephoto camera included.
Price and market positioning
Pricing for the Xiaomi 18 Fold starts at 10,999 yuan (approximately $1,638) for the base 12GB RAM and 256GB storage configuration. The top-tier model, featuring 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, rises to 14,999 yuan (approximately $2,235).
The highly limited Ceramic Special Edition is priced at 15,999 yuan (approximately $2,384). By comparison, Apple's competing foldable is widely expected to be priced above $2,000.
The company has not announced global availability for the 18 Fold, and its earlier Mix Fold foldables have stayed exclusive to China. During the same event, Xiaomi also introduced the Xiaomi Pad 9 Pro Max tablet, which shares the Xring O3 chip, along with three electric vehicles under its Pengcheng brand.