Xiaomi Copied the Foldable iPhone Before Apple Even Announced It

By now everyone on the internet has seen 3D renders of what the first foldable iPhone will reportedly look like, though Apple isn’t set to announce it until September 9. It will have two rounded corners when it’s closed and four when it’s open. Xiaomi saw the leaks and immediately fired up its copy machine. At IFA 2026, the Chinese tech giant showed off the Xiaomi 18 Fold behind a glass case… and it looks almost exactly like what we expect the foldable iPhone to look like. Xiaomi is planning to share full details at an event on Sept. 7, two days before Apple. Here’s what we do know, though: the outside screen is 5.38 inches and the inner one is 7.58 inches, according to GSMArena. The aspect ratio for the inner screen is supposed to be 2:1, which would make it shorter and wider than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8, which has a 4:3 inner screen. The Xiaomi 18 Fold also has a pill-shaped camera bar on the rear housing with three Leica-optimized cameras, presumably a main, telephoto, and ultrawide. (Xiaomi would one-up Apple with a telephoto, which the foldable iPhone will reportedly not have.) There’s also a hole-punch camera in the upper right on the inner screen; the foldable iPhone is supposed to have a hole-punch on its inner screen, but it’s in the upper left. © Kyle Barr / Gizmodo Xiaomi has also confirmed the foldable uses its own Xring 03 chip. We’ll have to wait until reviewers can do benchmarks to get a sense of how it compares to Apple’s upcoming A20 Pro chip and Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. No reporters were allowed to touch the Xiaomi 18 Fold, according to our own Kyle Barr, who’s on the ground, so we have no idea how it feels in the hand. But at least it comes in a sweet red color? I guess we’ll find out more in a few days, but don’t expect Xiaomi to sell the foldable in the U.S. As always, the U.S. is losing out on much-needed competition in consumer tech.