Apple iPhone Duo and Xiaomi 18 Fold Go Head-to-Head in Foldable Debut

Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, and Xiaomi's 18 Fold have entered a direct comparison after both launched with nearly identical foldable designs, according to a report by Engadget published on October 13, 2026.

Both devices adopt an elongated, passport-like form factor that unfolds into a tablet-style screen. Each offers a 7.6-inch display when unfolded and a 5.4-inch display when folded, with 120Hz refresh rates on both the inner and outer screens.

The two phones diverge on hardware. The Xiaomi 18 Fold has a peak brightness of 4000 nits, compared with 3000 nits on the iPhone Duo. Apple's device uses a titanium frame and Ceramic Shield glass with an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, while Xiaomi uses an aluminum frame and Shield Glass 3.0 but has not disclosed a water and dust resistance rating. The Xiaomi 18 Fold weighs 219g, 35g lighter than the 254g iPhone Duo.

Inside, the iPhone Duo runs on a 2nm A20 Pro chip with 12GB of RAM, while the Xiaomi 18 Fold uses a 3nm XRING O3 chip with 16GB of RAM. The iPhone Duo has a dual camera setup with 48MP wide and 48MP ultrawide sensors but no dedicated optical zoom camera. The Xiaomi 18 Fold carries a 200MP main camera, a 50MP ultrawide camera and a 50MP optical zoom camera.

The Xiaomi 18 Fold is powered by a 6000mAh silicon carbon battery with 67W wired and 50W wireless charging. The iPhone Duo supports 60W wired charging and 35W MagSafe wireless charging. iOS 27 brings Split View multitasking and Siri AI, with Apple Pencil support planned for later this year.

The iPhone Duo starts at $1999, with pre-orders on October 16 and an official launch on October 23. The Xiaomi 18 Fold starts at 19,999 yuan (approximately $1640) and is currently exclusive to the Chinese market, with no official US release planned.