Apple has been guarding its first foldable like a state secret, with the grand reveal set for Wednesday's event. Xiaomi just strolled onto the IFA stage in Berlin and showed essentially the same phone first. Absolutely cold-blooded.
The 18 Fold is a book-style foldable — a 5.38-inch screen outside, a full tablet once you open it — which is exactly the shape Apple's rumored iPhone Ultra is expected to take. Even the name is a shot across the bow.
Early hands-ons are the surprising part: CNET came away calling it a genuine iPhone Ultra rival, and Xiaomi has shipped enough foldables by now that this isn't a first attempt — it's a victory lap.
Not everyone's charmed — Gizmodo's take is that Xiaomi copied the foldable iPhone before Apple could even announce it. Harsh, but the scoreboard doesn't lie: Xiaomi's is on shelves, Apple's is a Wednesday slide. Your future two-thousand-dollar phone just got real competition.
Watch the full breakdown in the video above.
Source: MacRumors{target="_blank" rel="noopener"} · Images: CNET, Digital Trends
