The iPhone 14 could see fierce competition from this surprise Xiaomi phone

The iPhone 14 could see fierce competition from this surprise Xiaomi phone

The biggest mobile launch of late 2022 is likely to be the iPhone 14, as Apple usually dominates the tech airwaves with its annual September releases, but it looks like Xiaomi wants to turn heads as it could bring the launch of its next product. . forward.

According to a prolific and fairly reliable digital chat station (Opens in a new tab), the Xiaomi 13 could launch in November 2022; that's earlier than expected, as the Xiaomi 12 debuted in December 2021. Leaker says the progress is a month earlier than before. year, which would herald an earlier release.

It's all about the China launch of Xiaomi's flagship – if you're wondering why you only saw announcements for the 12th long after December, it's because the global launch was in March 2022. We wait until this pattern repeats itself for the phone. Xiaomi 13. (s.

If Digital Chat Station is correct, the Xiaomi 13 could land a month earlier and as such be a closer rival to Apple's new iPhones, which probably won't arrive much sooner than that, although it would be a surprisingly early launch. We're also likely to see the advanced global unveiling, which could put its global launch at the same time as the Samsung Galaxy S23 family.

The leak goes on to say that the new phones - note the plural, with two mentioned - presumably meaning a Xiaomi 13 Pro alongside the standard model - will get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset (a probability, given that all 12 models have the 8 Gen 1) and will run Android 13, while one of the phones (likely the largest) will have a 2K screen.

None of these specs are exactly game-changers, they're exactly what we'd hoped for, but they start to paint a picture for this upcoming series of phones.

Analysis: what about the arrival of the true rival?

With the Xiaomi 12 series, the company has made a firm decision to compete with other similarly priced flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S21 and iPhone 13, downsizing its vanilla flagship to create a small mobile. tamano.

But Xiaomi likely won't be able to release a full set of phones to compete with Apple's, judging by the reference to only two upcoming 13 phones, and Xiaomi typically staggers launches of its flagship series.

With the Xiaomi 13 Ultra likely not launching until mid-2023, a true rival to the iPhone 14 Pro Max likely won't appear, and while Xiaomi and Apple's standard and Pro phones are likely to be comparable, it's unlikely they will. is. be a Xiaomi 13 device to compete with the anticipated iPhone 14 Max.

Xiaomi could offer something that Apple cannot: an affordable alternative. The Xiaomi 12T lineup is likely to launch in August or September as a mid-range Android phone with Xiaomi 12-series features but at a lower price than that (and iPhones), and we'll likely see a Xiaomi 13 Lite as well. something advanced. .

Apple and Xiaomi target different audiences, so it makes sense that while they have competing devices, they both have devices that stand out. But people who can afford a premium phone and want the best camera features may find it hard to choose between the Pro phones each offers, and we'll have to see where the Xiaomi 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max land on our list. . of the best camera phones.