Xiaomi has just showcased to the world its newest devices under the 12 Series. They have completely dropped the Mi branding – it would have been called the Mi 12. The new naming scheme is easy, following up on the Xiaomi 11 Series from last year.
The new Xiaomi 12 and the Xiaomi 12 Pro are the company’s flagships for the year 2022. Taking into account what Xiaomi has just shared during the launch, in this article we’ll be comparing the new Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro to Apple’s flagships – the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro.
Xiaomi 12 vs iPhone 13
Design:
The iPhone 13’s iconic design is even better thanks to the modern flat borders. Xiaomi however argues people will prefer the Xiaomi 12 design due to the higher screen-to-body ratio, and due to the punch-hole display – which is unlike the huge notch of the iPhone 13. Xiaomi says the phone is also great on the had, and perfect for one-hand use.
Camera:
Xiaomi says the camera hardware of the new Xiaomi 12 is superior to that of the iPhone 13. This is because of the 50MP main camera with OIS, a 13MP ultra-wide sensor and a 5MP telephoto+macro camera.
Apple uses a dual 12MP setup where one lens is wide, while the other lens offers an ultra-wide view.
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Battery:
Xiaomi posits that even though iOS is better optimised, the Xiaomi 12 will offer more use on a single charge compared to the iPhone 13 simply because the battery is bigger.
The phone features a 4500mAh battery which supports 67W fast charging, and 50W fast wireless charging. The iPhone 13 comes with a 3240mAh battery which charges at 20W wired, and 15W with MagSafe.
Configuration:
Xiaomi 12 comes with 12GB RAM, and 256GB storage.
Xiaomi 12 Pro vs iPhone 13 Pro:
Display:
Xiaomi lauds its phone as having the the bigger display for gaming and watching media. It comes with 6.7-inch LTPO 2k Super AMOLED touchscreen with 120 Hz refresh rate support. It can shift its refresh rate to as low as 10Hz to as high as 120Hz depending on what’s on screen.
The iPhone 13 Pro on the other hand has a smaller 6.1 inch Super Retina XDR OLED display which can also vary its refresh rate depending on task at hand.
Both support HDR 10+ and Dolby Vision. The iPhone 13 Pro however peaks at 1200nits brightness while the Xiaomi 12 Pro peaks at 1500 nits.
Camera:
Xiaomi has a triple 50MP setup at the back. The first 50MP lens is the main wide camera with OIS. The second 50MP lens is an ultrawide camera, while the third 50MP lens is a telephoto camera offering 2x optical zoom. You can record 8K videos at 24fps. You can also 4K videos at 30 or 60fps and with HDR10+ support.
Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro has a triple 12MP setup at the back. The first 12MP lens is the main wide camera, the second 12MP is the telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, and the third 12MP lens is the ultrawide camera. You can record up to 4K videos at 60fps with support for HDR and Dolby Vision.
At the front, the Xiaomi 12 Pro has a 32MP selfie camera. The iPhone has a 12MP selfie camera.
Performance:
Xiaomi uses the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, which is built on a 4nm process. The iPhone 13 Pro uses the A15 Bionic built on a 5nm process.
Xiaomi says the new processor offers 25% better performance than the older Snapdragon 888 processor, and that thanks to the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, user can expect fast and smooth performance.
The iPhone 13 Pro has 6GB RAM and 128GB storage with option to upgrade storage size.
Xiaomi has the following advantages:
- Faster charging
- 8K Video recording
- Bigger battery
- Fast Reverse charging
- Great Price
iPhone advantages includes:
- Amazing performance
- Face ID
- Waterproof
- MagSafe
. The Mac mini is Apple's small desktop, an aluminium box roughly 5 inches square that ships without a screen, keyboard or mouse. You supply those, which is why it has been the cheapest way into a Mac for two decades. The design is unchanged this generation. ## Where the $899 comes from The previous Mac mini launched in October 2024 at $599 with the same 16GB of memory and 256GB of storage. We [covered that launch](https://tech-ish.com/2024/11/04/m4-mac-line-up-apple-refresh/) at the time, when the M4 Pro cost $1,399. In May 2026 Apple dropped the $599 version, brought it back in late June at $799, and pushed the M4 Pro to $1,599, [changes tracked by MacRumors](https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/mac-mini/). So the same specification has gone from $599 to $799 to $899 in under two years, a 50 percent rise on a machine whose whole pitch is being the affordable Mac. [AppleInsider calls $899](https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/08/25/m6-mac-mini-arrives-in-ram-and-ssd-constrained-environment) the highest starting price it has ever had. The original 2005 model was $499. ## Why the price went up On its earnings call on 30 July 2026, chief executive Tim Cook told analysts: "we reluctantly raised prices, I would say. We did it because we're in what I would characterize as a 100-year flood on the memory pricing." The [full transcript is public](https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/08/07/apple-aapl-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript/). Three companies make almost all the world's memory chips: Samsung, SK hynix and Micron. Since late 2025 they have moved factory capacity towards the specialist memory AI data centres buy, where margins are higher, leaving ordinary memory scarce. [TrendForce reported in July](https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20260703-13134.html) that contract prices would rise another 13 to 18 percent in the third quarter of 2026, after jumps of roughly 60 percent in the quarter before. Apple's finance chief Kevan Parekh told the same call that memory costs explained more than 100 percent of the company's sequential fall in profit margin. The same pressure is expected to hit the iPhone 18, covered in our [piece on iPhone pricing in Kenya](https://tech-ish.com/2026/08/02/iphone-18-split-launch-kenya-prices/). ## What you get The M6 has a 12-core processor and 12-core graphics, with a dedicated AI accelerator in every graphics core. Apple claims up to 4 times faster AI work and 2 times faster graphics than the M4 Mac mini, on its own July 2026 tests. It is also the only M6 tier Apple plans to make, since it is skipping the M6 Pro and Max to bring the M7 forward, as our [piece on both chips explains](https://tech-ish.com/2026/08/25/apple-m6-m5-ultra-chips-explained/). Base memory stays at 16GB and base storage at 256GB, so the extra $300 buys speed rather than capacity. The M5 Pro model gets Thunderbolt 5, the fast port standard used for external drives and displays, and can be linked to other Mac minis to run large AI models locally. The M6 keeps the slower Thunderbolt 4. Both gain Wi-Fi 7 and 2.5Gb ethernet, and both run macOS 27, which brings the rebuilt Siri that Apple [showed at WWDC in June](https://tech-ish.com/2026/06/02/wwdc-2026-siri-ios-27-cook-last-keynote/) as an English-only beta later this year. Apple said in February that Mac mini production would come to the United States for the first time, at a Houston plant, and Cook confirmed in July that assembly starts there this year. Apple [opened a training centre at the site on 13 August](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/08/apple-opens-advanced-manufacturing-center-in-houston/). ## What this means in Kenya Apple has no store here, so the machines arrive through authorised resellers and importers on their own timelines. At about KES 129.45 to the dollar on 24 August 2026, $899 converts to roughly KES 116,000. Nobody will pay that. Computers enter Kenya at zero import duty, but a 2.5 percent import declaration fee, a 2 percent railway development levy and 16 percent VAT all apply, and VAT is charged on top of the other two. With air freight, our working estimate puts the landed cost near KES 150,000 before any shop takes a margin. The outgoing M4 Mac mini sells locally from about KES 89,000 at [iTey Store](https://iteystore.co.ke/category/mac-mini-m4-m5-in-kenya-apple-desktop-computers) to KES 137,000 at [Price in Kenya](https://www.priceinkenya.com/product/113317-apple-mac-mini-m4). Early Kenyan pricing on new Apple hardware runs high and then falls. The MacBook Neo landed at KES 130,000 against a $599 list price [in March](https://tech-ish.com/2026/03/25/macbook-neo-price-in-kenya-alternatives/), and iPhone 17 prices [dropped sharply three months after launch](https://tech-ish.com/2025/12/30/iphone-17-iphone-air-prices-in-kenya-go-down-crashing-just-3-months-later/). So wait for stock to settle rather than paying the first asking price. If your current Mac still does your work, nothing in the memory forecasts suggests a cheaper Mac mini next year. The thing to watch is whether Kenyan resellers list the M6 before the 22 September shipping date.](/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Apple-M6-and-M5-Ultra-hero-260825_big.jpg.large_2x-390x220.jpg)
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