Xiaomi follows Apple and Google with ambitious phone hardware – look out for the XRING

There was a time when smartphones ran on processors made by only a couple of companies, but that's started to shift over the last few years.

Apple's original iPhone featured a Samsung-built processor under its hood, but since the iPhone 4 that launched in 2010, the Cupertino company moved to in-house CPUs.

Google's Pixel devices originally used Qualcomm Snapdragon system-on-chips, until the Pixel 6 arrived in 2021 and the company switched to its in-house Tensor processors. And Samsung's Galaxy devices have long used a mixture of its own Exynos processors (often for Europe), while offering Snapdragon in the US.

There are also rumours that the Galaxy Z Flip 7 might switch to Exynos for the first time this year.

The point is, smartphone manufacturers over the last few years have moved from relying on third party manufacturers like Qualcomm for their processors, to developing chips in-house. Now Xiaomi is the latest to jump on board.

What will the Xiaomi XRING 01 offer?

The Chinese company, which has typically used Snapdragon processors for its higher end devices and MediaTek in mid-range devices, has announced its own smartphone chip – the XRING 01 – which it has been working on for over a decade.

While there is little information about the chip itself aside from the announcement, previous rumours have said it will be built on a 4nm process through TSMC. It's worth noting here that Apple also uses TSMC for its own silicon.

Other rumours have claimed the XRING 01 will have a 1-3-4 layout, which some suggest could be similar to Google's Tensor processors, although it'll lag a little behind the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite and Dimensity 9400 in terms of raw power.

Xiaomi only said the XRING 01 would launch later this month, although it didn't detail specifically when. The expectation is that it might debut in the Xiaomi 15s but for now, we will have to wait and see.