A new leak is adding to the growing pile of early details around Xiaomi’s next flagship lineup. According to frequent tipster Digital Chat Station, the upcoming Xiaomi 18 Pro will feature two 200MP cameras alongside a big battery.
In particular, this “small-screen” flagship is said to feature a 200-megapixel main camera paired with a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto lens. Both these lenses are an upgrade from Xiaomi 17 Pro’s 50MP main and telephoto setup.
The successor is also expected to feature a 7000mAh battery, a slight improvement over the 17 Pro’s 6300mAh cell. And of course, for a flagship, wireless charging is a must.
Apart from this, the leaked prototype is said to include features like IP68/IP69-rated water and dust resistance, and a 3D ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor.
Xiaomi 18 Pro could also retain the rear screen
Perhaps more interesting is the fact that the Xiaomi 18 Pro is also rumored to retain the rear display alongside the cameras. This would be impressive, if true, given that the company is also using larger camera sensors and a bigger battery. And mind you, this is a 6.3-inch flagship, not your regular 7-inch slab.
Xiaomi 17 Pro
Previous leaks have also indicated that the Xiaomi 18 series could be powered by Qualcomm’s next-generation flagship chipset, widely expected to be the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6. The lineup may launch in China around September next year, while an Ultra variant could arrive later.
For now, these details remain early and subject to change. But if Xiaomi does move forward with a dual 200MP camera setup and a 7,000mAh-class battery, the Xiaomi 18 Pro could end up being more about refining extremes. We’ll keep you in the loop as more details emerge.
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Xiaomi is preparing for a multi-product launch event in China, where it will unveil a new laptop, a smartwatch, and an electric vehicle. The event is scheduled for March 19 at 7 PM Beijing time, and ahead of that, the company has started sharing early details about what to expect.
Xiaomi Book Pro 14
At the center of the announcement is the Xiaomi Book Pro 14. The device is confirmed to feature a 14.6-inch OLED panel with a 3.1K resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and 1600 nits of brightness.
The Book Pro 14 is light at just 1.08kg and is paired with a thin chassis design. Powering it is Intel’s third-generation Core Ultra X7 358H processor. And storage option goes up to 4TB via multiple drive slots and an additional M.2 SSD slot.
Moreover, the laptop has a large pressure-sensitive touchpad designed to support gesture controls. Its port options include Thunderbolt 4, USB Type-C, USB Type-A, HDMI 2.1, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
For cooling, Xiaomi is using a vapor chamber system with dual fans and a triple air-duct setup. The company says it can sustain up to 50W of performance under load.
Xiaomi Watch S5
Alongside the laptop, Xiaomi will introduce the Xiaomi Watch S5. The wearable features a redesigned sensor system that uses multiple light sources and photodiodes to improve biometric readings. Xiaomi claims its updated heart rate algorithm can achieve up to 94 percent accuracy.
Sleep tracking is done via a new algorithm designed to better detect when users fall asleep and wake up. On the fitness side, the watch supports over 150 sports modes and uses a dual-frequency GNSS chip for more accurate location tracking across multiple satellite systems, including GPS and Galileo.
Xiaomi says the Watch S5 can last up to 21 days in Bluetooth mode, or around 14 days when using eSIM connectivity, thanks to a large 815mAh battery.
The March 19 event will also include the debut of the next version of the Xiaomi SU7 electric car.
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Apple today officially unveiled the second-generation Apple AirPods Max 2. The new over-the-ear headphone brings upgrades to active noise cancellation, sound quality, and several new smart features powered by the company’s H2 chip.
At first glance, the new model looks quite familiar. Its design remains largely unchanged from the original AirPods Max, but most of its improvements are inside.
Apple AirPods Max 2 Specifications
It now runs an H2 chip, enabling features like adaptive audio, conversation awareness, and voice highlighting. We have seen these features in newer AirPods, and they are now making their way to the company’s flagship headphones, too.
According to Apple, active noise cancellation on AirPods Max 2 is now 1.5 times more effective than the previous generation. The company says the improvement comes from a combination of the H2 chip and updated computational audio algorithms.
Transparency mode is also getting an update. Apple says the system uses new digital signal processing tuned for the H2 chip and the headphone’s microphone array, which should make outside sounds feel more natural when users want to stay aware of their surroundings.
AirPods Max 2 also introduces a new high dynamic range amplifier designed to produce clearer audio while maintaining the sound profile the original model is known for. The spatial audio now gives more accurate instrument placement and improved balance across lows, mids, and highs.
A few extras
The headphones support 24-bit, 48 kHz lossless audio when connected with the included USB-C cable. Apple says creators can use the headphones in professional workflows inside apps like Logic Pro, including music production and track mixing with head-tracking spatial audio.
The AirPods Max 2 has a Game Mode that the company claims can deliver a more responsive audio experience while gaming.
AirPods Max 2 also introduces a few less typical features for headphones. Users can remotely control a camera by pressing the digital crown while the Camera app is open on an iPhone or iPad. Apple is also adding studio-quality audio recording, which the company says could be useful for interviews, podcasts, or vocal recordings.
Other additions include personalized volume that adjusts listening levels over time based on user preferences, as well as a new Siri interaction method that allows users to nod or shake their head to respond to notifications from Siri.
On the environmental side, Apple says the headphones include several recycled materials. Magnets are made with 100 percent recycled rare earth elements, ear pads use fully recycled polyester, and Apple-designed circuit boards include recycled gold plating and solder. Packaging is also entirely fiber-based.
Price and Availability
Apple AirPods Max 2 color options
AirPods Max 2 will be available in Midnight, Starlight, Orange, Purple, and Blue. Preorders begin March 25 at $549. The headphones will ship with the Smart Case included with the previous generation.
This year’s MWC was packed with announcements from all the big tech and hardware brands. As usual, the big-name devices received most of the attention. Foldables, concept devices, or the camera shootouts.
But every year, some of the most interesting things to come out of Barcelona end up buried under the noise. This year was no different. So here are ten announcements from MWC 2026 you may have missed.
Motorola × GrapheneOS
One of MWC’s most surprising announcements came from Motorola and GrapheneOS.
As you might know, GrapheneOS is the hardened, Google-free version of Android that has always run exclusively on Google Pixel phones. But this changed at MWC 2026.
Motorola Edge 70 Fusion
Motorola signed a long-term deal with the GrapheneOS Foundation to bring the OS to a future Motorola device. The first compatible hardware is expected to be based on the Signature, Razr Fold, or Razr Ultra lines, built around a future Qualcomm SPU, and is targeted for 2027.
But the deal goes beyond one device. Select GrapheneOS security features will roll out to existing Motorola phones, too. There is also a new “Private Image Data” tool in rollout that automatically strips location data and device metadata from every photo you take before it leaves your phone. Lenovo’s ThinkShield enterprise security stack ties the whole thing together.
Qualcomm Snapdragon X105
As always, Qualcomm had a busy MWC, and there were a lot of announcements from the chipmaker. One such is the new Snapdragon X105 modem designed for the upcoming wave of Android flagships.
The X105 is 15 percent smaller than its predecessor, 30 percent more power-efficient, and has baked-in support for agentic AI tasks. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS are bundled in the same package.
The headline feature, however, is satellite connectivity that now extends to emergency satellite video calls, not just text and voice. It can also predict RF conditions with the help of sensing software to try to maintain a stronger connection.
Lenovo AI Workmate
Lenovo brought a lot of concepts to Barcelona this year, but the AI Workmate might be one of the coolest among all.
It is a motorised desktop robot arm. It has sensors. It has a projector head. It points at your desk and displays interactive notifications, tools, and information directly onto the surface in front of you. It also has expressive animated eyes, which either sounds charming or unsettling, depending on your tolerance for personality in office hardware.
Lenovo also announced an AI Work Companion Concept to go along with the Workmate. Its a smart display and clock that syncs your tasks across devices and helps plan your day.
Lenovo has a decent track record of turning its MWC concepts into shipping products within a year or two. Here’s hoping that the AI Workmate shows up in a ThinkSmart lineup before 2028.
Starlink becomes “Starlink Mobile” and shows what V2 satellites actually mean
SpaceX gave a proper keynote at MWC this year, which is notable in itself. The headline out of it was the official rebrand of their direct-to-device service to “Starlink Mobile.”
The more interesting part was what they shared about the V2 constellation. The next generation of Starlink satellites targets up to 150 Mbit/s mobile data speeds using globally harmonised S-band spectrum. That is roughly a 100× improvement in data density over the current fleet.
Starlink Mobile already operates across 32 countries with 10 million monthly active users, and the company has set a target of 25 million users by the end of 2026.
Deutsche Telekom × Starlink
This one got a brief mention in a few places, but the full picture is worth spelling out.
Deutsche Telekom officially signed on at MWC as the first European carrier partner for Starlink’s V2 constellation.
The plan is to use satellite connectivity to plug the coverage gaps that tower infrastructure simply cannot solve. The service is targeting a 2028 launch in Germany. It is being designed so that existing Deutsche Telekom SIM cards work without any changes.
Vodafone × Amazon Kuiper
Amazon Kuiper is the counterpart of Starlink from Jeff Bezos, and it also made an announcement at MWC 2026.
It signed a partnership with Vodafone to use LEO satellites to deliver backhaul capacity to 4G and 5G base stations across Europe and Africa. With over 200 Kuiper satellites already in orbit, the network can already deliver up to 1 Gbps download and 400 Mbps upload to ground infrastructure.
Rollout begins in Germany and other European markets in 2026, before expanding through Vodafone’s Vodacom subsidiary across Africa. The goal is to replace the expensive and slow-to-build fibre runs that currently hold back rural coverage.
AMD Ryzen AI 400 desktop
AMD chose MWC — a mobile-focused event — to launch its Ryzen AI 400 and Ryzen AI PRO 400 desktop processors.
These are the world’s first desktop chips to meet Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC requirements, meaning they can run the full suite of on-device AI features that Microsoft has been building since 2024.
They are built on Zen 5 architecture with AMD XDNA 2 NPUs that deliver up to 60 TOPS of AI compute. Copilot+ demands 40 TOPS of AI compute. The top configurations go up to 8 cores, a 5.1GHz boost clock, and Radeon 860M integrated graphics.
Dell, HP, and Lenovo have all confirmed systems using these chips, expected in Q2 2026.
Oukitel WP61 + RG14-P
Oukitel is not a brand that gets much mainstream coverage, but their MWC lineup this year was genuinely remarkable, and the WP61 specifically is a first-of-its-kind device.
The WP61 is the world’s first smartphone to combine NTN two-way satellite connectivity, a thermal imaging camera, and a DMR digital walkie-talkie in a single chassis. The device is for emergency responders, construction teams, and field workers who currently carry multiple devices.
Alongside it, Oukitel announced RG14-P, a solar laptop powered by an Intel Core 7 150U processor, with a dual-battery system (3,000mAh internal plus a swappable 5,200mAh pack) and a 14.1-inch touchscreen. It is built for people who work where power outlets do not exist. The RT10 Pro industrial tablet, with a built-in projector and a 25,000mAh battery, rounds out the lineup.
AWS commits $33 billion to Spain: Europe’s AI infrastructure hub takes shape
Amazon’s Chief Global Affairs and Legal Affairs Officer, David Zapolsky, used MWC as the venue to announce that AWS is expanding its Spain infrastructure investment to $33 billion, an increase of $18 billion over a prior commitment.
The plans are specific and large. Amazon plans to build seven new solar facilities, a new manufacturing plant in Aragon that will serve as the hub for European server and server rack production.
GSMA × ESA
The final story is also the most forward-looking one.
At MWC, the GSMA and the European Space Agency jointly announced up to €100 million in new funding to accelerate convergence between space infrastructure and terrestrial mobile networks. The goal is to fund projects that combine LEO satellite capacity with 5G and 6G ground systems.
This kind of institutional backing makes satellite-mobile convergence happen on a faster timeline than the market would manage on its own. The immediate applications are emergency connectivity and rural coverage.
For more daily updates, please visit our News Section.
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