A Chinese manufacturer has chosen to answer Apple's newest flagship not with quiet competition but with mirrored naming, matching its own numbers and its top model's title to the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The contest is still largely a matter of promise, drawn from leaks and the memory of earlier devices rather than from hands-on proof. It unfolds first in China, where both companies are launching on nearly the same day, and where the outcome will show whether a bigger battery and a bolder design can outweigh the long-standing advantages of Apple's efficiency and software.
Xiaomi 17 Pro Max Takes Aim at Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Max, But Leaks Leave the Matchup Unsettled
The real fight is only happening in its home market right now.
Mark
Why does the name matter so much here?
Mimi
Because Xiaomi dropped the Ultra and skipped from 15 to 17. Everything is arranged so Pro lines up with Pro and Pro Max with Pro Max.
Mark
And the launch date?
Mimi
It falls on the day the iPhones reach stores. The company's president said openly that this lineup is set against the iPhone 17.
Luke
Worth saying that everything about the hardware is leak or rumor. Nobody has tested this phone.
Mark
Even the 7,500mAh battery?
Luke
Especially that. It's a rumored figure. And the last time Xiaomi had a bigger battery, the 15 Ultra's 6,000mAh, it still lost to the iPhone 16 Pro Max in browsing and video.
Mimi
It did win in gaming and charging speed, though, so the picture was mixed.
Mark
What about the second display?
Mimi
That's the visible difference. It's described as closer to a foldable's cover screen than the Nothing Phone (3)'s dot-matrix panel.
Luke
The uses listed are what's expected. We don't know the final feature set until launch.
Mark
Can an American buyer even get one?
Mimi
Mostly through importing, and they'd need to check carrier band compatibility.
Il Polso
- Xiaomi has skipped from 15 to 17 and dropped its Ultra tier, openly aiming its new Pro Max at Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Max launch day.
- A rear second display and an edge-to-edge camera module break from Xiaomi's previous look, drawing comparisons to Nothing's dot-matrix back and foldable cover screens.
- A rumored 7,500mAh battery tries to close the endurance gap that let the iPhone 16 Pro Max outlast the 15 Ultra in PhoneArena's testing, despite a much smaller cell.
- Triple 50MP cameras and a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 are expected to keep Xiaomi near the top of the photo rankings, but none of it has been independently verified.
- Limited availability outside China means buyers elsewhere would have to import the phone, and the real battle for market share will likely be fought at home.
A Chinese manufacturer has chosen to answer Apple's newest flagship not with quiet competition but with mirrored naming, matching its own numbers and its top model's title to the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The contest is still largely a matter of promise, drawn from leaks and the memory of earlier devices rather than from hands-on proof. It unfolds first in China, where both companies are launching on nearly the same day, and where the outcome will show whether a bigger battery and a bolder design can outweigh the long-standing advantages of Apple's efficiency and software.
Xiaomi's next flagship will reach Chinese shelves on the same day Apple's iPhone 17 models go on sale, and the company's president has said plainly that the phone is meant to go up against them. The signal is hard to miss. Xiaomi has dropped the Ultra label for a Pro Max, and by jumping from the 15 series to the 17 it has matched Apple's numbering, creating a mirrored pairing from the base Pro up to the top model.
The most visible change is the design. The circular camera island of the 15 Ultra is gone, replaced by a wide rectangular module across the back that carries a second display. It can show clock faces, a selfie preview through the rear cameras, and notifications. The closest comparison is Nothing's Phone (3), though Xiaomi's screen behaves more like the cover display on a foldable.
On paper, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 should bring performance near Apple's A19 Pro, and the rumored 7,500mAh battery would dwarf anything Apple fits. Yet capacity is not the whole story. In PhoneArena's earlier testing, the 15 Ultra's 6,000mAh battery still trailed the iPhone 16 Pro Max's smaller cell on general use, though it led in gaming and charged faster. Cameras look similarly matched, with 50MP sensors across the rear against Apple's 48MP trio, but those results remain unproven.
Software and availability still favor Apple. Xiaomi's update promise has grown to four years of OS upgrades, yet it still trails Apple, Google and Samsung. And since the phone is largely a China product, buyers elsewhere would need to import it, with a possible global launch not expected until next year. The true test of the Pro Max's name will come in China, once independent testing begins.
Xiaomi's next flagship arrives in China on the same day Apple's iPhone 17 models go on sale, and the company's president has said the lineup is meant to go up against them. The timing is unlikely to be an accident, and neither is the name. This year Xiaomi has dropped the Ultra tier and introduced a Pro Max, a label that points straight at Apple's top model.
The naming goes further than that. Xiaomi skipped from the 15 series to the 17, which appears to be a way of matching Apple number for number. The result is a mirrored pairing: the Xiaomi 17 Pro against the iPhone 17 Pro, and the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max against the iPhone 17 Pro Max. None of this has been tested yet. What follows rests on leaks, rumors and the track record of earlier models, not on hands-on results.
The design is the clearest change. Xiaomi is leaving behind the circular camera island of the 15 Ultra and the square one of the 15 Pro. In their place is a large rectangular module running edge to edge across the back, and it includes a second display. Reported uses include clock faces, a selfie preview through the rear cameras, app information and graphics. The nearest comparison is the Nothing Phone (3), whose rear panel is a dot-matrix notification setup. Xiaomi's screen is closer to the cover display on a foldable.
The full spec sheet is not known, but the 17 series is set to debut Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. On paper, that should put it close to the A19 Pro in Apple's Pro models, since Qualcomm's flagship chips have historically landed near Apple's. The battery is where the rumors get bolder: a 7,500mAh cell in the Pro Max, far larger than what Apple typically fits. Apple has not adopted silicon-carbon battery technology.
Capacity does not settle the question. Apple has a reputation for strong endurance from smaller batteries, helped by iOS optimization. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra carried a 6,000mAh battery and still lost to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which has a 4,685mAh one, in PhoneArena's testing. The Xiaomi lasted 7 hours 33 minutes on the estimate, against 8 hours 30 minutes for the iPhone. It was ahead in gaming at 13 hours 29 minutes versus 12 hours 4 minutes, and charged fully in 1 hour 3 minutes versus 1 hour 42 minutes. A much bigger pack may change the browsing and video results this year.
On cameras, Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Max has a 48MP main sensor, a 48MP ultra-wide, a 48MP telephoto with 8x zoom and an 18MP selfie camera. Xiaomi's expected answer is a 50MP main camera at f/1.67, a 50MP ultra-wide and a 50MP telephoto with 5x zoom. The 15 Ultra tied the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra at a photo score of 158 in PhoneArena's tests, so the new setup could keep Xiaomi near the top, though again that needs testing.
Much else overlaps: IP68 ratings, bright OLED screens and 120Hz refresh rates. Software support favors Apple. Xiaomi has raised its commitment to four years of OS updates and six years of security patches, which still falls short of Apple, Google and Samsung.
Availability is the larger obstacle. Xiaomi's phone is mostly a China product, with a possible global rollout at MWC next year. In the US, buyers would need to import it and check that it supports their carrier's bands. The real contest is therefore in China, where Apple faces its toughest competition and where the author says current stats and forecasts support Xiaomi's chances. Whether the 17 Pro Max can back up its name will become clear once independent testing begins.
Citazioni salienti
Xiaomi's president said the company is setting its new lineup against the iPhone 17.— Xiaomi's president, as reported by PhoneArena
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