Xiaomi 18 Pro Max global leak reveals a performance-focused beast
Forget the iPhone – Xiaomi could have the best Pro Max phone of the year.
The upcoming 18 Pro Max, which debuted in China last month and is confirmed to launch globally, just had two of its key specs leaked on the Geekbench AI benchmark (via @ZionsAnvin on X). And it’s shaping up to be a beast.
Let’s start with the big news: the chipset. Just like in China, the phone will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. That’s Qualcomm’s brand-new silicon that’s specifically designed for high-end devices.
With RAMageddon wreaking havoc on the tech industry, you’d be forgiven for worrying about a potential downgrade, but Xiaomi has stuck with 12GB of the fast LPDDR5X standard. In China, this can be upgraded to 16GB, but it remains to be seen if this will be offered on the global version.
As usual for a Chinese phone that launches globally, the silicon-carbon battery will have a smaller capacity, dropping from 8500mAh to 7000mAh. However, that’s still significantly larger than most Android flagships.
Most of the other specs are likely to remain unchanged, including that 6.9-inch display and a separate 2.9 screen next to the rear cameras (both OLED). The dual 200Mp lenses (main and 3.2x periscope telephoto) are also likely to be a real highlight.
Oh, and let’s not forget Xiaomi’s version of the Galaxy S26 Ultra‘s privacy display, as shown in an official poster below.
Xiaomi
However, it’s not just hardware where the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max is likely to impress…
Xiaomi and Apple – best of friends?
Sharing files and other data between Android and Apple devices is slowly getting better, but Xiaomi could be about to supercharge it.
As TechNode reports, the company has announced a raft of features that’ll allow its phones to integrate more seamlessly with the iPhone, iPad and Mac.
These include the supposedly seamless sharing of photos, videos, files, contacts and even web pages between the two. Plus, the ability to sync notifications between devices and reply to messages without having to switch devices.
Xiaomi
It marks a big step forward for Xiaomi phones and Android handsets more generally, which haven’t always played nicely with Apple hardware.
HyperOS 4 is already available on the 18 Pro Max in China, and looks set to roll out more widely to compatible Xiaomi phones this month. Despite the name, you can think of it as Xiaomi’s heavily modified Android 17 skin.
However, a big question remains: how much will it cost in the UK and Europe? Regardless, it’s shaping up to be one of the best phones of the year.
