Xiaomi 18 Pro Max vs Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.9-inch Xiaomi 18 Pro Max (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6) that was released on September 23, 2026, against the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A20 Pro and came out 1 month before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max
  • Comes with 2933 mAh larger battery capacity: 8500 vs 5567 mAh
  • 43% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (5001K versus 3504K)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (100W versus 60W)
  • Slow-motion recording at 1920FPS
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
  • Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
  • The rear camera has a 4x optical zoom
  • 10% higher pixel density (460 vs 418 PPI)
  • 26% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 4725 and 3762 points
  • Ready for eSIM technology

Review

Evaluation of Xiaomi 18 Pro Max and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
12 / 256 GB
VS
12 / 256 GB
35.5
(Mediocre)
Value Index
37.3
(Mediocre)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type AMOLED OLED
Size 6.9 inches 6.9 inches
Resolution 1208 x 2624 pixels 1320 x 2868 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 418 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 1200 nits 3000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 4000 nits 1600 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Touch sampling rate 300 Hz -
Screen protection Dragon Crystal Glass 3 Ceramic Shield 2
Screen-to-body ratio 92.1% 91.6%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display

Design and build

Height 163.39 mm (6.43 inches) 163.4 mm (6.43 inches)
Width 77.6 mm (3.06 inches) 78 mm (3.07 inches)
Thickness 8.39 mm (0.33 inches) 8.75 mm (0.34 inches)
Weight 235 g (8.29 oz) 249 g (8.78 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Rear material Plastic Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Blue, Red, Pink Black, Silver, Blue, Burgundy
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Screen-to-body ratio
92.1%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Xiaomi 18 Pro Max and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 Apple A20 Pro
Max clock 5010 MHz 4930 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 3 + 3) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 3 cores at 3.74 GHz:
- 3 cores at 4.03 GHz:
- 2 cores at 5.01 GHz:
- 4 cores at 2.64 GHz:
- 2 cores at 4.93 GHz:
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 2 nanometers 2 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Adreno 850 7 core Apple GPU
GPU shading units 1536 896
GPU clock 1450 MHz 1620 MHz
FLOPS ~4454.4 GFLOPS ~2903 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Xiaomi 18 Pro Max and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
3762
4725
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
11459
12575
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) - 55104
Single-core score 3762 4725
Multi-core score 11459 12575
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
18 Pro Max +43%
5001234
CPU 1431500 964766
GPU 1947800 1393271
Memory 500900 400483
UX 1121034 745645
Total score 5001234 3504165
Samples Less than 3 Less than 3

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 12 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory clock - 4800 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 256 GB
Storage type UFS 4.1 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 17 iOS 27
ROM HyperOS 4 -
OS updates 6 years 7 years
Security updates 6 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 8500 mAh 5567 mAh
Max charge power 100 W 60 W
Battery type Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (50 W) Yes (25 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes
Bypass charging Yes No
Fast charging Yes Yes (77% in 30 min)
Full charging time - 0:55 hr

Main camera

Matrix 200 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution - 8064 x 6048
Zoom Optical, 3.2x Optical, 4x
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS No
4K video recording Up to 120FPS Up to 120FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 120FPS
Slow motion 1920 FPS (720p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 102° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 200 MP
2) Telephoto: 200 MP
3) Ultrawide: 50 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Telephoto: 48 MP
3) Ultrawide: 48 MP
4) Depth
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 200 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.7 f/1.5 - 4.0
Focal length 23 mm 24 mm
Sensor size 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch) 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch)
Pixel size 0.61 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 200 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.8
Focal length 75 mm 100 mm
Sensor Samsung ISOCELL HP5 -
Sensor size 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 0.7 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 50 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.2
Focal length 17 mm 13 mm
Sensor OmniVision OV50M40 -
Sensor size 1/2.88" (≈ 0.35 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 0.61 micron 0.7 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

Selfie camera

Megapixels 50 megapixels 18 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 4896 x 3672
Aperture f/2.2 f/1.9
Focal length 21 mm 20 mm
Sensor OmniVision OV50M40 CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.88" (≈ 0.35 inch) -
Pixel size 0.61 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Optical
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 6.0 6.0
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port Yes No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 -
Type of SIM card Nano eSIM
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No Yes
Hybrid slot No No
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers 2.1 Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2026 September 2026
Release date September 2026 September 2026
Launch price (MSRP) $1299 $1299
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
Bundled charger Yes, 100 W Not included
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the display, software, design, and sound are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max. But if the battery life is more of a priority – go for the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
41 (83.7%)
8 (16.3%)
Total votes: 49

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