One should never discount the inordinate capacity of Chinese smartphone manufacturers to mimic Apple to the umpteenth extent. As a case in point, consider the fact that Xiaomi has now skipped an entire number and changed the naming convention for its upcoming smartphone lineup, all to better align itself with Apple's iPhone 17.
To wit, Xiaomi was due to launch its 16-series smartphones in the next few weeks. However, the company has now skipped the 16th-gen label and jumped straight to the 17-series label for its upcoming smartphone lineup. What's more, in what is likely a nod to Apple's naming convention for its top-of-the-line iPhone model, Xiaomi has changed the name of its high-end 'Ultra' variant to 'Pro Max.'
Xiaomi claims in a Weibo post that its upcoming 17-series smartphone lineup is its "most significant leap forward." Notably, its base smartphone is expected to experience no price hikes, despite a material performance upgrade, thanks to Qualcomm's most advanced processor to-date: the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC.
Do note that the Xiaomi 15 smartphone launched at a price point of 4,499 CNY or around $630. This means that the upcoming base variant of the Xiaomi 17 lineup is also expected to launch at around this price point.
Elsewhere, as per a leaked tidbit, the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max is also expected to feature a rear display, which aligns with a previous rumor for the now-skipped 16th gen Xiaomi smartphones. Specifically, as per the leaked information, the rear display will be integrated within the back-camera island of sorts, and would likely serve as a handy tool to remain abreast with upcoming notifications without having to pick up the smartphone.
The render in the above X post also features a third camera module below the primary one, which is likely to be an ultra-wide angle camera lens.
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