Xiaomi’s Latest Apple Imitations Include a ‘Hyper Island’ Feature and a ‘Pad Mini’ Tablet

Xiaomi’s newest hardware lineup delivers some genuinely impressive Android devices — but it also once again underscores just how often the company borrows, mimics, and outright clones Apple’s designs.

The Chinese tech giant has a long history of “taking inspiration” from Cupertino. From familiar-looking hardware and suspiciously similar product names to software features that feel like déjà vu, Xiaomi’s Apple-inspired tendencies are hardly new. That’s not to say its products can’t stand on their own — they absolutely can — but the similarities are becoming too frequent to ignore.

This week, Xiaomi unveiled its latest global product lineup, including the Xiaomi 15T, alongside several updates that feel less like innovation and more like straight-up Apple cosplay.

HyperOS 3: Familiar Innovation

The star of the show is HyperOS 3, Xiaomi’s custom skin based on Android 16. According to the company, the update will bring new “HyperConnect” cross-device features, enhanced AI tools, a smarter gallery search, and deeper Gemini AI integration. The update — rolling out in October — looks solid on paper, but several UI elements seem suspiciously familiar.

One example is the revamped lock screen, which now supports “dynamic wallpapers” that interact with the clock and push parts of the image forward — almost identical to a feature Apple introduced in iOS not too long ago.

‘Hyper Island’: A Carbon Copy of Dynamic Island

Even more blatant is “Hyper Island” — Xiaomi’s clone of Apple’s Dynamic Island. The feature uses the space around the selfie camera to display contextual information such as timers, screen recordings, media controls, battery status, reminders, and more.

The animations, the transitions, even the overall aesthetic — it’s all eerily similar to Apple’s implementation.

Android manufacturers have experimented with Dynamic Island-style features before, but Xiaomi’s take is by far the most unapologetically derivative yet.

‘Pad Mini’: An iPad Mini Doppelgänger

Another standout from the launch is the Xiaomi Pad Mini, a compact Android tablet. With its 8.8-inch display, it’s slightly larger than Apple’s iPad mini, but in every other respect, the resemblance is hard to miss.

The physical design — including the shape, proportions, and even button placement — is almost identical.
And that purple finish? Practically indistinguishable from Apple’s own color palette.

Compact Android tablets have been making a comeback recently — and personally, that’s exciting — but Xiaomi’s Pad Mini seems less like a fresh alternative and more like a deliberate attempt to create an iPad mini clone.

Is Copying Apple a Problem for Xiaomi?

Not necessarily.

There’s a reason Apple products are so popular — and Xiaomi has built a successful brand of its own by offering similar ideas at a more accessible price. But these latest examples push that “inspiration” to the edge of blatant replication.

So the real question is: At what point does inspiration become imitation — and does it even matter if the products are good?