Galaxy S24 Ultra vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: Which flagship could be better?
Apple/SamsungNot sure if you should buy the iPhone 15 Pro Max or wait for the Galaxy S24 Ultra? Here’s a head-on comparison between the two to help you decide.
iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple’s most expensive superphone, is a big step forward. It is the most significant upgrade we’ve seen in recent years, with a powerful new camera and USB-C port. You’ll also notice the device is lighter than last year’s iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The iPhone is a complete beast in price and features, but is it the obvious choice for a flagship phone, or should you wait to see what the Galaxy S24 Ultra has to offer?
Samsung is said to be making major upgrades to the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is expected to be released in January 2024. It could bring an even better camera system, a bright display, and a powerful processor. The flagship may also come clad in Titanium.
We compare the leaks and rumors we know about the Galaxy S24 Ultra and pit it against the iPhone 15 Pro Max to help you decide which could be better.
Design
David MartinDespite packing a better camera and display, the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s lightweight design is its best feature. The new Apple device uses Titanium frames, which cuts its weight by around 20g (the 14 Pro Max weighs 240g).
The iPhone also gets thinner screen bezels and it’s a hair shorter than the 14 Pro Max. The rest of the design remains the same. You see flat frames and flat glass sides with a notably huge camera housing.
iPhone 15 Pro Max is taller than the rest of the models in the lineup, featuring a 6.7-inch display. The screen is as good as it gets. Seriously, the iPhone uses an LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED with 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10, Dolby Vision, 2000 nits peak brightness, and 1290x2796px resolution.
Samsung is rarely behind Apple when it comes to offering bleeding-edge specifications. Reports suggest the Korean company is exploring Titanium frames for the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and there are also leaked live images showcasing the phone with a new build.
As seen in the images, the upcoming Samsung flagship appears nearly identical to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but with a flat screen and back. Additionally, there’s a Titanium casing, replacing the Armor Aluminum from the S23 series.
The display on the Galaxy S24 Ultra should be taller than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, measuring 6.8 inches. Samsung could use Dynamic AMOLED on the smartphone, offering a particularly extreme 2,500 nits brightness.
The S24 Ultra’s screen could refresh at up to 144Hz, beating the iPhone’s ProMotion 120Hz display.
Camera
Apple’s camera game is and has been strong for the longest time. With the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the Cupertino company has unveiled its best camera system so far.
It has the same general setup as last year’s 14 Pro, a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, a 48MP main camera, and a 12MP telephoto camera, but with some key differences. For one, the telephoto shooter now has 5X zoom, up from 3X.
Another difference is that the main camera now captures 24MP photos by default, up from 12MP.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s camera system, on the other hand, is expected to be in its own league. While the main camera on the phone is expected to use the same 200MP sensor as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, reports suggest Samsung could bump up its size to an inch.
The S24 Ultra might also bring a 50MP periscope camera offering 5x optical zoom with 0.7μm pixel size. The rest two cameras could be a 12MP Ultrawide and a 10MP optical shooter— the same as the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Specifications
| | Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Rumored specs) | Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4nm) | Apple A17 Pro (3nm) |
| RAM | 12GB LPDDR5X (max) | 8GB LPDDR5 (max) |
| Battery | 5000mAh | 4441mAh |
| Charging | 45W | 25.5W |
| Display | 6.8-inch AMOLED | 6.7-inch OLED |
| Cameras | 200+12+50+10, 12MP front. Quad camera with 5x optical zoom | 48+ 12+ 12. Triple camera system with 5x optical zoom. |
| Price | Starting at $1,199 (expected price) | Starting at $1,199 |
Packing the 3nm A17 Pro bionic chip, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is arguably the most powerful smartphone in the market. However, the chip is not so far ahead of Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which should power the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
In Geekbench’s multi-core test, the Qualcomm chip scored 7,501 points, which is in fact better than Apple’s A17 Pro (7,237 points). However, Apple’s silicon brings enough firepower to run PS5-quality games and it is even claimed to be more efficient.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 also promises efficiency, but we are yet to see how it will perform on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Notably, some of the Galaxy S24 Ultra models could also be equipped with the Exynos 2400 chip, manufactured by Samsung itself.
The Exynos chip is expected to be powerful enough to compete with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. However, past trends may deter some users from purchasing the Galaxy S24 Ultra. For the unaware, Exynos chips are notorious for having poor thermals and performance issues.
Storage options on both Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max could be the same— 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. However, the S24 Ultra could get more RAM (up to 12GB) than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which only has 8GB RAM.
Which flagship could be better?
So, which phone could be the better choice: the iPhone 15 Pro Max or the Galaxy S24 Ultra? It wouldn’t be fair to pick a side since both phones are top-notch. If you’re on Team Android, waiting for the Galaxy S24 Ultra might be the way to go. If you lean towards iOS, the iPhone 15 Pro should naturally be your choice.
But if you don’t care about the operating system, you might want to wait and see what the Galaxy S24 Ultra has to offer. Samsung is rumored to launch the Galaxy S24 Ultra on January 17 in an event taking place in San Jose. Pre-orders might begin right after the event, with shipments expected to arrive between January 26 and 30.