Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: the rumored key differences

Editor's note: The Samsung Galaxy S24 range has been officially revealed, detailing the standard model, Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra. So we’ll be working on updating this versus with official details. But in the meantime our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 review, hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review and hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review. And for everything announced at the first Samsung Galaxy Unpacked of 2024, take a look at our Galaxy Unpacked live blog and recap.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max is Apple’s top phone and one of the very best phones you can buy. But it’s about to gain some significant competition, as the Samsung Galaxy S24 line is landing on January 17, and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in particular is set to be a serious rival.

This upcoming Android superphone could have more cameras and a bigger screen than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, along with some similarities, such as a titanium frame.

So which should you consider buying? Well, we don’t know anything for certain about the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra yet, but leaks have suggested a lot. And based on those leaks – coupled with everything we know from our hands-on experiences seen in our iPhone 15 Pro Max review – here’s how these two phones are likely to compare.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: specs comparison

The table below contains the key official specs of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, alongside the rumored Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra specs, so you can see at a glance how these two flagships are likely to compare.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: price and availability

The iPhone 15 Pro Max was launched back in September, and it’s widely available globally. Its starting price is $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,199, which gets you a version with 256GB of storage. You can also pay $1,399.99 / £1,399 / AU$2,549 for 512GB, or $1,599.99 / £1,599 / AU$2,899 for 1TB. In all cases the phone has 8GB of RAM.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is set to be announced on January 17, with Samsung Galaxy S24 pre-orders probably opening the same day, and the phone potentially shipping on January 26 from what we’ve heard (though that’s not confirmed).

Leaks suggest its pricing – and likely its storage configurations – will be the same as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, which would mean a starting price of $1,199.99 / £1,249 / AU$1,949, and that would get you 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM.

Prices would then rise to $1,379.99 / £1,399 / AU$2,249 for 512GB of storage and 12GB of RAM, and $1,619.99 / £1,599 / AU$2,649 for 1TB of storage and 12GB of RAM.

So if those prices prove accurate, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra would have the same US starting price as the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but would cost £50 more in the UK, and AU$250 less in Australia.

At the top end, the Galaxy S24 Ultra would cost $20 more but AU$250 less, and would have the same price as the iPhone 15 Pro Max in the UK. So prices should broadly be similar then, if these Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra price leaks are accurate.

Samsung Galaxy S24: pre-register your interest and get up to $100 store credit when your preorder
While the devices themselves haven't been officially announced yet, Samsung has already launched a reservation campaign for its upcoming new generation of smartphones – highly likely to be the Galaxy S24 range. Simply register using your email address at the official Samsung site to reserve your place and get a notification once preorders go live (likely 17th January). This reservation campaign is completely free and will score you up to $100 in Samsung Store credit with your preorder – enough to bag some cheap accessories!

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: design and display

The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a glass back, a titanium frame, and a flat screen with a large Dynamic Island cut into it. It also has a large, squared triple-lens camera block on the rear.

In some ways the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra might be quite similar, as this is also rumored to have a titanium frame (which is a more premium material than aluminum or stainless steel).

And it will almost certainly also have a glass back, but based on Galaxy S24 Ultra leaks, we’re expecting the camera lenses to jut individually out of the back, rather than being housed in a block, and the phone will probably have less curvy corners.

Leaks and past form also suggest that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will have just a tiny punch-hole cut-out in the display, rather than a larger – but more useful – Dynamic Island. And Samsung’s phone will likely lack the Action button found on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which acts as a customizable shortcut, though it will undoubtably have an S Pen stylus and a slot to house it, which Apple's phone doesn't have.

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Still, one other similarity is that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will likely have an IP68 rating, just like the iPhone 15 Pro Max, meaning the same level of water and dust resistance.

As for their dimensions, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is 159.9 x 76.7 x 8.3mm, and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is rumored to be 162.3 x 79 x 8.6mm, which would make Samsung’s phone slightly larger and thicker. It will also probably be heavier, with leaks suggesting a weight of 232g, compared to 221g for the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

And the colors will probably differ too, at least a little. The iPhone 15 Pro Max colors include Black Titanium, White Titanium, Blue Titanium, and Natural Titanium, while the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra colors will reportedly include Titanium Violet, Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, Titanium Yellow, Sapphire Blue, Jade Green, and Sandstone Orange.

As for their screens, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch 1290 x 2796 OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra though is rumored to have a 6.8-inch 1440 x 3120 AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2,600 nits. So Samsung’s screen might be slightly larger and brighter, but otherwise probably similar.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: cameras

The iPhone 15 Pro Max is one of the best camera phones you can buy, packing a 48MP f/1.8 main camera, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide with a 120-degree field of view, and a 12MP f/2.8 periscope camera offering 5x optical zoom, along with a 12MP f/1.9 camera on the front.

Specs leaks suggest that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s cameras will include a 200MP f/1.7 main camera, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide with a 120-degree field of view, a 10MP f/2.4 telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and a 50MP f/3.4 periscope camera with 5x optical zoom, plus a 12MP f/2.2 camera on the front.

So both phones will probably have 12MP selfie cameras, and both are likely to offer 5x optical zoom on the rear. But the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is thought to additionally offer 3x optical zoom, and to have more megapixels in its main and periscope cameras.

Does that mean it will be better? Not necessarily, though the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra tops our list of the best camera phones currently, so there’s a very high chance that its successor will do the same.

And the Galaxy S24 could have an ace up its sleeve, as reports suggest the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will have a lot of AI camera capabilities, such as the ability to move people around in photos, extend backgrounds, and upgrade the quality of video recordings.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: performance

For performance, there’s a very high chance the iPhone 15 Pro Max will win, as its A17 Pro chipset has every Android phone beat in benchmarks. That said, the iPhone 15 Pro Max only has 8GB of RAM, which isn’t all that much for a top-end phone, though Apple is very efficient with its use of memory.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will reportedly have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset, which is expert to be an overclocked version of the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which itself is the best chipset currently available to Android phones. And reports suggest that it will be paired with up to 12GB of RAM.

So both of these phones should be top performers. We know the iPhone is, as we said that it offers “fantastic performance” that “makes console gaming a reality in an iPhone.” It remains to be seen exactly how the Galaxy S24 Ultra will compare, but even if it doesn’t quite reach the same heights, it should still excel in pretty much every smartphone task.

As for storage, the iPhone 15 Pro Max comes with between 256GB and 1TB, and while some sources disagree, the bulk of leaks suggests the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will also have those maximum and minimum storage amounts.

For software, the iPhone 15 Pro Max runs iOS 17, and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will of course run Android (presumably Android 14), overlaid with the latest version of Samsung’s One UI.

Both operating systems are similarly capable, and you likely already know what your preference is here. Do note that Samsung is heavily teasing AI features, so if you want a big taste of AI on a phone then the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra could have the edge.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: battery life

The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a 4,441mAh battery with up to 27W wired charging and 15W wireless, while the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is rumored to have a 5,000mAh battery with 45W wired charging, 15W wireless, and Wireless Power Share, allowing you to use it to wirelessly charge other devices.

So the Galaxy S24 Ultra will probably charge a lot faster, as well as having a slightly bigger battery. Is that a win for it here then? Not necessarily, as it depends how efficient the phone is in the first place.

In the case of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, we found that it lasted for 28 hours of mixed use. Apple’s own battery claims include up to 29 hours of video playback or up to 95 hours of audio playback.

We obviously don’t have stats yet for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, but its rumored battery specs are identical to those of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which in our Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review we found lasted a day and a half, while Samsung’s own stats for that phone include up to 25 hours of internet usage, up to 26 hours of video playback, or up to 99 hours of audio playback.

Battery life then will probably be broadly similar on these two competing phones.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: outlook

Based on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra leaks we’ve seen, it’s likely that this upcoming phone will have a brighter screen than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, along with an extra camera, more megapixels in some of its cameras, more AI skills, more RAM, a bigger battery, and faster charging.

However, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is likely to be more powerful, and while its battery is probably smaller the actual life might be similar. These two phones will probably be priced closely too, and are likely to have other similarities, such as both having a titanium frame.

The biggest difference will probably be the same as it is every year – namely the operating system – with Apple’s phone running iOS, while Samsung’s runs Android.

As most people are firmly in one camp or the other, that might be enough of a reason to choose one over the other. But for everyone else, this could be a tough call, with the iPhone 15 Pro Max ranking among the very best phones you can buy, and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra looking set to do likewise.

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