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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Best for Android users$1320 $1400 Save $80A vibrant AMOLED display, an S Pen with great features, and a whole lot more wrapped up in a titanium package. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is Samsung's statement on what a smartphone should be in 2024.
Pros- Big and bright OLED display
- Long-lasting battery
- Built-in stylus
Cons- Pricey
- Too big for some
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Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
Best for Apple usersFace ID, a smooth 120Hz ProMotion display, a lightweight titanium frame, and all the usual charms of iOS, the iPhone 15 Pro Max represents the best of what Apple has to offer in early 2024.
Pros- 120Hz ProMotion display
- Face ID
- iOS
Cons- Titanium frame prone to smudging
- Expensive
Key Takeaways
- The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max have similar price points, starting at $1,300, and offer different storage configurations and color options.
- The Galaxy S24 Ultra features a titanium build, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max uses titanium and stainless steel. The S24 Ultra has a flat display, while the iPhone has a Dynamic Island camera cutout.
- The S24 Ultra has a brighter OLED display with a higher pixel density compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It also has a larger battery, a built-in stylus, and a revamped telephoto camera. The choice between the two should be based on software preferences and ecosystem compatibility.
Following months of anticipation and rumors, Samsung finally announced the Galaxy S24 Ultra at its recent Unpacked event in San Jose, California. Pocket-lint will publish a review of the flagship Android device soon. In the meantime, if you're considering pre-ordering one before it arrives at retailers later this month, this guide will detail some of the differences between the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Price, availability and specs
Representing the best phone Samsung and Apple have to offer at the moment, the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max share similar price points. The former starts at $1,300. Samsung will offer the Galaxy S24 Ultra in three different storage configurations -- 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB -- and four colors: Titanium Black, Titanium Gray, Titanium Violet, and Titanium Yellow. Pre-orders for the S24 series are open now, with general availability to follow on Jan. 31.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max Brand Samsung Apple SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 A17 Pro Display 6.8 inches, Dynamic AMOLED 2X @ 3088 × 1440 (505ppi), 120Hz adaptive 6.7-inch, OLED, 2796 x 1290, 460ppi, HDR, 2000nits, 120Hz Storage 256GB/512GB/1TB 256/512GB/1TB Battery 5,000mAh 23 hours, 50% in 30 mins 20W wired, 15W MagSafe, 7.5W Qi wireless Ports USB-C USB-C Dimensions 163 × 79 × 8.6mm 159.9 x 76.7 x 8.25mm, 221g Colors Titanium Black, Blue, Gray, Green, Orange, Violet, Yellow Black Titanium, White Titanium, Blue Titanium, Natural Titanium IP Rating IP68 IP68 Material Titanium Titanium
Apple began selling the iPhone 15 Pro Max on Sept. 22, 2023. It starts at $1,199, and is available in four colorways: Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, White Titanium, and Black Titanium. Additionally, Apple offers the iPhone 15 Pro Max in three different storage configurations, with the base model featuring 256GB of space. The 512GB and 1TB variants cost $1,399 and $1,599, respectively.
You can see a quick rundown of the spec differences between the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max above. For a more detailed comparison between the two devices, continue reading.
Design and build
The similarities between the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max can be summarized in one word: titanium. After Apple made the material one of the headline features of the iPhone 15 Pro line in 2023, Samsung is now doing the same with its latest flagship.
In Samsung's case, the switch to the material is less impactful than you might think. Since the company used aluminum to produce the S23 Ultra's chassis, the S24 Ultra is only slightly lighter than its predecessor. By contrast, the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max are the lightest Pro handsets Apple has ever made, and it's all thanks to the decision to switch to titanium from stainless steel.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max review: Effortless performance
The iPhone 15 Pro Max delivers a superb performance and some great upgrades, not just in terms of camera but design too. Here's my review.At the time, Apple also claimed iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max were more durable than its previous Pro handsets. However, even before the two phones went on sale, people noticed they were prone to excessive smudging and discoloration. Apple eventually acknowledged the issue, updating a support document to note that “the oil from your skin might temporarily alter the color of the outside band” of the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. It remains to be seen if the S24 Ultra's titanium finishes will suffer from similar issues.
Aesthetically, the two phones have never looked more alike than they do now. With the S23 line, Samsung tweaked the Ultra's design to make the screen less curved and flatten the edges. This time around, Samsung has made a similar set of changes, leading to the S24 Ultra featuring a nearly flat display.
Display
On paper, the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro appear to offer similar screens. For one, they're not all that different in size, with the S24 Ultra featuring a 6.8-inch screen, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch one. What's more, Samsung's in-house display subsidiary produces the panels for both phones. That said, there are some subtle differences on account of the S24 Ultra featuring the latest generation of Samsung Display's OLED technology.
The S24 Ultra's OLED screen boasts a variable 120Hz refresh rate and a retina-searing peak brightness of 2,600 nits, making it the brightest screen Samsung has ever shipped on one of its phones. By contrast, the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s screen is limited to a more modest 2,000 nits of peak brightness. In practice, with the exception of outdoor use and HDR content consumption, the two phones should be plenty bright for most people. More consequentially, the S24 Ultra features the denser display of the two phones, with its 1,440 x 3,088 screen boasting a pixel density of 501 pixels per inch compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max's 460 pixels per inch.
Functionally, one other major difference between the screens of the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max is the latter's inclusion of Apple's Dynamic Island technology. Starting with last year's iPhone 14 Pro line, Apple began moving away from the notch design that had defined the design of its phones for years. The result was the Dynamic Island, a camera cutout that doubles as an interface element in iOS. Samsung has yet to produce something similar, and the Face ID camera the Dynamic Island houses remains one of the iPhone's more unique selling points.
Hardware and battery
Whether you pick the Galaxy S24 Ultra or iPhone 15 Pro Max, you will get the fastest, most powerful device in either Samsung or Apple's stable. In the case of the former, you're getting a phone with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and 12GB of RAM. The latter, meanwhile, features an Apple A17 Pro and 8GB of RAM. On paper and in benchmarks, the Galaxy S24 Ultra should be the faster phone, but with iOS (and the majority of third-party apps) optimized to make the most of Apple's in-house silicon, many consumers may end up preferring the iPhone 15 Pro Max. However, if you're in the market for a new flagship, I wouldn't make the decision based on performance alone.
What is a 3nm process chip and what does it mean for you?
MediaTek just announced its first 3nm process chip, and Apple may also announce its own very soon. But what are these 3nm chips?More compelling reasons to pick the S24 Ultra over the iPhone 15 Pro Max include a larger 5,000mAh battery, the inclusion of a built-in stylus and Samsung's promise of a better telephoto camera. Like the S23 Ultra, the new model features a camera system consisting of a 200-megapixel main sensor and 12-megapixel ultra-wide. Samsung has revamped the telephoto camera to replace the S23 Ultra's old 10-megapixel sensor with a new 50-megapixel one. With the help of AI and pixel binning, the company claims the new telephoto camera delivers optical-like quality zoom at up 10x while still offering 100x Space Zoom.
Software
Of course, the most meaningful difference between the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max is the software that comes pre-installed on them. Here, your preference for Android or iOS, and whether you own other Samsung or Apple products, will determine what device is best for you. That said, for those considering a switch, the Galaxy S24 Ultra introduces a few wrinkles to the equation.
First of all, starting with the Galaxy S24 series, Samsung has pledged to support its devices with seven years of platform and security updates. Provided Apple doesn't change its software policy anytime soon, that means the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max should get about the same number of major OS upgrades.
At Unpacked 2024, Samsung spent a lot of time talking up the S24 Ultra's new AI features. Those capabilities touch nearly every part of the phone's functionality. For instance, there's a new live-translation feature, along with enhanced proofreading and tone-correction abilities. How much those features improve the experience of using the Galaxy S24 Ultra is something Pocket-lint will attempt to answer in its upcoming review of the device.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. iPhone 15 Pro Max: Which phone is best for you?
Whatever device you decide on, you'll end up owning one of the best phones on the market in early 2024. The Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max represent the best Samsung and Apple have to offer right now. From a hardware perspective, there's no bad option between the two, so it's best to base your decision on the software ecosystems that surround the two phones. For instance, if you already own other Apple products, it doesn't make much sense to buy a Galaxy S24 Ultra; you'll just end up making it harder for yourself to make the most out of your existing devices.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
That said, if you're strictly looking for the most feature-rich phone right, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the phone to beat right now. After all, it's the newer phone, and includes everything Samsung has been working on since it released the Galaxy S23 line in early 2023.
