One of the important smartphone battles of the year is about to begin: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs. iPhone 14 Pro Max. Now that Samsung has debuted its newest smartphones, we can start our formal comparison.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max, which we rank as Apple’s initial best phone, was released right away. The iPhone is a terrific phone and undoubtedly one of the best we’ve tested with its upgraded cameras, Dynamic Island display, and powerful but economical chipset.
Will the Galaxy S23 Ultra threaten the status of the iPhone 14 Pro Max as the top-of-the-line device? Our initial impressions of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, based on our hands-on time with the device, indicate that Samsung is off to a strong start, with a fantastic chipset, an exciting 200MP main camera, as well as many other improvements and modifications.
Read on for a thorough comparison of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and the iPhone 14 Pro Max if you’re trying to decide which phone to buy or simply want to know which one is better. There is more RAM in the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G than in the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G offers a higher resolution of 3088 x 1440 compared to the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max, which has a resolution of 2796 x 1290. The internal memory of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G is more than that of the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Price and Release
At least in the United States, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a starting price of $1,199, the same as the Galaxy S22 Ultra. (The £1,249 entry-level model costs a little more in the U.K.) The Galaxy S23 Ultra has 256GB of storage as standard, which is double the capacity of the phone from a year ago. Additionally, you get twice the capacity in the cheapest iPhone 14 Pro Max, for which Apple charges the same $1,199 as the Ultra. Samsung is already accepting Galaxy S23 preorders; the Galaxy S23 Ultra will ship on February 17. One of the finest Galaxy S23 discounts comes from Samsung, which will upgrade your storage at no additional cost, allowing you to purchase a 512GB Ultra for the same price as a 256GB model. Pre-orders may also be eligible for a $100 credit.
Comparison of Displays
It’s challenging to distinguish the differences between the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the iPhone 13 Pro Max from the previous year, but they do exist. The iPhone’s camera bump has been slightly enlarged to accommodate the improved optics, and the traditional notch for the front cameras has been replaced with a new Dynamic Island housing.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Galaxy S22 Ultra it replaces are virtually identical. You’ll still have a convenient way to draw and take proper handwritten notes all on a pocket-sized smartphone thanks to the separate rear cameras, squared-off profile, curved sides, and punch-hole selfie camera, which appear to be still present.
Phantom Black, Cream, Green, and Lavender are the standard color options for the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but you can also buy the device in four additional hues through Samsung. Space Black, Deep Purple, Silver, and Gold are the new color options available for the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Memory Comparison
The greater 12 GB RAM of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G is superior to the smaller 6 GB RAM of the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max for gaming. More internal memory (256 GB) is available on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G than the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max (128 GB).
Comparing two Cameras
With a new 48MP main camera that can shoot in both 12MP and 48MP RAW formats for additional brightness or detail depending on the user’s preferences, Apple gave the iPhone 14 Pro Max a camera upgrade. Similar to the earlier iPhone 14 models, the most recent iPhone has an auto-focusing 12MP front camera, but its ultrawide sensor is larger than before. The 12MP 3x telephoto and depth-sensing LiDAR scanners are the same.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra has seen the most significant modification in its camera department, with its 200MP main camera standing out. In low light situations, you can merge 16 pixels into one to create a 12MP image, but you can also shoot at 50 MP resolution or in the full 200MP mode. The latter method ought to result in images with rich backgrounds that you can crop. The dual 10MP telephoto lenses and 12MP ultrawide lenses from the Galaxy S22 Ultra are still available.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra replaces the 40 MP front camera of its predecessor with a 12MP selfie camera. It’s not the downgrade that the reduction in pixels would have you believe because Samsung has upgraded the night photo and video capturing tools and has faster autofocus.
An astrophotography mode, an upgraded AI-powered algorithm for better low-light images, and improved portrait shots are a few of the software enhancements Samsung promotes for its new phones. We’re interested to see how these features impact the camera performance of the Galaxy S23 Ultra in comparison to the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max presently holds the top spot in our ranking of the best camera phones, surpassing the Galaxy S22 Ultra by a full four spots despite lacking Samsung’s potent telephoto zoom range. Samsung’s oversaturated, over-smooth photographs have kept it from keeping up with Apple’s smartphones, so it will need to upgrade both its hardware and photo processing algorithms to defeat Apple.
A Technical Comparison
The Android operating system on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G is version 13, whereas the iOS operating system on the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max is version v16.