Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max VS Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Another year brings another iPhone, typically with a few incremental upgrades. But the iPhone 16 Pro Max is far from a minor update. Its display has grown to 6.9″ (up from 6.7″), the camera bump is more pronounced with high-resolution sensors, and it’s powered by a cutting-edge 3nm processor.
It’s entering a competitive market where the Galaxy S24 Ultra is already a heavyweight, boasting a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip optimized for Galaxy, a beautiful 6.8″ AMOLED screen, S Pen support, advanced AI features, and top-tier cameras.
So, has Apple pushed the iPhone 16 Pro Max far enough to maintain its edge, or have Android flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra caught up? Let’s dive into how the iPhone 16 Pro Max compares to its rival.
| iPhone 16 Pro Max | Galaxy S24 Ultra |
|---|---|
| Second-gen 3nm Apple A18 Pro chip | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 “For Galaxy” tuning |
| 48 MP main camera | 200 MP main camera |
| New, 6.9-inch display, OLED, 120 Hz | 6.8-inch, AMOLED screen, 120 Hz |
| New Camera Control Action Button | No special buttons |
| No stylus inside | Rocks an integrated S Pen |
| Apple’s AI incoming | Samsung AI with summary, transcripts, live translate, generative edit |
| 4,685 mAh battery | 5,000 mAh battery |
| 20 W wired charging | 45 W wired charging |
| 25 W MagSafe | Slower 15 W wireless charging |
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| Price | £1,179.00 £733.75 |
| Our Rating | |
| Brand | Apple Samsung |
| Category | Smartphones Smartphones |
Prices
| UK Price | 8GB 256GB £1,179 / 8GB 512GB £1,379 / 8GB 1TB £1,579 12GB 256GB £733.75 / 12GB 512GB £899.99 / 12GB 1TB £1,117.99 |
Launch
| Announced | 2024, September 09 2024, January 17 |
| Status | Available. Released 2024, September 20 Available. Released 2024, January 24 |
Network
| Technology | GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE / 5G GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE / 5G |
| 2G bands |
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 (dual-SIM) CDMA 800 / 1900 GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 (Dual SIM model only) CDMA 800 / 1900 & TD-SCDMA |
| 3G bands |
HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO |
| 4G bands |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48, 53, 66 - A3296 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48, 53, 66, 71 - A3084 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48, 53, 66, 71 - A3295 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48, 66 - A3297 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 32, 38, 39, 40, 41, 66 - International 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41, 48, 66, 71 - USA |
| 5G bands |
1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 38, 40, 41, 48, 53, 66, 70, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79 SA/NSA/Sub6 - A3296 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 40, 41, 48, 53, 66, 70, 71, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 258, 260, 261 SA/NSA/Sub6/mmWave - A3084 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 40, 41, 48, 53, 66, 70, 71, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79 SA/NSA/Sub6 - A3295 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 38, 40, 41, 48, 66, 70, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79 SA/NSA/Sub6 - A3297 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 20, 25, 26, 28, 38, 40, 41, 66, 75, 77, 78 SA/NSA/Sub6 - International 1, 7, 25, 28, 41, 66, 71, 78, 257, 258, 260, 261 SA/NSA/Sub6/mmWave - USA |
| Speed | HSPA, LTE, 5G, EV-DO Rev.A 3.1 Mbps HSPA, LTE (up to 7CA), 5G |
Body
| Dimensions | 163 x 77.6 x 8.3 mm (6.42 x 3.06 x 0.33 in) 162.3 x 79 x 8.6 mm (6.39 x 3.11 x 0.34 in) |
| Weight | 227 g (8.01 oz) 232 g or 233 g (8.18 oz) |
| Build | Glass front (Corning-made glass), glass back (Corning-made glass), titanium frame (grade 5) Glass front (Corning Gorilla Armor), glass back (Corning Gorilla Armor), titanium frame (grade 2) |
| SIM |
Nano-SIM and eSIM - International Dual eSIM with multiple numbers - USA Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) - China Nano-SIM and eSIM/ Dual eSIM or Dual SIM (2 Nano-SIMs and eSIM, dual stand-by) |
| Others |
IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 6m for 30 min) Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified) IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min) Stylus (Bluetooth integration, accelerometer, gyro) |
Display
| Type | LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED, 120Hz, HDR10, Dolby Vision, 1000 nits (typ), 2000 nits (HBM) Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 2600 nits (peak) |
| Size | 6.3 inches, 97.2 cm2 (~90.9% screen-to-body ratio) 6.8 inches, 113.5 cm2 (~88.5% screen-to-body ratio) |
| Resolution | 1206 x 2622 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~458 ppi density) 1440 x 3120 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~505 ppi density) |
| Protection | Ceramic Shield glass (2024 gen) Corning Gorilla Armor |
| Features | Always-On display Always-on display |
Platform
| OS | iOS 18 Android 14, up to 7 major Android upgrades, One UI 6.1.1 |
| Chipset | Apple A18 Pro (3 nm) Qualcomm SM8650-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm) |
| CPU | Hexa-core (2x4.04 GHz + 4x2.X GHz) 8-core (1x3.39GHz Cortex-X4 & 3x3.1GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.9GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.2GHz Cortex-A520) |
| GPU | Apple GPU (6-core graphics) Adreno 750 (1 GHz) |
Memory
| Card slot | No No |
| Internal | 256/512 GB / 1TB NVMe 256/512 GB, 1TB UFS 4.0 |
| RAM | 8 GB 12 GB |
| Variant | 8GB 256GB / 8GB 512GB / 8GB 1TB 12GB 256GB / 12GB 512GB / 12GB 1TB |
Main camera
| Triple |
48 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.28", 1.22µm, dual pixel PDAF, sensor-shift OIS 12 MP, f/2.8, 120mm (periscope telephoto), 1/3.06", 1.12µm, dual pixel PDAF, 3D sensor‑shift OIS, 5x optical zoom 48 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), 0.7µm, PDAF TOF 3D LiDAR scanner (depth) |
| Quad |
200 MP, f/1.7, 24mm (wide), 1/1.3", 0.6µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS 10 MP, f/2.4, 67mm (telephoto), 1/3.52", 1.12µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom 50 MP, f/3.4, 111mm (periscope telephoto), 1/2.52", 0.7µm, PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.55", 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF, Super Steady video |
| Features | Dual-LED dual-tone flash, HDR (photo/panorama) Laser AF, LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama |
| Video | 4K@24/25/30/60/100/120fps, 1080p@25/30/60/120/240fps, 10-bit HDR, Dolby Vision HDR (up to 60fps), ProRes, 3D (spatial) video/audio, stereo sound rec. 8K@24/30fps, 4K@30/60/120fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS |
Selfie camera
| Single |
12 MP, f/1.9, 23mm (wide), 1/3.6", PDAF, OIS SL 3D, (depth/biometrics sensor) 12 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), dual pixel PDAF |
| Features | HDR, Dolby Vision HDR, 3D (spatial) audio, stereo sound rec. Dual video call, Auto-HDR, HDR10+ |
| Video | 4K@24/25/30/60fps, 1080p@25/30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps |
Sound
| Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers Yes, with stereo speakers |
| 3.5mm jack |
No
No 32-bit/384kHz audio Tuned by AKG |
COMMS
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e/7, dual-band, hotspot Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e/7, tri-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 5.3, A2DP, LE 5.3, A2DP, LE |
| Positioning | GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS, NavIC GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS |
| NFC | Yes Yes |
| Radio | No No |
| USB | USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort USB Type-C 3.2, DisplayPort 1.2, OTG |
Features
| Sensors |
Face ID, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer Ultra Wideband (UWB) support (gen2 chip) Emergency SOS, Messages and Find My via satellite Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support) Ultra Wideband (UWB) support Circle to Search |
Battery
| Type | Li-Ion 4685 mAh, non-removable Li-Ion 5000 mAh, non-removable |
| Charging |
Wired, PD2.0, 50% in 30 min (advertised) 25W wireless (MagSafe), 15W wireless (China only) 15W wireless (Qi2) 4.5W reverse wired 45W wired, PD3.0, 65% in 30 min (advertised) 15W wireless (Qi/PMA) 4.5W reverse wireless |
Misc
| Color | Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, Desert Titanium Titanium Black, Titanium Gray, Titanium Violet, Titanium Yellow, Titanium Blue, Titanium Green, Titanium Orange |
| Models | A3296, A3084, A3295, A3297, iPhone17,2 SM-S928B, SM-S928B/DS, SM-S928U, SM-S928U1, SM-S928W, SM-S928N, SM-S9280, SM-S928E, SM-S928E/DS |
| SAR | 1.01 W/kg (head) 1.15 W/kg (body) 1.26 W/kg (head) 0.62 W/kg (body) |
| SAR EU | 1.22 W/kg (head) 1.45 W/kg (body) 1.06 W/kg (head) 1.30 W/kg (body) |
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