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The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra launched recently, alongside its siblings, and manage to exceed expectations in our initial testing. We’ve already compared it with its predecessor, and it’s time to do the same with the best of Apple. In this article, we’ll compare the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max. Both of these smartphones are truly excellent, but also considerably different.
Their differences are visible in a number of categories, so we’ll take things one step at a time, as per usual. We’ll first list their specifications, and will then move to a number of other categories. We’ll compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance. That being said, let’s get started, shall we?
Specs
| Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra | Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max | |
| Screen size | 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display (curved, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, LTPO, down to 1Hz, 1,750 nits peak brightness) | 6.7-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display (120Hz refresh rate) |
| Screen resolution | 3080 x 1440 | 2796 x 1290 |
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy | Apple A16 Bionic |
| RAM | 8GB/12GB (LPDDR5X) | 6GB |
| Storage | 256GB/512GB/1TB, non-expandable (UFS 4.0) | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, non-expandable |
| Rear cameras | 200MP (f/1.7 aperture, 24mm lens, 0.6um pixel size, multi-directional PDAF, Laser AF, OIS) 12MP (ultrawide, Dual Pixel AF, 120-degree FoV, f/2.2 aperture, 1.4um pixel size) 10MP (telephoto, Dual Pixel AF, OIS, f/2.4 aperture, 1.12um pixel size, 70mm lens, optical zoom 3x) 10MP (telephoto, Dual Pixel AF, OIS, f/4.9 aperture, 1.22um pixel size, 230mm lens, 10x optical zoom, 100x Space Zoom) |
48MP (f/1.8 aperture, wide-angle, 1.22um pixel size, sensor-shift OIS, dual pixel PDAF) 12MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 13mm, 120-degree FoV, 1.4um pixel size, dual pixel PDAF) 12MP (telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 77mm lens, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom) |
| Front cameras | 12MP (f/2.2 aperture, 26mm lens, Dual Pixel PDAF) | 12MP (wide-angle, f/1.9 aperture, 23mm lens, PDAF) SL 3D (depth/biometrics sensor) |
| Battery | 5,000mAh, non-removable, 45W wired charging, 15W Qi wireless charging, 4.5W Wireless PowerShare Charger not included |
4,323mAh, non-removable, 23W wired charging, 15W MagSafe wireless charging, 7.5W Qi wireless charging, 5W reverse wireless charging Charger not included |
| Dimensions | 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9mm | 160.7 x 77.6 x 7.9mm |
| Weight | 234 grams | 240 grams |
| Connectivity | 5G, LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C | 5G, LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, Lightning port |
| Security | In-display fingerprint scanner (ultrasonic) | Advanced facial scanning |
| OS | Android 13 One UI 5.1 |
iOS 16 |
| Price | $1,199.99/$1,299/$1,399/N/A (1TB) | $1,099/$1,199/$1,399/$1,599 |
| Buy | Samsung | Apple |
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: Design
Both of these phones are made out of metal and glass. The materials are not the same, though, and they certainly do look different in comparison. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is made out of aluminum (Armor Aluminum, as Samsung calls it) and glass (Gorilla Glass Victus 2). The iPhone 14 Pro Max is made out of stainless steel, and “Corning-made glass” (on the back). Apple did not specify which one, though.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra has flat top and bottom sides, with curved left and right sides. Those sides are less curved than on the Galaxy S22 Ultra, though. The iPhone 14 Pro Max, on the flip side, has entirely flat sides all around. The flatness continues to its front and back as well. Both phones have very thin bezels, though the pill-shaped cutout on the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s display is a lot more of an eyesore than a display camera hole on the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra has four cameras on the back, each of which protrudes from the backplate on its own. The iPhone 14 Pro Max has three cameras, all of which are a part of a camera island in the top-left corner. The Galaxy S23 Ultra has a lot sharper corners than the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Apple’s flagship actually has considerably rounded corners.
Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra handset is a bit taller, wider, and thicker than the iPhone 14 Pro Max. It is a bit lighter, though. It weighs 234 grams, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max weighs 240 grams. Both phones are quite slippery, so using a case is recommended. Do note that these are also huge phones, so if you’re not a fan of truly large devices, these are not for you. They’re definitely not made for one-hand usage.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: Display
The Galaxy S23 Ultra features a 6.8-inch QHD+ (3088 x 1440) Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. That display is curved, and it features a 120Hz refresh rate. Its refresh rate is adaptive, as this is an LTPO panel we’re looking at. The Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protects this display, while the panel supports HDR10+ content. It also gets quite bright at 1,750 nist of peak brightness. This display has a 501 ppi.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max, on the other hand, has a 6.7-inch 2796 x 1290 LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED panel. This display is also a 120Hz panel, and it’s adaptive. It supports HDR10 content, and it’s flat. The iPhone 14 Pro Max’s panel gets up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness, and it’s protected by the Ceramic Shield Glass. This display has a 460 ppi, in case you were wondering.
Both of these panels are outstanding. These are some of the best displays you’ll find on smartphones these days, if not the two best panels. They not only get immensely bright, but are also extremely sharp, and have great viewing angles. On top of that, they display vivid colors, with deep blacks, and have a really good touch response. The display protection is also top notch. We really have no complaints, you can’t go wrong here.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: Performance
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC for Galaxy. That is a slightly tweaked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC from Qualcomm, which is one of the best processors on the market. The phone also includes up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and UFS 4.0 flash storage. The iPhone 14 Pro Max is fueled by the Apple A16 Bionic, also one of the best chips out there. It has 6GB of RAM, and NVMe storage.
Both of these smartphones are immensely smooth. That’s what you’d expect out of the best Samsung and Apple have to offer, right? Well, that’s exactly what you’re getting here. In regular day-to-day tasks, they simply fly through everything. You likely won’t notice lag in any way, shape or form. Even when it comes to gaming, these two phones do an excellent job. They do get warm, but nothing that should concern you, even with the most demanding games. There’s nothing to worry about here, at least not performance-wise.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: Battery
The Galaxy S23 Ultra includes a 5,000mAh battery pack. The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a 4,323mAh battery on the inside. Apple’s iPhones usually have smaller batteries, as they require less battery power to operate. When it comes to battery life, they both shine, to say the least. Apple actually improved the iPhone 14 Pro Max battery life further, via updates, after it wasn’t stellar at first.
Both of these smartphones offer outstanding battery life, some of the best around. You can easily get through a full day of heavy use, and still have some battery juice left. That will depend on your usage, location, what apps you have installed, how much you’re gaming, and so on. But do note that the battery life is excellent on both phones, even the most demanding users will be satisfied. We’ll talk more about that in our upcoming Galaxy S23 Ultra review.
When it comes to charging, they both offer wired and wireless charging. The Galaxy S23 Ultra supports 45W wired (PD3.0), 15W wireless (Qi/PMA), and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. The iPhone 14 Pro Max offers 20W wired, 15W MagSafe wireless, and 7.5W Qi wireless charging. Neither phone ships with a charging brick, though, you’ll need to buy those separately.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: Cameras
The Galaxy S23 Ultra represents a major improvement in the camera department, over the Galaxy S22 Ultra. That goes for both stills and video. Comparing it to the iPhone 14 Pro Max was quite interesting, and on one hand, surprising. The Galaxy S23 Ultra includes a 200-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit, a 10-megapixel telephoto camera, and a 10-megapixel periscope telephoto unit. The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a 48-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit, and a 12-megapixel telephoto camera.
Do note this is not a review, so we won’t go in-depth in terms of this comparison. Our Galaxy S23 Ultra review will be coming in the near future, so you can compare for yourself. That being said, based on what we’ve seen thus far, these two camera systems are quite different. Surprisingly, the Galaxy S23 Ultra tends to provide nicer-looking images most of the time, which also look processed, in a good way. It also tends to pick up more detail when the light is not the best, it has a high level of tolerance for crushing blacks. The dynamic range is also better on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. We’re talking about the main cameras here. Of course, there are exceptions based on the scene, the iPhone 14 Pro Max does take better shots in specific scenarios. The Galaxy S23 Ultra tends to be better with skin tones too, but not always.
Even in low light, the Galaxy S23 Ultra mostly captures a more pleasing image, which was quite surprising. The Galaxy S22 Ultra was nowhere near as good in that regard. Both the Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro Max tend to balance out low-light shots really well. Where the Galaxy S23 Ultra is usually better is when you’re shooting images where there are really bright light sources in. It balances neon signs really well, for example.
On the flip side, if you use their full modes, 200MP mode on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and 48MP mode on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the iPhone will provide a more detailed, and a better shot, most of the time. Ultrawide cameras are really good on both phones, and mostly follow the path set by the main shooters. They cannot compare, though, of course. In terms of zoom cameras… the iPhone 14 Pro Max usually does better with lower zoom levels (3x-10x), but the moment you go to 10x or more, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is far better.
The video recording has been massively improved on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and it’s now much more in line with the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Both are truly excellent, but in different ways. Honestly, the Galaxy S23 Ultra may even be on par with the iPhone 14 Pro Max when it comes to video recording. Even its video stabilization is much better now. Both of these cameras are truly excellent, but vastly different. Another thing worth noting is that the iPhone 14 Pro Max has a slightly faster shutter. It’s only a split second difference, but still, it’s worth noting.
Audio
Another area in which the Galaxy S23 Ultra has improved compared to its predecessor is audio. Samsung improved the speakers here, and now they offer more depth and they’re noticeably louder. We preferred these speakers over the iPhone 14 Pro Max ones, but they’re really good too. The difference is not really that big.
You won’t find an audio jack on either of these phones. You can always utilize their charging ports for wired audio connections. If you prefer wireless audio, however, both phones have Bluetooth 5.3 support.