Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S23
Compared 2 smartphones : Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max Manufactured in September, 2024, with display 6.9 with chipsetApple A18 Pro, vs Samsung Galaxy S23, Manufactured in February, 2023with chipsetSnapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device
Key Differences
- Larger display: 6.9in
- Higher pixel density: 458ppi
- Higher battery capacity: 4685mAh vs 3900mAh
- Lighter design: 168g vs 227g
- Fingerprint scanner
Versions
| Memory Options | - 8/256 GB - 8/512 GB - 8/1024 GB |
- 8/128 GB - 8/256 GB - 8/512 GB |
Review
Tests & specs
Specs & test comparisonDisplay
| Type | OLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.9 in | 6.1 in |
| Resolution | 1320x2868 pixels | 1080x2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| Pixel density | 458 ppi | 425 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | Yes (24-120 Hz) |
| Max brightness | 2000 nits | 800 nits |
| HDR support | Yes Dolby Vision | Yes HDR10+ |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 92.3 % | 88 % |
| Features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| sRGB gamut | 99.6 % | 98.9 % |
| PWM (Flicker) | 240 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 1 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinite | ∞ Infinite |
Design & Build
| Height | 163 mm (6.42 in) | 146.3 mm (5.76 in) |
| Width | 77.6 mm (3.06 in) | 70.9 mm (2.79 in) |
| Thickness | 8.25 mm (0.32 in) | 7.6 mm (0.3 in) |
| Weight | 227 g (8.01 oz) | 168 g (5.93 oz) |
| Water resistance | IP68 | IP68 |
| Cooling system | n/a | Vapor chamber |
| Back panel | Glass | Glass |
| Frame | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | - White - Black - Silver - Gold |
- White - Black - Gray - Green - Purple - Yellow |
| Fingerprint sensor | No | Yes In-Display |
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A18 Pro | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy |
| Max Frequency | 4040 MHz | 3360 MHz |
| CPU Cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) |
| Architecture | - 4/2.42 (Sawtooth) - 2/4.05 (Everest) |
- 3/2 (Cortex-A510) - 2/2.8 (Cortex-A710) - 2/2.8 (Cortex-A715) - 1/3.2 (Cortex-X3) |
| Process | TSMC | TSMC |
| Transistor Size | 3 nm | 4 nm |
| Neural Processor | Neural Engine | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Apple A18 Pro GPU | Adreno 740 |
| GPU Cores | 768 | 1536 |
| GPU Frequency | 1490 MHz | 719 MHz |
| FLOPS | 2289 GFLOPS | 2089 GFLOPS |
| Geekbench 6 (Single-Core) | 3564 | 1831 |
| Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core) | 8880 | 4914 |
| Geekbench Compute (GPU) | 33019 | 9422 |
| CPU | 465726 | 380535 |
| GPU | 721738 | 598896 |
| Memory | 250875 | 273271 |
| UX | 375110 | 270109 |
| NanoReview Score | 1813449 | 1522811 |
| Max Surface Temp. | n/a | 34.3 °C |
| Stability | n/a | 60 % |
| Graphics Test | n/a | 72 fps |
| Graphics Score | n/a | 12039 |
| Writing score | n/a | 19330 |
| Web score | n/a | 14262 |
| Video editing | n/a | 7840 |
| Data manipulation | n/a | 12674 |
| NanoReview Score | n/a | 15602 |
Memory
| RAM Size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory Type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage Capacity | 256 GB | - 128 GB - 256 GB - 512 GB |
| Storage Type | NVMe | UFS 4.0 |
| Memory Card | No | No |
Software
| OS | iOS 18 (Upgradeable to iOS 18.5) | Android 13 (Upgradeable to Android 14) |
| OS Size | 18 GB | 29.7 GB |
| UI Skin | n/a | One UI 6.1 |
Battery
| Volume | 4685 mAh | 3900 mAh |
| Max Charging Power | 30 W | 25 W |
| Battery Type | Li-ion | Li-ion |
| Removable | No | No |
| Wireless Charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (10 W) |
| Reverse Charging | Yes | Yes (Wireless) |
| Fast Charging | Yes (46% in 30 min) | Yes (57% in 30 min) |
| Full Charge Time | 1:57 h | 1:16 h |
| Web Browsing | 14:34 h | 08:12 h |
| Video Playback | 22:01 h | 13:41 h |
| Games | 07:12 h | 05:20 h |
| Standby Mode | 163 h | 109 h |
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 MP | 50 MP |
| Photo resolution | 8064x6048 pixels | 8160x6120 pixels |
| Zoom | 142 | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | Dual LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K Recording | No | Yes (Up to 30 fps) |
| 4K Recording | Yes (Up to 120 fps) | Yes (Up to 60 fps) |
| 1080p Recording | Yes (Up to 120 fps) | Yes (Up to 120 fps) |
| Slow Motion | 240 fps (1080p) | 960 fps (1080p) |
| Wide-angle lens | 120 ° | 120 ° |
| Lenses count | Standard: 48 MP Telephoto: 12 MP Ultra-wide: 48 MP Depth |
Standard: 50 MP Telephoto: 10 MP Ultra-wide: 12 MP |
| Features | - Bokeh effect - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh effect - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Matrix | 48 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX803 | Samsung S5KGN3 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.28 | 1/1.57 |
| Pixel size | 1.22 μm | 1 μm |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Matrix | 12 MP | 10 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.8 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 120 mm | 70 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX913 | Samsung S5K3K1 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.06 | 1/3.94 |
| Pixel size | 1.12 μm | 1 μm |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Matrix | 48 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX972 | Sony IMX564 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55 | 1/2.55 |
| Pixel size | 0.7 μm | 1.4 μm |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Bokeh | 80 | 70 |
| Preview | 93 | 72 |
| Zoom | n/a | 126 |
Front camera
| Matrix | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Photo resolution | 4032x3024 pixels | 4000x3000 pixels |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX714 | Samsung S5K3LU |
| Sensor size | 1/3.6 | 1/3.24 |
| Pixel size | 1.12 μm | 1.12 μm |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 fps | 2160p (4K) at 60 fps |
| TOF 3D sensor | Yes | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi version | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB Storage Mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB Storage Mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes | Yes DP 1.2 |
| GPS | - GPS - GLONASS - Beidou - Galileo - QZSS - NAVIC |
- GPS - GLONASS - Beidou - Galileo - QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared Port | No | No |
| SIM Count* | n/a | 1 |
| SIM Type | eSIM | Nano |
| SIM Mode | n/a | Dual SIM Standby |
| eSIM Support * | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid Slot | No | No |
| 2G Bands | GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) | GSM 850/1700/1900/2100Mhz |
| 3G Bands | UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz) | UMTS 6/5/8/34 |
| LTE Bands* | LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B32/B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B48/B53/B66/B71) | LTE (B/B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B16/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B27/B28/B29/B30/B38/B39/B40/B41/B66/B71) |
| LTE category | n/a | 20 |
| 5G Support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | n/a | Stereo |
| 3.5 mm Jack | No | No |
| FM Radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Other
| Class | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | September, 2024 yr | February, 2023 yr |
| Release Date | September, 2024 yr | February, 2023 yr |
| Launch Price ($) | n/a | 799 |
| MSRP ($) | 1199 | n/a |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity Sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient Light Sensor - Compass - Face Sensor |
- Hall Sensor - Barometer - Proximity Sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient Light Sensor - Compass - Fingerprint sensor |
| Charger Included | No | No |
Note
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max:
The US version of the smartphone exclusively supports eSIM, while the international model features both a physical SIM slot and eSIM capability. In China, the device is available with dual physical SIM card slots only.
Samsung Galaxy S23:
The 128GB version uses slower UFS 3.1 memory, while the 256GB and 512GB models have UFS 4.0.
Results
After analyzing the data, we consider Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max the clear winner in this comparison.