Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Compared 2 smartphones : Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max Manufactured in September, 2024, with display 6.9 with chipsetApple A18 Pro, vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Manufactured in March, 2026with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device
Key Differences
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
- Higher pixel density: 500ppi
- Lighter design: 214g vs 227g
- Higher battery capacity: 5000mAh vs 4685mAh
- Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5.3
- Fingerprint scanner
Versions
| Memory Options | - 8/256 GB - 8/512 GB - 8/1024 GB |
- 12/256 GB - 12/512 GB - 16/1024 GB |
Review
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
Tests & specs
Specs & test comparisonDisplay
| Type | OLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.9 in | 6.9 in |
| Resolution | 1320x2868 pixels | 1440x3120 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| Pixel density | 458 ppi | 500 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max brightness | 2000 nits | 1500 nits |
| HDR support | Yes Dolby Vision | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch Sampling Rate | n/a | 240 Hz |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 92.3 % | 91.4 % |
| Features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC dimming |
| sRGB gamut | 99.6 % | n/a |
| PWM (Flicker) | 240 Hz | n/a |
| Response time | 1 ms | n/a |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinite | n/a |
Design & Build
| Height | 163 mm (6.42 in) | 163.6 mm (6.44 in) |
| Width | 77.6 mm (3.06 in) | 78.1 mm (3.07 in) |
| Thickness | 8.25 mm (0.32 in) | 7.9 mm (0.31 in) |
| Weight | 227 g (8.01 oz) | 214 g (7.55 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 - Silver - Blue - Pink - Purple |
| Fingerprint sensor | No | Yes, In-Display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A18 Pro | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
| Max Frequency | 4040 MHz | 4740 MHz |
| CPU Cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 8 (2 + 6) |
| Architecture | - 4/2.42 (Sawtooth) - 2/4.05 (Everest) |
- 6/3.63 (Oryon Gen 3 Performance) - 2/4.61 (Oryon Gen 3 Prime) |
| Process | TSMC | TSMC |
| Transistor Size | 3 nm | 3 nm |
| Neural Processor | Neural Engine | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Apple A18 Pro GPU | Adreno 840 |
| GPU Cores | 768 | 1536 |
| GPU Frequency | 1490 MHz | 1200 MHz |
| FLOPS | 2289 GFLOPS | 3686.4 GFLOPS |
| Geekbench 6 (Single-Core) | 3564 | 3753 |
| Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core) | 8880 | 11259 |
| Geekbench Compute (GPU) | 33019 | 28787 |
| CPU | 465726 | 1094797 |
| GPU | 721738 | 1447696 |
| Memory | 250875 | 425113 |
| UX | 375110 | 752613 |
| NanoReview Score | 1813449 | 3720219 |
Memory
| RAM Size | 8 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory Type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage Capacity | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage Type | NVMe | UFS 4.1 |
| Memory Card | No | No |
Software
| OS | iOS 18 (Upgradeable to iOS 18.5) | Android 16 |
| OS Size | 18 GB | n/a |
| UI Skin | n/a | One UI 8.5 |
Battery
| Volume | 4685 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max Charging Power | 30 W | 60 W |
| Battery Type | Li-ion | Li-ion |
| Removable | No | No |
| Wireless Charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (25 W) |
| Reverse Charging | Yes | Yes, (Wireless) |
| Fast Charging | Yes (46% in 30 min) | Yes (84% in 30 min) |
| Full Charge Time | 1:57 h | 0:43 h |
| Web Browsing | 14:34 h | 10:12 h |
| Video Playback | 22:01 h | 21:39 h |
| Games | 07:12 h | 06:42 h |
| Standby Mode | 163 h | 130 h |
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 MP | 200 MP |
| Photo resolution | 8064x6048 pixels | 16320x12240 pixels |
| Zoom | 142 | 141 |
| 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 120 fps) |
| 1080p Recording | Yes (Up to 120 fps) | Yes (Up to 240 fps) |
| Slow Motion | 240 fps (1080p) | 240 fps (1080p) |
| Wide-angle lens | 120 ° | 120 ° |
| Lenses count | Standard: 48 MP Telephoto: 12 MP Ultra-wide: 48 MP Depth |
Standard: 200 MP Telephoto: 50 MP Telephoto: 10 MP Ultra-wide: 50 MP |
| Features | - Bokeh effect - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh effect - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Matrix | 48 MP | 200 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.4 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX803 | Samsung ISOCELL S5KHP2 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.28 | 1/1.3 (0.77) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 μm | 0.6 μm |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Laser autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Matrix | 12 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.8 | f/2.9 |
| Focal length | 120 mm | 111 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX913 | Sony IMX854 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.06 | 1/2.52 (0.4) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 μm | 0.7 μm |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Matrix | 48 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX972 | Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN3 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55 | 1/2.5 (0.4) |
| Pixel size | 0.7 μm | 0.7 μm |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Bokeh | 80 | 165 |
| Preview | 93 | n/a |
Front camera
| Matrix | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Photo resolution | 4032x3024 pixels | 4000x3000 pixels |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX714 | Samsung ISOCELL S5K3LU |
| Sensor size | 1/3.6 | 1/3.2 (0.31) |
| 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 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) |
| 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 | 6.0 |
| 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 |
| 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) | GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900 |
| 3G Bands | UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz) | UMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8(900) |
| 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 (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B38/B39/B40/B41/B48/B66/B71) |
| 5G Support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| 3.5 mm Jack | No | No |
| FM Radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Other
| Class | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | September, 2024 yr | February, 2026 yr |
| Release Date | September, 2024 yr | March, 2026 yr |
| MSRP ($) | 1199 | 1299 |
| 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.
*
Attention!
Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.
Results
No clear favorite identified yet; updates may follow as new data arrives.
Survey
Total Votes: 60