iPhone 18 Pro Max vs. Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: How These XL Phones Compete

The new iPhone 18 Pro Max may not seem as exciting as the iPhone Duo. Indeed, it still has the classic iPhone format and, apart from a few new colors, it looks identical to the iPhone Pro 17 Max. Despite this, you get everything you expect from a flagship. Big screen, multiple cameras, it ticks all the boxes. But the iPhone 18 Pro Max isn’t the only flagship phone on the market. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra is also a very capable device, and it’s hard not to compare the two.

Since we’re comparing the most impressive non-foldable phones made by Apple and Samsung, the choice will likely come down to a few small details and personal preferences. Maybe you’re an iOS user or have your eye on that new dark red iPhone 18 Pro Max. Or maybe you prefer to have the freedom of Android, or you like having the S Pen on the Galaxy. There are pros and cons on both sides. And before we even dive into the details, the truth is that none of them disappoint.

Both the iPhone 18 Pro Max and Galaxy S26 Ultra look like regular smartphones. These are straight, rectangular devices with no foldable screen in sight. They are both the same size of 6.9 inches. But the iPhone has slightly more rounded corners, while the Galaxy opts for a straighter shape. Apple has opted for a design combining aluminum and glass on the back. Samsung, on the other hand, has an all-glass back.

One advantage the S26 Ultra has over the iPhone is its weight. It’s 214 grams, compared to 249 grams for the iPhone 18 Pro Max. It may not seem like much, but you can probably feel the difference when you hold your phone for a long time. The Samsung phone is also thinner: 7.9 mm compared to 8.75 mm for the iPhone. Again, not a huge difference, but it matters to some people, especially when considering adding a folder to them.

The differences in displays are also subtle. The iPhone uses an OLED panel with a resolution of 2868 x 1320 pixels. It’s tall enough to make the screen look good. It also has a 120Hz refresh rate and reaches 3,000 nits of brightness. In other words, it’s a good screen, bright and smooth. Samsung uses a slightly higher resolution AMOLED screen. It’s 3,120 x 1,440 pixels, but the resolution difference between these displays is extremely difficult to notice in real life.

The S26 Ultra also has a 120Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling, but brightness is limited to 2,600 nits. And brightness matters a lot if you use your phone outdoors a lot. The S Pen is also a huge plus for the S26 Ultra. Not everyone cares about it, but it’s nice to have it. This can be a good way to take notes more naturally. On the iPhone side, you need the very expensive iPhone Duo to use the Apple Pencil.

The cameras are where these phones really stand out. Both have incredible features that make the eyes of photographers and filmmakers shine. Starting with the iPhone 18 Pro Max, Apple has kept the classic triple-camera setup on the back: wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto, all with 48-megapixel sensors. And there’s a big new thing about this year’s main sensor: variable aperture.

Most phone cameras use a fixed aperture. This means that the focal length and amount of light hitting the sensor is fixed, with no way to change this. But the iPhone 18 Pro Max lets you adjust the aperture mechanically. It opens the door to more artistic control over your shots, in a way you usually only have with a dedicated camera. Few phones currently on the market can do this.

The S26 Ultra also has excellent cameras, with a slightly different setup. The main lens has a 200-megapixel sensor. Such high resolution allows you to crop your photos without losing quality. The ultrawide has a 50-megapixel sensor, similar to the iPhone. But the zoom capabilities set the S26 Ultra apart. That’s because it contains not one, but two telephoto lenses. One for 3x zoom, the other for 5x zoom. The iPhone has a single telephoto lens for 4x zoom.

On the video side, the iPhone retains the specifications it has had for a while: 4K up to 120 fps, HDR and Dolby Vision. Samsung goes further and allows you to film in 8K on the S26 Ultra. Not that 8K is any sort of standard yet – more of a “nice to have” than something most people will actually use.

The battery capacity of the two phones is also very similar. Both the iPhone 18 Pro Max and the S26 Ultra have a capacity of around 5,000 mAh, with slight variations. That’s usually enough power to last a full day without needing to plug in for most people. Fast charging is finally also on equal footing: both go from zero to 50% in around 15 minutes with a 60W charger.

In terms of performance, the S26 Ultra is powered by a 3-nanometer Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. It’s a pretty decent chip that even outperforms Apple’s A19 Pro in some tests. But the iPhone 18 Pro has a new A20 Pro chip, the company’s first 2-nanometer chip. In theory, it’s faster and more efficient, but we won’t really know until we do some actual testing. As for RAM, Samsung offers 12GB or 16GB depending on the storage option. The iPhone 18 Pro Max has 12GB of RAM in all configurations. That’s enough RAM for most things people do on their phones.

And then there are the little things that set them apart. Face ID on the iPhone versus an in-screen fingerprint reader on the Galaxy. Face ID is very simple to use, but it may not work as well in certain situations. Additionally, iPhones still have the dynamic island on the screen, although it’s smaller now. Samsung uses a simple punch-hole camera that takes up less screen space.

Even the prices of these phones are similar. They both start at $1,299 in the US for the 256GB model. The decision really comes down to personal preference. The iPhone 18 Pro Max works best if you’re fully immersed in the Apple ecosystem. If you own AirPods or an Apple Watch, this is an obvious choice. But the Galaxy S26 Ultra can give you additional features like better zoom or the S Pen. You also have the choice between iOS and Android. Whichever one you choose, they can both handle everything very well.