Apple introduced its latest hardware innovations in the form of flagship smartphones iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max and their very first jigsaw puzzles with a surprising title iPhone DuoLet's compare the model iPhone 18 Pro Max with Samsung's current top flagship Galaxy S26 Ultra and answer the question of which one is more worthwhile.
Design and construction
Galaxy S26 Ultra a iPhone 18 Pro Max are very different devices at first glance. The former has a display behind rounded edges and a centered circular cutout, and on the back there are three vertically arranged cameras in an oval module and one outside it.. iPhone 18 Pro Max in contrast, it has a screen with even more rounded corners and a wide notch, and the back is decorated with a trio of cameras housed in a horizontally oriented, large module. Samsung's representative is significantly thinner and lighter. Here are the complete dimensions and weight of both:
- iPhone 18 Pro Max: 163,4 x 78 x 8,8 mm; weight 249 g
- Galaxy S26 Ultra: 163,6 x 78,1 x 7,9 mm; weight 214 g
Both phoney otherwise have an aluminum frame and their back is protected by durable Ceramic Shield glass or Gorilla Glass Victus 2. And both of course meet the IP68 protection level, which means they are fully dustproof and can withstand immersion to a depth of up to 1,5 m for 30 minutes in the case of Samsung, Apple can handle up to 6 m.
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Display
In the display area, they are on it Galaxy S26 Ultra a iPhone 18 Pro Max very similar. However, the representative of the Korean giant has a trump card here in the form of the Privacy display function, which adjusts the viewing angle of the screen to limit visibility from side angles, thereby protecting the user's privacy. Here are the complete specifications:
Galaxy S26 Ultra
- Diagonal: 6,9 inches
- Distinction: 3120 x 1440 px
- Refresh rate: 120 Hz
- Maximal brightness: 2600 rivets
- Protection: Corning Gorilla Armor 2
iPhone 18 Pro Max
- Diagonal: 6,9 inches
- Distinction: 2868 x 1320 px
- Refresh rate: 120 Hz
- Maximal brightness: 3000 rivets
- Protection: Ceramic Shield 2
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Performance
iPhone 18 Pro Max powered by a new chip Apple A20 Pro, manufactured on a 2nm process. The chipset features a dedicated module for managing two displays simultaneously and a 32-core Neural Engine for local processing of functions Apple IntelligenceIt is paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB to 2TB of storage.
Galaxy Z FoldThe 8 uses an overclocked 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, paired with 12 or 16GB of RAM and 256GB to 1TB of storage. Both chipsets offer extremely high performance, but the A20 Pro is faster overall, especially in the area of graphics and AI processing.
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Cameras
Cameras have always been Samsung's strong point. Applol, and so on Galaxy S26 Ultra i iPhone 18 Pro Max boasts the best that both of them can currently offer in this area. The first one is betting on a 200MPx main camera, while the second one boasts a sensor shift (variawith a glass screen), which compensates for the significantly lower resolution. Here are the complete parameters:
Galaxy S26 Ultra
- Main camera: 200 MPx, lens aperture f/1.4, OIS; video max.8K/30FPS
- Telephoto lens: 10 MPx, f/2.4, 3x optical zoom, OIS
- Periscopic telephoto lens: 50 MPx, f/2.9, 5x optical zoom, OIS
- Wide angle lens: 50MP, f/1.9, 120° viewing angle
- Front camera: 12 MP, f/2.2; video max. 4K/60 FPS
iPhone 18 Pro Max
- Main camera: 48 MPx, variaf/1.5–4.0 aperture, OIS; video max.4K/120FPS
- Periscopic telephoto lens: 48 MPx, f/2.8, 4x optical zoom, OIS
- Wide angle lens: 48MP, f/2.2, 120° viewing angle
- Front camera: 18 MPx, f / 1.9; video max. 4K/60 FPS
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Battery and charging
iPhone 18 Pro Max draws power from a battery with a claimed capacity of 5391/5567 mAh (model with Nano SIM/with eSIM), which supports wired charging with unknown power (according to Applu is charged to 50 like this % for 15 minutes), 25W MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging and 4,5W reverse wireless charging. Galaxy S26 Ultra It comes with a 5000 mAh battery that supports 60W wired charging. (on 75 % recharges in 30 minutes), 25W wireless charging (Qi2.2) and 4,5W reverse wireless charging.
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Price
The prices of both phones are comparable. Specifically, they look like this:
- iPhone 18 Pro Max (12 /256 GB): 37,990 CZK / 1,299 dollars / 1,599 euros
- Galaxy S26 Ultra (12 /256 GB): 35,690 CZK / 1,299 dollars / 1 euros
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WhichIs it worth more?
Jak Galaxy S26 Ultra, So iPhone 18 Pro Max They are top-of-the-line premium smartphones and it's not easy to decide between them. Personally, I would choose the Ultra for several reasons. First, because of the stylus. S Pen (Try quickly sketching a note, signing a PDF on the fly, or precisely selecting text on your iPhone), secondly, because of the better zoom, because on flagships Galaxy I like to take pictures of distant objects, thirdly because of the Privacy display function, as privacy is very important to me, and finally because of the faster wired charging. The question of design is subjective, but here too, in my case, Samsung wins. FromThe other side of the latest "flag" AppI just don't like Lu and I didn't like her last year.
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Finally a good review. I really enjoyed reading it. I am the owner of an iPhone, but the advantages and disadvantages of both are objectively described here. Zoom is probably the only thing I would criticize the iPhone for, as the author himself wrote. And the conclusion of the whole thing after reading the article is that everyone chooses according to which brand they prefer because those phones are really almost the same.