Apple just announced its new iPhone 18 Pro Max phone, and it comes with a big jump in battery life, a powerful new chip, new camera capabilities, and a brilliant 6.9-inch display. The new A20 Pro chip is Apple’s first two-nanometer iPhone chip, which is designed to provide more power and better efficiency in a similarly sized footprint.
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But how does the iPhone 18 Pro Max compare to the other big-dog flagship: the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra? Both phones feature impressive hardware with massive batteries, have 6.9-inch displays, and start at $1,299. Both have fantastic cameras, although they specialize in different areas. So how do these two compare? Let’s break it down.
You should buy the iPhone 18 Pro Max if…
Kerry Wan/ZDNET1. You want more creative control over your photos
The iPhone 18 Pro Max‘s camera is mostly the same as its predecessor’s, with its 48MP Pro Fusion camera system, 48MP Ultra Wide, and Telephoto cameras. But it comes with a plus: It supports Apple’s new variable aperture system, which allows the user to make manual adjustments for both photos and video. This also applies to shutter speed, exposure, and white balance, which can be tweaked on the fly like a “real” camera, giving more creative control over the final result.
These kinds of adjustments enable some cool shots that previously would have been harder to get. For example, forcing a smaller aperture can allow you to play with depth of field and blur the background without going into Portrait Mode. Just keep in mind that this all applies to the 24mm Main camera, not the Ultra Wide or Telephoto.
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That’s not to say the camera on the Galaxy S26 Ultra is a slouch. Samsung’s phone has fantastic shooting ability in low light with wider apertures. It also supports Advanced Professional Video (APV), a Samsung-developed video codec for professional capture, making it a great option for content creators.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra features a 200MP wide camera with f/1.4, a 50MP ultrawide camera with f/1.9, a 50MP telephoto camera with f/2.9, and a 12MP front-facing camera with f/2.2. Like all Galaxy phones, it has a rich selection of image-processing capabilities. But it doesn’t have the granular, on-the-fly control of the variable aperture, and that’s why the iPhone 18 Pro Max stands apart.
2. You want the bigger battery
The iPhone 18 Pro Max has a big battery — the 5,567 mAh cell is larger than its predecessor’s, which was already big at 5,088 mAh. That’s a big jump, with up to six more hours of use than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, Apple says, for a total of 30 hours of use on a single charge.
Kerry Wan/ZDNETBut it doesn’t just have lots of juice; it charges fast. The 18 Pro Max can get up to 50% in just 15 minutes. If you charge for just five minutes, that’s enough to power up to seven hours of video playback. All of this is pretty impressive, but it does mean the iPhone 18 Pro Max is a little thicker and heavier than its Samsung counterpart.
The Galaxy S26 features a 5,000 mAh cell that provides up to 16 hours of regular use, Samsung says.
3. You’re already in Apple’s ecosystem
This one seems obvious, but it warrants being repeated. If you have an Apple Watch, AirPods, or a MacBook, go with the iPhone. The number of integrations between the devices is unmatched compared with Android devices, and that goes for Samsung’s phones, which have an ecosystem all their own.
You should buy the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra if…
1. You like the mini-tablet experience with a stylus
The Galaxy S26 Ultra features a 6.9-inch screen — the same as the iPhone 18 Pro Max — but it has one thing the iPhone doesn’t have: the S Pen, its included stylus that adds a whole new way to interact with the device.
The S Pen is built into the phone (not an add-on accessory) and is a big part of its identity and how it differs from Apple’s device. It has a myriad of uses, including drafting handwritten notes, precisely editing photos, highlighting text, or simply navigating the UI. These are all actions that make the S26 feel a bit more like a feature-rich tablet for power users and less like a smartphone.
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The hardware backs this up, as the S26, powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chip with 12GB of RAM and 1TB of local storage, is powerful enough to act as a mobile workstation with fast web browsing, file transfers, and multitasking, allowing for rapid, precise UI navigation that feels very different from the finger twiddling on an iPhone.
2. You want more customization
This goes without saying, but with One UI, you can customize a lot more of your phone’s UI than you can on the iPhone. The latest OS for the iPhone, iOS 27, has some cosmetic customizations, sure, but it’s nothing like what you can do on an Android.
For example, in One UI, users can customize the launcher, how the home screen looks, widgets, lock screen behavior, and notification settings in a more granular way than in iOS. For some users, this is essential to the smartphone experience. If that’s you, you’re going to appreciate the Galaxy S26 more than the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
3. You’re more interested in a good zoom than variable aperture
The iPhone 18 Pro Max may have a very flashy variable aperture feature, but let’s not forget how slick the camera is on the Galaxy S26, specifically when it comes to the 50MP telephoto lens. The S26 features a 3x optical zoom (10MP) and a 5x optical periscope zoom (50MP), and when paired with Samsung’s computational zoom software, it can produce some truly outstanding long-range shots.
If you shoot natural landscapes, concerts, or sports, you might see a little more flexibility in those kinds of images than with the iPhone 18 Pro Max, which doesn’t go as hard in this one feature.
Final thought
Kerry Wan/ZDNETThere is no “right answer” here, as choosing Apple’s ecosystem or Android’s is ultimately a subjective choice that boils down to what you need in a smartphone and what features you value. Personally, I’ve used both, and I appreciate where each comes from. The Samsung Galaxy S26 is a feature-rich flagship that can do it all, and the S Pen and larger display enable a premium, mini-tablet experience that power users will love.
Also: iPhone 18 Pro vs. iPhone 17 Pro: Is Apple’s newest flagship really worth $100 more?
On the flip side, the iPhone 18 Pro‘s variable aperture sets it apart as a compelling device, especially since it’s paired with a better battery and improved performance. Personally, I’d go with the iPhone 18 Pro for the exciting changes to the camera and the sheer fact that I’m already embedded in the Apple ecosystem. For many users, it comes down to this logistical consideration, since the smartphone doesn’t just exist in isolation — it powers the majority of your other devices.
The iPhone 18 Pro will start at $1,199 with the 256GB storage configuration, and the iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $1,299. Both are available for preorder now and ship on September 18.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is available now, starting at $1,299.
