Totally different ecosystems, however comparable flagship {hardware}.
The brand new iPhone 18 Professional Max might not appear as thrilling because the iPhone Duo. Certainly, it nonetheless has that traditional iPhone kind issue and, except for some new colours, seems similar to the iPhone Professional 17 Max. Even so, you get every thing you’d anticipate from a flagship. Giant display screen, a number of cameras, it checks all of the bins. However the iPhone 18 Professional Max is not the one flagship telephone in the marketplace. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Extremely can be a really succesful gadget, and it is laborious to not examine the 2.
On condition that we’re evaluating essentially the most spectacular non-folding telephones Apple and Samsung makes, the selection will probably come right down to some small particulars and private preferences. Perhaps you are an iOS particular person, otherwise you’ve obtained your eye on that new darkish crimson iPhone 18 Professional Max. Or possibly you’d somewhat have the liberty of Android, otherwise you like having the S Pen on the Galaxy. There are execs and cons on either side. And even earlier than diving into the main points, the reality is neither of them disappoint.
Design and shows that are not all that completely different
Each the iPhone 18 Professional Max and the Galaxy S26 Extremely seem like common smartphones. They’re straight, rectangular units with no foldable display screen in sight. They each have the identical 6.9-inch measurement. However the iPhone has barely rounder corners, whereas the Galaxy goes for a straighter form. Apple went with a design that mixes aluminum and glass on the again. Samsung, alternatively, has an all-glass again.
One wonderful thing about the S26 Extremely over the iPhone is its weight. It is 214 grams, in comparison with 249 grams for the iPhone 18 Professional Max. It won’t seem to be a lot, however you’ll be able to in all probability really feel the distinction when holding your telephone for a very long time. The Samsung telephone can be thinner — 7.9 mm versus the iPhone’s 8.75 mm. Once more, it is not an enormous distinction, but it surely issues to some individuals, particularly when you think about including a case to them.
The variations within the shows are additionally refined. The iPhone makes use of an OLED panel with a decision of two,868 by 1,320 pixels. That is excessive sufficient to make the display screen look nice. It additionally has a 120Hz refresh charge and reaches 3,000 nits of brightness. In different phrases, it is a good, brilliant and easy show. Samsung makes use of a barely higher-resolution AMOLED show. It is 3,120 by 1,440 pixels, however the decision distinction between these screens is extraordinarily laborious to note in actual life.
The S26 Extremely additionally has a 120Hz refresh charge for easy scrolling, however the brightness is restricted to 2,600 nits. And brightness issues lots should you use your telephone lots open air. The S Pen can be an enormous plus for the S26 Extremely. Not everybody cares about it, but it surely’s good to have it. It may be a great way to take notes extra naturally. On the iPhone aspect, you want the very costly iPhone Duo to make use of the Apple Pencil.
The largest distinction is within the cameras
Cameras are the place these telephones actually stand out. Each have unbelievable specs that make the eyes of photographers and filmmakers gentle up. Beginning with the iPhone 18 Professional Max, Apple has saved the traditional three-camera setup on the again: vast, ultra-wide, and telephoto, all of which have 48-megapixel sensors. And there is some massive information about this 12 months’s primary sensor: variable aperture.
Most telephone cameras use a set aperture. Which means the focal size and the quantity of sunshine hitting the sensor are fastened, with no option to change that. However the iPhone 18 Professional Max enables you to modify the aperture mechanically. It opens up room for extra inventive management over your photographs in a manner that you simply solely usually have with a devoted digicam. Not many telephones presently in the marketplace can do that.
The S26 Extremely additionally has nice cameras — with a barely completely different setup. The principle lens has a 200-megapixel sensor. Such excessive decision enables you to crop your images with out dropping high quality. The ultra-wide includes a 50 megapixel sensor, much like the iPhone. However zoom capabilities set the S26 Extremely aside. That is as a result of it is full of not one, however two telephoto lenses. One for 3x zoom, the opposite for 5x zoom. The iPhone has a single telephoto lens for 4x zoom.
As for video, the iPhone retains the specs it is had for some time now: 4K as much as 120 fps, HDR and Dolby Imaginative and prescient. Samsung goes additional and allows you to shoot 8K on the S26 Extremely. Not that 8K is any type of commonplace but — extra of a “good to have” than one thing most individuals will truly use.
Battery, biometrics and extra
The battery capability of each telephones can be very comparable. Each the iPhone 18 Professional Max and the S26 Extremely are round 5,000 mAh, with slight variations. That is typically sufficient energy to final a full day while not having to plug in for most individuals. Quick charging is lastly on even footing too — each go from zero to 50 % in about quarter-hour with a 60W charger.
By way of efficiency, the S26 Extremely is powered by a 3-nanometer Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. It is a fairly respectable chip that even outperforms Apple’s A19 Professional in some exams. However the iPhone 18 Professional has a brand new A20 Professional chip, the corporate’s first 2-nanometer chip. In concept, it is quicker and extra environment friendly, however we can’t actually know that till we have completed some real-world testing. As for RAM, Samsung presents 12GB or 16GB relying on the storage choice. The iPhone 18 Professional Max has 12GB of RAM in all configurations. That is sufficient RAM for many of the issues individuals do on their telephones.
Then there are the little issues that units them aside. Face ID on the iPhone versus an in-screen fingerprint reader on the Galaxy. Face ID is tremendous straightforward to make use of, but it surely won’t work as effectively in some conditions. Additionally, iPhones nonetheless have the Dynamic Island on the display screen — though it is smaller now. Samsung goes with a easy punch-hole digicam that eats up much less display screen house.
They’re each nice, however for various customers
Even the costs of those telephones are comparable. They each begin at $1,299 within the U.S. for the 256GB mannequin. The choice actually comes down to non-public desire. The iPhone 18 Professional Max works finest should you’re absolutely immersed within the Apple ecosystem. If in case you have AirPods or an Apple Watch, it is an apparent alternative. However the Galaxy S26 Extremely can give you additional options like higher zoom or the S Pen. There’s additionally the selection between iOS and Android. Regardless of which one you select, they’ll each deal with every thing simply high-quality.
