Apple's iPhone 14 Pro models now have new rivals in Samsung's Galaxy S23 series. The new Galaxy flagship phones aren't radically different from the last year's model, but they pack updated internals and some new additions to compete for the top spot on the market. We've already seen how the regular Galaxy S23 model stacks up against the iPhone 14, so now it's time to see how the higher-end flagships compete with one another. Let's take a look at the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max comparison to find out which $1000+ flagship you should spend your money on in 2023.

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  Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

  The Galaxy S23 Ultra is one of the best phones on the market, packing an all-new 200MP sensor, a refined design, a custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset, and One UI 5.1.

  $1200 at Samsung

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  Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

  The iPhone 14 Pro Max is Apple's biggest and best 2022 smartphone. In typical Apple fashion, it is both a powerhouse and an endurance beast, offering the A16 Bionic chip, a 6.7-inch display, and the Dynamic Island.

  $1099 at Best Buy $1099 at Verizon $1099 at AT&T $1099 at Apple

Pricing and availability

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra was announced on Feb 1, 2023, and it's the first big flagship phone to get an official release in the U.S. this year. It's currently available to pre-order for a starting price of $1,200 from Samsung's official web store and a bunch of other retailers. It goes on sale on Feb 17, 2023, but you might want to pre-order one now to save some money on your purchase with launch promotions. The iPhone 14 Pro Max, on the other hand, was launched in September 2022, so it's a few months old now. It is, however, readily available to purchase for a starting price of $1,100. You can either hit the link in the boxes above or stop by our best Galaxy S23 deals and the best iPhone 14 series deals to find the best places to grab these phones right now.

Specifications

Design and display

Design-wise, the Galaxy S23 Ultra and the iPhone 14 Pro Max look very different. The iPhone 14 Pro Max has the classic iPhone silhouette with rounded corners and a flat stainless mid-frame, whereas the Galaxy S23 Ultra is a typical glass slab with sharp edges and a curved screen that meets the aluminum frame. Last year's Galaxy S22 Ultra with its curved sides was more comfortable to hold in the hand compared to the iPhone 14 Pro Max's boxy design with hard edges, and I expect the same in the case of the Galaxy S23 Ultra as well. That's because the new Ultra model has almost the same overall dimensions as the last year's unit. Both phones in this comparison look very similar to their predecessors, but I'd say the iPhone 14 Pro Max distinguishes itself better from the iPhone 13 Pro Max — at least from the front —thanks to Apple's new Dynamic Island.

Looking at the dimensions on the specs sheet, it's safe to say that both the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the Galaxy S23 Ultra have almost the same footprint overall. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is just a hair taller and heavier than the 14 Pro Max, but there's not a significant difference unless you hold both devices side-by-side. As for other physical differences, I'd like to point out that the Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with the built-in S Pen, which the iPhone 14 Pro Max doesn't. You can use other party styluses with the iPhone, but you'll have to carry it separately as there's no slot for it on the device itself. The iPhone 14 models sold in the U.S. don't have a physical SIM card slot either, meaning you'll see fewer physical ports on the iPhone 14 Pro Max compared to the Galaxy S23 Ultra in the U.S. Both devices are available in a bunch of different colors, but Samsung gives you more options when you purchase the Galaxy S23 Ultra from its official web store.

Moving on to the display, we're looking at a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity-O display on the Galaxy S23 Ultra and a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR panel on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The Galaxy S23 Ultra's display, technically, has higher pixel density, but you're not going to notice a significant difference between 500ppi vs 460ppi. They both look equally sharp and support up to 120Hz refresh rate. The peak brightness on the iPhone 14 Pro Max is slightly higher, though. It peaks at 2,000 nits outdoors, whereas the Galaxy S23 Ultra's display tops out at 1,750 nits. Both phones have what I would describe as an edge-to-edge display on the front with a cutout for the selfie. Apple's "Dynamic Island" cutout takes advantage of neat software tricks to deliver a fun and interactive experience. It also makes the new iPhone Pro models instantly recognizable and easily distinguishable from their predecessors. That's something I can't say about the Galaxy S23 Ultra as it comes with a regular punch-hole cutout. You'll have a pretty hard time spotting the differences between this year's and last year's Galaxy S Ultra models.

Internals and cameras

When it comes to internals, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is powered by a modified version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip that's made specifically for the new Galaxy flagships. In comparison, the iPhone 14 Pro Max comes with Apple's A16 Bionic chip. We'll have to see how Qualcomm's Galaxy-optimized processors perform and go against the A16 Bionic, but they should be plenty fast and offer top-tier performance as most other flagship chips out there. It'll be interesting to see how power-efficient these new chips are, but we'll have more on that once we get a chance to test them fully. The A16 Bionic is a tried-and-tested chip, and you can learn more about its performance in our iPhone 14 Pro Max review. The Galaxy S23 Ultra can be configured with 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max can be purchased with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage. Neither of them supports expandable storage, so be sure to pick the right variant based on your usage.

As for the batteries, the Galaxy S23 Ultra packs a 5,000mAh unit like its predecessors, whereas the iPhone 14 Pro Max comes with a relatively smaller 4,323mAh unit. You don't get a charger in the box with either of these phones, but you can buy a third-party charger and charge the Galaxy S23 Ultra faster than the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The Galaxy S23 Ultra supports up to 45W wired charging, whereas the iPhone 14 Pro Max tops out at 27W charging. Both phones support wireless charging at up to 15W, but Qi wireless charging is limited to just 10W on the Galaxy S23 Ultra and 7.5W on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The Samsung flagship also earns some brownie points for supporting reverse wireless charging so you can top up one of the best smartwatches in the Galaxy Watch 5 or your Galaxy Buds 2 Pro earbuds.

Moving on to the optics, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is definitely the better pick here as it has a more versatile system. It comes with a quad-camera setup which includes the new 200MP f/1.7 wide along with a 12MP ultra-wide sensor. Additionally, you also get a 10MP telephoto lens with up to 3x optical and a 10MP Periscope lens with up to 10x optical and 100x Space digital zoom. The iPhone 14 Pro Max, in case you're wondering, sports a triple-camera setup that includes a 48MP f/1.78 main camera, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide sensor, and a 12MP f/1.78 telephoto lens with up to 2x optical zoom. Both phones also have a single 12MP selfie camera on the front that can be used for facial recognition. The Galaxy S23 Ultra can only do regular face unlock, but the iPhone 14 Pro Max comes with a TrueDepth system with a dot projector and an infrared sensor for FaceID.

We haven't had a chance to capture the same set of photos from both phones for a side-by-side comparison just yet, but we're leaving some iPhone 14 Pro Max camera samples below for you to check out. We'll update this space with more Galaxy S23 Ultra samples too, so be sure to keep an eye.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max camera samples:

Software

This is the most subjective section of this comparison because we're looking at an Android vs an iOS device. The Galaxy S23 Ultra ships with OneUI 5.1 based on Android 13, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max comes with iOS 16. You probably already know all the fundamental differences, like how each operating system handles things like notifications differently, so we're not going to get into any of that. Instead, it's worth mentioning how the OneUI is better at taking advantage of the bigger screen on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Notably, you also get the S Pen with the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which adds to the overall experience. There's also Samsung's DeX mode which can turn the phone into a full PC desktop-like setup if you connect to an external display. Those things are entirely missing on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and iOS 16 just isn't known to take full advantage of the bigger screens on the iPhones.

That doesn't mean iOS is bad by any means. You do get some solid additions on the iOS, including AirDrop, Universal Control, and more, that work best with other Apple devices in the ecosystem. Both phones are equally reliable when it comes to software support, but I'd say the iPhone 14 Pro Max may get more updates. Just to put things into perspective, the iPhone 8 that arrived back in 2017 was recently updated to iOS 16 along with other iPhones, and it goes to show how good the iPhones are when it comes to software support. Samsung has also been doing pretty well in this space, as it promises to deliver four major Android updates and up to five years' worth of security updates to its flagship phones.

Which one should you buy?

The Galaxy S23 Ultra and the iPhone 14 Pro Max are entirely different phones, but they stack up very well against each other in this comparison. The Samsung flagship, however, costs $100 more at the time of writing this post, so you'll have to take that into consideration too. You can grab the unlocked variant of the Galaxy S23 Ultra for $1,200, whereas the iPhone 14 Pro Max can be had for a starting price of $1,099. It's tough to paint the full picture right now since we're yet to test the Galaxy S23 Ultra fully, but it looks great on paper, especially when it comes to the optics, battery capacity and charging, and more. And for $100 more, you also get an S Pen that comes with some advantages of its own. But if it is even marginally better than last year's excellent Galaxy S22 Ultra, this new model could be the way to go if you're looking for a new flagship Android phone.

You also have to consider the software while making a purchase decision because we're looking at an Android vs an iOS device. If you're tightly tied to the Apple ecosystem and have other Apple products like a MacBook or a pair of AirPods, then you should definitely buy the iPhone 14 Pro Max. But if you lean towards Windows, Chrome OS, or just Google products and services in general, then you'll have a better time using the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

• 

  Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

  The Galaxy S23 Ultra is one of the best phones on the market, packing an all-new 200MP sensor, a refined design, a custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset, and One UI 5.1.

  $1200 at Samsung

• 

  Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

  The iPhone 14 Pro Max is Apple's biggest and best 2022 smartphone. In typical Apple fashion, it is both a powerhouse and an endurance beast, offering the A16 Bionic chip, a 6.7-inch display, and the Dynamic Island.

  $1099 at Best Buy $1099 at Verizon $1099 at AT&T $1099 at Apple

So which smartphone are you planning to buy? Let us know by dropping a line in the comments below. Don't forget to stop by our collection of the best Galaxy S23 Ultra cases and the best iPhone 14 Pro Max cases, depending on the phone you end up buying. They're both very expensive phones, so I highly recommend picking up a case to protect them.