Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max Specs Comparison

Availability

Officially announced
Feb 01, 2023	Sep 09, 2024
Prices (MSRP)
$1200 | €1300	$1199 | €1449

Design

Dimensions
6.43 x 3.07 x 0.35 inches (~0.42 inches with camera bump) 163.3 x 78 x 8.9 mm (~10.68 mm with camera bump)	6.42 x 3.05 x 0.33 inches (~0.48 inches with camera bump) 163.0 x 77.6 x 8.25 mm (~12.25 mm with camera bump)
Weight
8.25 oz (234.0 g)	8.01 oz (227.0 g)
Materials
Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2) Frame: Aluminum	Back: Glass Frame: Titanium
Resistance
Water, Splash, Dust; IP68	Water, Dust; IP68
Biometrics
2D Face unlock, Ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint	3D Face unlock
Features
Stylus
Keys
Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key	Left: Volume control, Other; Right: Lock/Unlock key, Other
Colors
Phantom Black, Cream, Green, Lavender	Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, Desert Titanium

Display

Size
6.8-inch, 89.87% screen-to-body	6.9-inch, 92.35% screen-to-body
Type
Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR, 1750 nits	OLED, Variable 1-120Hz, HDR, 2000 nits
Resolution
3088x1440px, 19.3:9 ratio, 501 PPI	2868x1320px, 19.5:9 ratio, 458 PPI
Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2	Ceramic Shield
Features
	Super Retina XDR, HDR support, Oleophobic coating, Scratch-resistant glass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor

Hardware

System chip
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550 (4 nm)	Apple A18 Pro (3 nm)
Processor
Octa-core 1x3.36GHz Kryo Prime 4x2.8GHz Kryo Gold 3x2.0GHz Kryo Silve	Hexa-core 2x4.05GHz 4x2.42G​Hz
GPU
Adreno 740	Apple 6-core GPU
Memory
8GB (LPDDR5X)/256GB (UFS 4.0) 12GB/256GB 12GB/512GB 12GB/1024GB	8GB (LPDDR5)/256GB (NVMe) 8GB/512GB 8GB/1024GB
Storage expansion
not expandable	not expandable
OS
Android (14, 13)	iOS (18.x)

Battery

Type
5000 mAh, Li - Ion	4685 mAh, Li - Ion
Charging
Fast charging Qi wireless charging, Reverse wireless charging	Fast charging Qi2 wireless charging, Reverse wired charging, MagSafe wireless charging
Charge speed
Wired: 45.0W Wireless: 15.0W	Wired: 27.0W Wireless: 25.0W

PhoneArena Battery Tests

Battery Life Estimate

7h 17min

Browsing

18h 57min

Video

8h 54min

Gaming

10h 59min

Battery Life Estimate

8h 30min

Browsing

22h 39min

Video

10h 24min

Gaming

12h 4min

Learn more on our PhoneArena Battery Test Results page

Camera

Rear
Quad camera	Triple camera
Main camera
200 MP (OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung ISOCELL HP2 Aperture size: F1.7 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.3" Pixel size: 0.6 μm	48 MP (Sensor-shift OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Sony IMX903 Aperture size: F1.8 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.28" Pixel size: 1.22 μm
Second camera
12 MP (Ultra-wide) Sensor name: Sony IMX564 Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 1.4 μm	48 MP (Ultra-wide) Sensor name: Sony IMX972 Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/3.06" Pixel size: 0.7 μm
Third camera
10 MP (Telephoto) Sensor name: Sony IMX754 Optical zoom: 10.0x Aperture size: F4.9 Focal Length: 230 mm Sensor size: 1/3.52" Pixel size: 1.12 μm	12 MP (Telephoto, Periscope, Sensor-shift OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Sony IMX913 Optical zoom: 5.0x Aperture size: F2.8 Focal Length: 120 mm Sensor size: 1/3.06" Pixel size: 1.12 μm
Fourth camera
10 MP (Telephoto, OIS) Sensor name: Sony IMX754 Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 69 mm Sensor size: 1/3.52" Pixel size: 1.12 μm
Flash
LED	Dual LED
Video recording
8K UHD (30 fps), 4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (960 fps) OIS, HDR	4K UHD (120 fps), 1080p (240 fps) OIS, HDR, Continuous autofocus, Picture-taking during video recording, 10-bit HDR, Dolby Vision HDR, ProRes, Cinematic mode
Front
12 MP (PDAF) Video capture: 4K UHD (60 fps)	12 MP (Time-of-Flight (ToF), Autofocus, HDR) Video capture: 4K UHD (60 fps)

PhoneArena Camera Tests

147

Overall

150

Photo

144

Video

154

Overall

158

Photo

150

Video

Learn more on our PhoneArena Camera Test Results page

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
5.3	5.3
WLAN
a,b,g,n,ac,Wi-Fi 6,Wi-Fi 6E Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax	a,b,g,n,ac,Wi-Fi 6,Wi-Fi 6E,Wi-Fi 7 Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax
USB
Type-C, USB 3.2	Type-C, USB 3.2
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor
Hearing aid compatible
M3/T4	M3/T4
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS, NavIC, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning, Emergency SOS via satellite (SMS sending/receiving)
Other
NFC, Ultra Wideband (UWB)	NFC, Ultra Wideband (UWB)

Multimedia

Headphones
No 3.5mm jack	No 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Earpiece, Multiple speakers	Earpiece, Multiple speakers
Features
	Dolby Atmos

Cellular

5G Bands
n1, n7, n28, n41, n66, n71, n78, n258, n260, n261, SA, NSA, Sub-6, mmWave	n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n14, n20, n25, n28, n29, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n66, n70, n71, n75, n77, n78, n79, n258, n260, n261, SA, NSA, Sub-6, mmWave
4G (FDD) Bands
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 66, 71	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 66, 71
4G (TDD) Bands
38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 48	34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46, 48
3G Bands
1, 2, 4, 5, 8	1, 2, 4, 5, 8
Data Speed
LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s	LTE-A Pro Cat 18 (1200/150 Mbit/s)
SIM type
Dual Nano SIM + eSIM	eSIM
HD Voice
	Yes
VoLTE
	Yes

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Dec 08, 2023 FCC ID value: A3LSMS918U	Date approved: Sep 09, 2024 FCC ID value: BCG-E8684A
Measured SAR
Head: 1.12 W/kg Body: 0.92 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.58 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.16 W/kg	Head: 0.96 W/kg Body: 0.98 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 0.99 W/kg

Alternative variants

With 12GB RAM

Memory	12GB

With 512GB internal storage

Memory	512GB
Prices (MSRP)	$1399

With 12GB RAM and 512GB internal storage

Memory	12GB/512GB
Prices (MSRP)	$1450 | €1589

With 1TB internal storage

Memory	1024GB
Prices (MSRP)	$1599

With 12GB RAM and 1TB internal storage

Memory	12GB/1024GB
Prices (MSRP)	$1649 | €1749

International

5G Bands	n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n14, n25, n28, n29, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n66, n70, n71, n75, n77, n78, n79, SA, NSA, Sub-6
4G (FDD) Bands	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 66, 71
4G (TDD) Bands	34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48

International

5G Bands	n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n28, n38, n40, n41, n66, n75, n77, n78, SA, NSA, Sub-6
4G (FDD) Bands	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 32, 66
4G (TDD) Bands	38, 39, 40, 41

Links

Full specifications
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Specs	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max Specs
PhoneArena Review
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Review	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max Review
User Reviews
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra User Reviews	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max User Reviews