Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: Here’s which flagship phone could win

One of the most highly anticipated matchups coming up involves the Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max, which will most certainly decide the best phone for the bulk of 2026. Even though we’re still months away from learning which one could ultimately come out on top — Samsung won't release its latest model until the start of the new year — we can explain their differences.

Apple’s been riding high with the success of its most recent flagship model, which has overtaken the Galaxy S25 Ultra as the best phone on our list. In our iPhone 17 Pro Max review, we found that the biggest selling points for Apple's top phone include its durable new design, outstanding A19 Pro performance, and a much enhanced battery life.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra remains a mystery, though initial rumors and leaks hint at a juggernaut in the making. In fact, Samsung's next flagship will likely be one of the first phones tapping into Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. Paired with other rumored upgrades, the Galaxy S26 Ultra could give back Samsung the best phone crown.

We’ll take all the rumors we know about Samsung’s upcoming flagship to see how it holds up in this Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max face-off.

Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: Specifications

Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: Price and availability

If past releases have any indication, the Galaxy S26 Ultra might continue to be the more expensive phone. The Galaxy S25 Ultra fetched $1,299 when it launched earlier this year. That matched the price of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but that 2024 phone had seen a $100 price hike from its predecessor.

Historically speaking, Apple’s top of the line model has always been cheaper by a little bit — with the iPhone 17 Pro fetching for $1,199 when it launched on September 19, 2025. This price is for the base model with 256GB, with a super-sized 2TB model topping out at $1,999.

We’ll know for sure how much of a spread we’ll get with the Galaxy S26 Ultra and iPhone 17 Pro Max once Samsung officially shares a date for its next Galaxy Unpacked event. Samsung introduced the Galaxy S25 Ultra on January 22, bringing the phone to stores on February 7. It's likely Samsung would follow a similar timeline for 2026 and the S26 release.

Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: Design

What makes the iPhone 17 Pro Max fresh compared to past Apple releases is its new two-toned design. It’s a long overdue makeover that combines an aluminum frame sandwiched together with Ceramic Shield 2 on the front and Ceramic Shield on the back. New color options, like Cosmic Orange add an extra layer of charm while keeping some of the design characteristics that Apple has maintained over the years.

For example, the triple camera housing is still there on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro Max, but that compartment has now been stretched out. Apple also makes the aluminum frame contoured a bit, which ditches the completely flat edges of the previous titanium frame.

Galaxy S26 Ultra renders have just started to leak, and the first batch hint at some minor changes from the Galaxy S25 Ultra. For starters, the phone appears to have more rounded corners than before — while the three main cameras on the back appear to be raised. This isn’t as dramatic as the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s new look, though it’ll be interesting to see what materials Samsung ends up using.

Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: Display

Samsung appears to be going after an unconventional upgrade with the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s display. For starters, fingers point it at being a 6.9-inch AMOLED panel, but it could end up with a brighter panel that’ll also offer better color reproduction.

According to reliable leaker Ice Universe, the Galaxy S26 Ultra display will have a “CoE depolarizer technology and third-generation anti-reflective glass.” This should make it better for watching videos because of the anti-reflective glass it could end up using. A new “Flex Magic” feature could make the Ultra's display function like a privacy screen protector that could limit visibility from side angles.

As for the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s display? Well, its 6.9-inch OLED panel delivered excellent results in two ways. It reaches a peak brightness of 1,899 nits, which beats the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s mark of 1,860 nits.

Secondly, we were astounded by the new anti-reflective properties of the iPhone 17 Pro Max's display. Side-by-side against the iPhone 16 Pro Max, it had fewer reflections as we watched videos.

Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: Cameras

We’ve put the iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Galaxy S25 Ultra through a 200 photo shootout already, with Apple ultimately coming on top for having the best camera phone around. The iPhone 17 Pro Max features a 48MP main sensor, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP telephoto with 4x optical zoom, and an 18MP Center Stage camera around the front.

Both the selfie and telephoto cameras gpt upgrades for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. With the former, the new Center Stage camera offers a much wider field of view than ever before while still retaining enough detail to crop them later on. While Apple upgraded the telephoto camera to an 48MP sensor, it reduced that camera's optical zoom to 4x. As we’ve seen in our telephoto zoom camera test, this pairing doesn’t do as good of a job compared to the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s 50MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom.

Samsung could very easily regain the upper hand with the Galaxy S26 Ultra. So far, the rumored camera specs of the Galaxy S26 Ultra don’t appear to be substantial upgrades, as it’s tipped to feature the same quadruple camera setup as before — so that would be a 200MP main, 50MP ultrawide, 12MP 3x telephoto, and 50MP 5x telephoto.

However, a report hints at the main camera getting upgraded to an f/1.4 aperture. That would be up from the current f/1.7 aperture of the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s 200MP main shooter. This matters because not only would it help to deliver sharper photos, but it would especially come in handy for fast moving subjects and low light situations. Likewise, the 12MP 3x telephoto camera tipped for the S26 Ultra would be a minor upgrade from the current 10MP one.

While the rumored spec changes don’t appear dramatic, it’ll be interesting to see what new AI camera tools Samsung could employ with the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Seeing that the iPhone 17 Pro Max didn’t bring anything new to the table with Apple Intelligence, Samsung could use this opportunity to complement its camera experience with the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: Performance

The A19 Pro has already proven to be the chipset to beat after we ran our performance benchmark tests on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. If you look at the table below, you’ll see how the A19 Pro powered iPhone 17 Pro Max posts the better Geekbench 6 scores compared to Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered Android devices. Even more impressive is that the iPhone 17 Pro Max obliterates the Galaxy S25 Ultra when it comes to transcoding video in Adobe Premiere Rush.

Yet, the bigger test boils down to its GPU performance. Thanks to its new vapor cooling chamber, not only does the iPhone 17 Pro Max sustain its peak performance, but it delivers smoother frame rates than the Galaxy S25 Ultra in 3DMark’s Solar Bay Unlimited test.

Apple’s reign might be short lived here, especially if Samsung ends up using the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 to power the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The benchmark scores that Qualcomm silicon produced with a reference device showed marked improvements, but just like previous Galaxy S models, we could end up getting a specially tweaked “made for Galaxy” version for the S26 Ultra.

However, there are also rumors that hint at how some markets might find the Galaxy S26 Ultra with the Exynos 2600 chipset. It may or may not end up being better than Qualcomm’s, but time will tell if that’s the case.

Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: Battery life and charging

Our battery drain test on the iPhone 17 Pro Max revealed big improvements for the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which achieved a time of 17 hours and 54 minutes with a full battery on a test where phones surf the web continuously until they run out of power. That result is 3 hours longer than the time posted by the Galaxy S25 Ultra, so it’s a testament to the power efficiency of the A19 Pro.

Samsung certainly has its work cut out for itself if the Galaxy S26 Ultra has any chance at beating it. Based on all the rumors, Samsung appears to be sticking with the same sized 5,000 mAh battery as before to power the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Knowing that, it will come down to the chipset’s power efficiency, the display, and any other optimizations with the software to outperform the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

However, the Galaxy S26 Ultra could have the advantage when it comes to charging because it’s tipped to get a bump to 60W wired charging. This isn’t just a leap over the 45W charging speed of the current model, but it would also be faster than the 29W speed of the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: Software and AI

With the release of iOS 26 alongside the iPhone 17 Pro Max, Apple has delivered a long overdue makeover to the platform courtesy of its new Liquid Glass material design. The glass-like and translucent look of the platform certainly gives your phone a visual upgrade, but iOS 26 also brings new features into the fold — like its new Call Screen feature that screens for spam calls and the new Live Translation feature.

It’s easy to say that Apple focused heavily on the visuals with iOS 26, as Apple Intelligence took a back seat with this release. Even though there are a couple of new Apple Intelligence features with the iPhone 17 Pro Max, like how the Visual Intelligence feature is now integrated with screen shots, most people have criticized Apple for not delivering additional AI features, including those that take specific advantage of the iPhone 17 Pro Max's hardware.

This is where Samsung could really prove its worth, as the Galaxy S26 Ultra could introduce even more new Galaxy AI features. The current iterations with the Galaxy S25 Ultra already are a cut above what Apple offers, but introducing more with the Galaxy S26 Ultra could help widen the gap.

When it comes to the software, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is likely to launch with One UI 8.5. Previous versions already prove that the software’s a productivity workhorse, but there are reports of Samsung dropping the S Pen’s digitizer, which would result in the loss of functions like hovering and pressure sensitivity. Despite this, we’re hoping to see new changes and additions to staple features like Samsung DeX.

Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: Outlook

Considering that we’re still months away from a possible Galaxy S26 Ultra reveal, it gives Samsung some time to work on ehancements to make it a superb phone that could overtake the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Sure, there are areas where improvements are necessary to make it a better phone, like its display and battery life, but Samsung can drive it home by extending its lead in areas like software and AI. Apple might have the upper hand at the moment, but it could be short lived once the Galaxy S26 Ultra is here.

Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

More from Tom's Guide

• OnePlus 15 launch date just leaked — and it's way earlier than we thought
• Samsung Galaxy S26 just tipped for another camera letdown — don't expect a new selfie camera
• Samsung Galaxy S26 just tipped for another camera letdown — don't expect a new selfie camera