A Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. iPhone 17 Pro comparison could be especially relevant if rising RAM costs drive up the price of Samsung's premium phone. While Samsung's Ultra model boasts a much bigger screen than the more compact iPhone 17 Pro, there's currently a $200 price gap between the iPhone and the Galaxy S25 Ultra, even though features are pretty comparable between the high-end models.
So phone shoppers will face a choice — opt for the bigger screen (and higher price) of the upcoming Ultra or save a few hundred bucks with the iPhone. The decision will ultimately come down to just how significant the changes are to the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. iPhone 17 Pro specs
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (rumored) | iPhone 17 Pro |
Display | 6.9 inches | 6.3 inches |
CPU | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 / Exynos 2600 | A19 Pro |
RAM | 12GB | 12GB (via teardowns) |
Storage | 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB | 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB |
Rear cameras | 200MP main (f/1.4), 50MP ultrawide, 12MP 3x telephoto, 50MP 5x telephoto | 50MP main, 50MP ultrawide, 50MP 4x telephoto |
Front camera | 12MP | 18MP |
Battery | 5,000 mAh | 4,252 mAh (via teardowns) |
Charging | 60W | 35W |
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. iPhone 17 Pro price and availability
Whatever price Samsung sets on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, it will be higher than what the iPhone 17 Pro costs — and that's after Apple raised the starting price on its entry-level Pro model last fall.
The iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099, a $100 increase over the $999 iPhone 16 Pro that came out in 2024. If it's any consolation, the iPhone 17 Pro features 256GB of storage in its base model, doubling what you got with the $999 iPhone 16 Pro and matching the capacity of the entry-level Ultra.
Speaking of the Ultra, the current model starts at $1,299. But it's unclear if Samsung will be able to hold the line on that price, given the cost of components like RAM these days. That's led to some reports that Galaxy S26 prices will go up in some markets, though it's unclear if that affects pricing in places like the U.S., U.K. and Australia.
We may have to wait for a bit to find out what Samsung plans to charge for its next phones. While the last two Galaxy S launch events have taken place in January, all indications suggest Samsung is pushing back this year's launch until late February. That could mean the Galaxy S26 Ultra doesn't wind up in stores until March, while the iPhone 17 Pro has been available since September of last year.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. iPhone 17 Pro design and display
As noted, the iPhone 17 Pro is a more compact device than Samsung's Ultra phone, with a 5.9 x 2.8 x 0.34-inch frame housing a 6.3-inch display. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is expected to once again offer a 6.9-inch panel, though reports have suggested that Samsung is looking to slim down the phone from the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
That current model is 8.2mm, with reports claiming that Samsung is aiming for 7mm-8mm of thickness with the S26 Ultra. For context, the iPhone 17 Pro is 8.75mm thin, so count on a more slender device from Samsung even if nothing changes.
With the iPhone 17 Pro, Apple swapped out the titanium frame it had been using for the last two iPhone Pro models in favor of an aluminum alloy — a move apparently made with heat dissipation in mind. Whatever the reason, Samsung could follow suit with the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Rumored colors for the new phone are missing the Titanium moniker Samsung has used since the Galaxy S24 Ultra, suggesting a change in materials is imminent.
While Galaxy S26 Ultra renders have suggested rounder curves for this year's model, the general design of the phone looks a lot like the Ultra models from previous years. That's not the case with the iPhone 17 Pro, which introduced a redesigned camera array on the back that stretches across the length of the phone. This plateau on the iPhone's back frees up more space for internal components like the battery, which we'll talk about further on down in this comparison.
The iPhone 17 Pro's 1,555-nit reading didn't match the 1,860 nits we recorded when testing the Galaxy S5 Ultra, so the expectation would be that the S26 Ultra's panel would also be brighter. However, Samsung is said to be adding a Privacy Display feature to this year's Ultra model. While it would limit visibility of the phone's screen from different angles, keeping your phone protected from prying eyes, this feature's impact on display brightness is unclear at the moment.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. iPhone 17 Pro cameras
The iPhone 17 Pro release introduced a 48MP telephoto lens to the rear camera array, so all three lenses on the back of that phone feature their own 48MP sensor. The iPhone 17 Pro can support a 4x optical zoom, compared to the 3x and 5x zooms delivered by the respective 10MP telephoto and 50MP periscope zoom lens on the back of the Galaxy S25 Ultra model.
Those improvements to the iPhone 17 Pro's camera setup have pushed Apple's device to the top of our best camera phones list. The iPhone 17 Pro Max beat the Galaxy S25 Ultra in a 200-photo face-off, and the cheaper iPhone 17 Pro has the same camera setup as the Pro Max, so you'd get similar results by swapping in that phone.
To combat that, Samsung will reportedly increase the aperture on the 200MP main camera for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Doing so would increase the amount of light the lens can capture, which should produced better, more detailed photos even when the lights are low. It sounds as if the phone will rely on the same sensor used by the Galaxy S25 Ultra for its main camera, though.
If you're looking for a megapixel boost, Samsung could upgrade the 10MP telephoto lens to a 12MP sensor, while also adding a new laser AF sensor for faster focusing. There's also talk about improvements to the ProVisual Engine that will handle image processing on the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. iPhone 17 Pro performance
The iPhone 17 Pro debuted with a new A19 Pro chip running the show, and as you can see from the benchmarks table below, it's a formidable competitor with the silicon that powers the best Android phones. While the Snapdragon 8 Elite powering the Galaxy S25 Ultra produced better graphics test scores, the A19 Pro excels at Geekbench, which measures CPU performance. Tbe iPhone also transcoded video in half the time it took the S25 Ultra.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | iPhone 17 Pro | Galaxy S25 Ultra |
Processor | A19 Pro | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
Geekbench (single core/multicore) | 3,834 / 9,988 | 3,031 / 9,829 |
WildLife Original Unlimited (fps) | 158.37 | 161.66 |
Adobe Premiere Rush (mins:secs) | 0:22 | 0:52 |
The Galaxy S26 Ultra has the chance to leap ahead of that, though, given what we've seen from Qualcomm's latest chip. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 tops the A19 Pro in many benchmark tests we've run, both on prototype devices and phones that are currently shipping like the OnePlus 15.
However, it's not entirely clear if the Galaxy S26 Ultra will use the new Snapdragon system-on-chip exclusively. There's reports that some models could instead use the Exynos 2600, depending on what part of the world the phone ships in. That could make a difference as Exynos chips don't always keep pace with their Snapdragon equivalents.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. iPhone 17 Pro battery life and charging
The difference in size between the Ultra and iPhone Pro invariably translates to better battery life for the Samsung phone, which simply has more internal space to squeeze in a bigger battery. That was the case with last year's Galaxy S25 Ultra, though the gap isn't as big as you might think.
We ran an updated battery test on the iPhone 17 Pro, and Apple's phone was able to surf the web for 15 hours and 32 minutes. That actually outperformed the Galaxy S25 Ultra which held out for 14.5 hours on that same updated test, though Samsung's phone topped the 17-hour mark in an earlier version we used last January when that device first shipped. The bottom line is that Samsung can no longer count on its bigger battery if it wants the Ultra to outlast the more compact iPhone Pro model.
That said, rumors tip the Galaxy S26 Ultra to feature a larger battery — 5,400 mAh instead of the 5,000 mAh cell found in its predecessor. The S26 Ultra could also benefit from faster charging speeds, with the phone in line to charge at 60W over a wired connection. (The Galaxy S25 Ultra tops out at 45W.) In contrast, the iPhone 17 Pro supports 35W wired charging.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. iPhone 17 Pro AI and software
At this point, Galaxy AI is far more polished than the Apple Intelligence features that run on the iPhone 17 Pro. The gap could close somewhat this spring when Apple is set to deliver a smarter version of Siri via an update to iOS 26. Even so, Samsung's ahead of the game here, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra launch figures to introduce new AI capabilities — including a few features that may be exclusive to the Ultra, according to some rumors.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. iPhone 17 Pro outlook
On paper, there should be no competition between the Ultra model in Samsung's Galaxy S lineup and the smaller iPhone Pro. The bigger screen and larger battery in the Ultra should push it far ahead of Apple's entry-level Pro phone.
Yet, because the iPhone 17 Pro shares so many features with the larger Pro Max, it's able to compete with the Ultra. And the fact that it's currently $200 cheaper is another mark in favor of Apple's phone.
So a lot is riding on what Samsung does to improve the Galaxy S26 Ultra and what it ultimately charges for the new model. We'll soon see if Samsung's top-of-the-line phone can re-establish itself as the top phone or if the iPhone 17 Pro's value will carry the day.
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