Every year, Apple and Samsung try to one-up each other, bringing new innovations to their flagships. While both are highly competitive, the sales numbers make it clear that the iPhone is in a league of its own, topping the list of best-selling phones soon after a new launch.
The latest and best iPhone right now is the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and it’s set to go up against the Galaxy S24 Ultra in 2024. Knowing what’s at stake for the South Korean giant, here are some features the Galaxy S24 Ultra needs to beat the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
1. A More Optimized Camera System
Credit where it’s due, Samsung did a great job with the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s camera system. There are big improvements across the board like better video quality, better low-light performance, improved dynamic range, and a whopping200MP camera that isn’t a gimmick.
That said, some of the long-standingissues with cameras on Samsung phonespersist. For starters, shots from the main, ultrawide, and telephoto lenses look slightly different in color and contrast, leading to inconsistent results. Also, transitioning from one magnification to the other is jittery; such is not the case with iPhones.
More importantly, there’s a shutter lag that introduces unwanted blur in your photos, especially when taking high-res shots or shooting fast-moving objects. The iPhone’s faster speed of capture helps avoid camera shakes, giving you peace of mind that you don’t need to take multiple shots of the same subject to ensure a clean result.
Also,Galaxy flagships overdo image processingsometimes, making your photos look a bit unnatural. When it works as intended, Samsung’s image processing is actually quite pleasant and makes your photos shareable, but when it doesn’t, it’s a pain indeed. Because of this, you never really know how the end result is going to turn out when taking a shot.
2. iPhone-Like Software Efficiency
You probably already know that iPhones deliver longer battery life despite having physically smaller cells and that they are able to keep more apps in memory even though they have less RAM. Both of those things are partly thanks to the iPhone’s unmatched software efficiency.
Android as an operating system takes more power to run, and when you slap a custom skin on top (such as Samsung’s One UI or OnePlus' OxygenOS) which most manufacturers do to differentiate themselves, efficiency drops further.
In comparison, Apple’s proprietary operating system iOS is far more optimized, ensuring minimal power consumption. If Samsung wants to compete with the iPhone in the long run, it needs to focus on improving efficiency too alongside adding bigger cells and more RAM.
3. A Stronger Titanium Frame
One of the biggest new features of the iPhone 15 Pro series is its Grade 5 titanium frame which is not only stronger but also lighter than the stainless steel frame used on former iPhone Pro models. In fact, titanium has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any pure metal; it’s about 45% lighter than steel, but just as strong.
For context, stainless steel is a tougher but heavier metal than aluminum which Samsung uses on its Galaxy flagships. Simply put, pure titanium is lighter and as tough as stainless steel which in turn is tougher but heavier than aluminum.
Titanium is also highly resistant to corrosion and has a higher melting point than stainless steel and aluminum, making it more capable of withstanding extreme environments. If Samsung doesn’t want to be left behind, it needs to switch to titanium on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Since most of a flagship phone’s surface is made of glass, a stronger glass front and back has a much bigger effect on the overall durability than a stronger frame.
4. A More Efficient Chip
Samsung sources its chips partly from Qualcomm and partly from its own semiconductor division. The former is an off-the-shelf solution (and hence not specialized for Galaxy), and the latter has proved incapable of competing even with Qualcomm Snapdragon chips, as is evident by thepoor reputation of Exynos.
Apple, however, designs its own chip and can optimize it specifically for the iPhone. Also, Apple Silicon is manufactured by TSMC, whereas Qualcomm Snapdragon and Exynos have historically been manufactured by Samsung’s own foundry which, simply put, isn’t as good at making chips as TSMC—not yet, at least.
So, if Samsung wants to avoid losing users to Apple, it needs to either continue to have its chips manufactured by TSMC such as theSnapdragon 8 Gen 2 on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, or upgrade its foundry to match the 3nm process of TSMC. This will allow Galaxy flagships to increase battery life and run console-quality mobile games.
5. Support From Third-Party App Developers
Since Apple only releases a handful of new iPhone models each year, it’s far easier for app developers to optimize their apps and games for the iPhone. But there are many Android companies, each releasing many different models in a year.
Because of this, Android phones get a poor one-size-fits-all solution. If Samsung continues to work with more app developers to optimize popular apps and games for Galaxy, it can stand a chance at beating the iPhone.
6. Google Pixel-Like AI Software Features
It’s not just better cameras, more power, and increased battery life that makes a smartphone great, but the overall experience it provides and how it makes your life easier. For example, Google Pixel phones come with helpful AI features such as Call Screen, Magic Eraser, Hold for Me, Photo Unblur, and more.
Apple has also added some AI-powered features such as Voice Isolation which blocks out ambient noise during phone calls, and Personal Voice which creates a “synthesized voice that sounds like your own” for users at risk of losing their ability to speak.
Don’t get us wrong,Samsung phones are filled with features, but when it comes to AI-powered features that actually solve real-life problems (as opposed to just being nice to have), it seems Samsung has some catching up to do.
S24 Ultra Might Beat the iPhone 15 Pro Max
The Galaxy Ultra is Samsung’s most cutting-edge phone series, and if the company implements the features we discussed above, it can stand a chance at beating its biggest nemesis. For Android users, the Galaxy Ultra is easily the best phone money can buy.
