Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max / Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

ProMotion changes the refresh rate with the content: it rises to 120 Hz for scrolling and drops on still images to save battery. The Always-On display shows the time and notifications dimmed while locked.

Adaptive refresh drops to as low as 1 Hz when content is static to save power and rises to 120 Hz when scrolling and gaming. Vision Booster adjusts colour and contrast in bright conditions across three lighting levels; the edge curve is reduced compared with the S22 Ultra.

2000 nits is a peak reached with automatic brightness in sunlight; manual brightness stays lower.

Storage cannot be expanded later. 4K 60 fps ProRes recording works only to external storage.

The tetraprism design folds light inside the body so a 120 mm focal length fits in the thin case. Values above 5x are digital zoom and lose detail.

The 200 MP sensor outputs 200, 50 or 12 MP images through pixel binning. 100x Space Zoom combines 10x optical with 10x AI-assisted digital zoom; image quality may deteriorate beyond 10x. The optical stabilisation angle was doubled compared with the S22 Ultra.

Log recording gives a flat image for colour grading; Action mode reduces shake with software stabilisation and crops the image to 2.8K.

The Expert RAW app (downloaded separately from the Galaxy Store) offers RAW capture at up to 50 MP.

On the S23 series the front camera gets fast autofocus and 60 fps Super HDR.

The 10 Gb/s speed needs a USB 3 capable cable; the charge cable in the box does not provide it. DisplayPort output can drive an external display at 4K HDR.

No power adapter is included. Qi2 support brings magnetic alignment to compatible chargers beyond MagSafe.

45 W requires a separately sold 45 W adapter and a 5 A USB-C cable; wired charging is compatible with QC2.0 and AFC. Wireless PowerShare charges Qi-compatible devices from the back of the phone when the battery is above 30%.

Dual-frequency GPS uses two satellite frequencies together to reduce position drift between tall buildings. mmWave 5G works only on the US model and with carriers that offer it.

The phone can store eight or more eSIM profiles; two lines can be active at once.

It replaces the ring/silent switch of earlier models; pressing and holding runs the chosen function.

Water and dust resistance is not permanent and can decrease over time.

Apple released this fix in October 2023; heat reports continued with later versions, see owner experiences.

According to Samsung, the S23 series was the first S series to use Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

Samsung says the vapour chamber is larger on every S23-series model.

Memory depends on the storage option; usable space is lower because of preloaded software. There is no memory card slot.

Update timing can vary by model and market.

Using Wi‑Fi 6E’s 6 GHz band needs a Wi‑Fi 6E router and market availability.

Knox Vault keeps critical data in separate hardware isolated from the operating system.

Samsung does not recommend beach or pool use.