5 ways the iPhone 15 Pro Max beats the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Apple’s still riding high on the success of its iPhone 15 Pro Max after it supplanted the Galaxy S23 Ultra on our best phones list last year. But now that the Galaxy S24 Ultra has landed, it gives Apple’s flagship some heated competition, which we pointed out in our Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. iPhone 15 Pro Max face-off.
Indeed, there are several areas where the Galaxy S24 Ultra is clearly superior, including its longer lasting battery life. But the iPhone 15 Pro Max continues its reign in other areas, reminding us that you simply can’t take away what Apple has done, especially when it’s a such a noticeabl upgrade over the iPhone 14 Pro Max before it.
We’re still a couple days away before Samsung’s newest flagship is commercially released, so if you’re still on the fence and perhaps swayed by the iPhone 15 Pro Max, we break down what Apple’s doing to make it the better phone of the two.
It’s cheaper
Right off the bat, you’ll save more money going with the iPhone 15 Pro Max — and that’s despite Apple imposing a price increase over last year’s model. With a starting cost of $1,199, you’re saving $100 more by choosing the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which can then be used on other things like a handy MagSafe wireless charger or snatching any one of the best iPhone 15 Pro Max cases around.
Brighter screen
Phone makers are constantly figuring out ways to improve their phone with each iterative device, and having brighter screens is one way to do that. Fortunately, both the iPhone 15 Pro and Galaxy S24 Ultra offer better brightness than their respective predecessors.
But when these two phones go head to head, our own display benchmarking test reveals a brighter screen with the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It pulls off a blinding 1,550 nits, versus the still respectable, but obviously not as bright 1,363 nits of peak brightness we measured on Samsung’s flagships.
ProRes lets you record directly to SSD
While it’s not for everyone, the ability to instantly record and save videos to an external hard drive is helpful for serious creators that want to streamline their workflow. Now that it’s ditched the Lightning port in favor of USB-C, the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s support of USB 3.0 lets users shoot in ProRes and save the footage directly to an SSD. Paired with its 10Gbit per second maximum transfer speed, it doesn’t take long to save those clips — which is something you can’t o do with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Programmable Action button
Whether you think it’s novel or not, the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s new Action button adds a certain level of access to the phone’s various apps and controls. This dedicated button is fundamentally a shortcut button that can be programmed to do an assortment of things, like opening up a specific app, acting as a mute switch, or something more complex. Bring the Shortcut app into the mix, and you can use the Action button to trigger a handful of automations, such as choosing a specific person to send a message, or setting up multiple alarms.
Shoot video in LOG
Another appeal of the iPhone 15 Pro Max for content creators is the phone’s ability to record ProRes videos with a Log profile. This results in a flatter-looking recording, which can subsequently be tweaked with video editing software to reveal more detail in the highlights and shadows.
Additionally, a Log profile allows users to apply a LUT (Look Up Table) for even greater color grading options in post. Again, this isn’t a feature that’s widely used by everyone, but it’s definitely handy for those who crave more control in how their footage looks.