Samsung holds Apple to $250 per iPhone Duo display in three-year deal

Apple's $1,299 iPhone 18 Pro Max and Samsung's $1,300 Galaxy S26 Ultra are the latest high-end flagship phones from each company, announced at the Surprise and Shine event. Both phones share several key features, such as camera and battery upgrades, with the 256GB model of the iPhone 18 Pro Max priced closely to the S26 Ultra. Apple's new iPhone 18 Pro Max maintains a similar aluminum unibody design as last year's iPhone 17 Pro Max, featuring a 6.8-inch OLED display.

In contrast, the Galaxy S26 Ultra has a slightly larger 6.9-inch AMOLED display and weighs less at 214 grams. Both phones offer unique design elements, with Samsung's S26 Ultra including a Privacy Display that conceals content from off-angle viewing. When it comes to battery life, Apple does not disclose specific battery specs for the US market, but the physical SIM edition is reported to have a 5,391-mAh capacity.

The S26 Ultra, on the other hand, has a 5,000-mAh capacity and supports 60-watt wired charging. The iPhone 18 Pro Max, however, has advanced camera technology, including a variable-aperture camera and three cameras with a 4x optical zoom. Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra, meanwhile, has four cameras, with a 200-megapixel main camera and a 5x optical zoom on the telephoto lens.

Both phones are powered by their respective top-of-the-line processors, with the iPhone 18 Pro Max utilizing Apple's A20 Pro chip and the S26 Ultra powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 for Galaxy. This processor supports Samsung's suite of Galaxy AI features.