There's a war brewing between the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and it's all about the zoom camera. Now we're hearing more details about Samsung's telephoto upgrade along with an even better display.
Let's start with the camera. You may have heard that Apple is finally going to offer a periscope zoom on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which would give that handset a 6x optical zoom. That's a major boost versus the current 3x zoom for the iPhone 14 Pro Max. But Samsung isn't sitting still on the camera front.
According to leaker Ice Universe, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is getting a new 3x 50MP sensor, which would accompany the existing 10x zoom camera. The previous Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 10MP 3x telephoto zoom camera, so this would be a major resolution upgrade. In fact, Ice Universe says that this new sensor would allow the Galaxy S24 Ultra to deliver "good 5x zoom image quality."
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra adopts a new 3x 50MP sensor, 0.7μm, 1/2.52 ".With this sensor, Samsung can get a good 5x zoom image quality.August 14, 2023
Notably, the Google Pixel 7 Pro offers a 48MP 5x telephoto zoom camera, so Samsung could be playing so catch-up here. The Pixel 8 Pro is tipped to feature a similar zoom setup.
Galaxy S24 Ultra display upgrade
The more mysterious tidbit from Ice Universe is that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will "finally" get an upgraded screen.
What the heck does that mean? Well, we've heard from one source that Samsung may decide to increase the refresh rate on the Galaxy S24 Ultra to 144Hz. That would be a nice jump from the current 120Hz and presumably make those shopping for the best gaming phones very happy.
I can confirm that the Galaxy S24 Ultra has finally been upgraded screen. pic.twitter.com/YXPiTN8j06August 14, 2023
Another report in Korean publication Chosun points to the Galaxy S24 series getting M13 OLED displays. The new "M13" OLED display material is tipped to be "thinner" and "higher quality" than existing panels. Interestingly, the iPhone 16 is rumored to be using the same display technology.
Other Galaxy S24 Ultra rumors thus far point to a possible larger 1-inch sensor for the main 200MP camera, the faster new Sanpdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and as much as 16GB of RAM. And we could see a a 50% faster GPU. Add in new stacked battery technology for more capacity and a rumored titanium design and you could have an absolute beast.
There's no denying that an iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra battle would be the one to watch out for in the future, especially given how they'll closely stack up against one another. Stay tuned to our Galaxy S24 Ultra hub for all the latest rumors and leaks.
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