Which has the bigger battery, the Apple iPhone 15 or the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra?

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has the bigger battery: 5,000 mAh against 3,349 mAh. Real battery life also depends on the chip and screen.

Which gets software updates for longer?

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: its maker promises OS updates until around January 2031, against September 2028 for the Apple iPhone 15.

Apple iPhone 15 vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Which should you buy?

Pick the Apple iPhone 15 for

Lighter: 171 g vs 233 g (62 g less)
Thinner: 7.8 mm vs 8.6 mm
More compact: 14.7 mm shorter

Pick the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for

Bigger battery: 5,000 vs 3,349 mAh (49% more)
Faster wired charging: 45 W vs 20 W
Bigger screen: 6.8" vs 6.1"
Smoother display: 120 Hz vs 60 Hz
Brighter display: 2,600 vs 2,000 nits peak
Higher-resolution main camera: 200 MP vs 48 MP
Optical zoom (5×), which the other lacks
OS updates for longer, until Jan 2031
More RAM: up to 12 GB vs 6 GB
More storage: up to 1 TB vs 512 GB
Newer: launched January 2024

Size comparison

The Apple iPhone 15 is 14.7 mm shorter, 7.4 mm narrower, 0.8 mm thinner and 62 g lighter than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Its screen is 0.7" smaller.

Apple iPhone 15147.6 × 71.6 × 7.8 mm
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra162.3 × 79 × 8.6 mm

Specs side by side

Launch	Apple iPhone 15	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Announced	September 12, 2023	January 17, 20241
Released	September 22, 2023	January 31, 20241
Launch price	$7991	—

Body	Apple iPhone 15	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Size	147.6 × 71.6 × 7.8 mm	162.3 × 79 × 8.6 mm
Thickness	7.8 mm (better)	8.6 mm
Weight	171 g (better)	233 g
Frame	Aluminum	—
Back	Color-infused glass	—
Water resistance	IP68	IP68
Colours	Black, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink	Titanium Black, Titanium Grey, Titanium Violet, Titanium Yellow, Titanium Blue, Titanium Green, Titanium Orange1

Display	Apple iPhone 15	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Size	6.1"	6.8"
Type	Super Retina XDR OLED	Dynamic AMOLED 2X
Resolution	1179 × 2556	1440 × 3120 (better)
Refresh rate	60 Hz	120 Hz (better)
Peak brightness	2,000 nits	2,600 nits (better)
Protection	Ceramic Shield	Corning Gorilla Glass Armor1

Performance and software	Apple iPhone 15	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Chipset	A16 Bionic	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
CPU	6-core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores	Octa-core (1x3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 & 5x3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.3 GHz Cortex-A520)
Process	4 nm1	4 nm
Ships with	iOS	Android 14 (One UI 6.1)
OS updates	5 years (to Sep 2028)1	7 years (to Jan 2031)1 (better)
Security updates	—	7 years (to Jan 2031)1

Memory	Apple iPhone 15	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
RAM	6 GB1	12 GB (better)
Storage	128 GB / 256 GB / 512 GB	256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB (better)
Card slot	No1	—

Cameras	Apple iPhone 15	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Rear	48 MP Main, OIS 12 MP Ultrawide	200 MP Main, OIS 50 MP Periscope telephoto (5× optical), OIS 10 MP Telephoto (3× optical), OIS 12 MP Ultrawide
Main camera	48 MP	200 MP (better)
Optical zoom	None	5× (better)
Front	12 MP	12 MP
Video	4K Dolby Vision at 60 fps	8K@24/30fps1

Battery	Apple iPhone 15	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Capacity	3,349 mAh1	5,000 mAh (better)
Wired charging	20 W1	45 W1 (better)
Wireless charging	15 W	15 W1
Reverse wireless	—	Yes1

Connectivity	Apple iPhone 15	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
5G	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with 2x2 MIMO	Wi-Fi 71
Bluetooth	5.3	5.3
NFC	Yes	Yes1
USB	USB-C with USB 2 (up to 480Mb/s) and DisplayPort	USB-C 3.2 (5Gbps)
Headphone jack	No1	No1
eSIM	Yes	Yes
Satellite messaging	Yes	—

Features	Apple iPhone 15	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Fingerprint	—	Ultrasonic under-display1
Stereo speakers	—	Yes
Stylus	—	Yes1

Highlighted: the better value where one is clearly better. Sources for each phone are listed on the Apple iPhone 15 and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra pages.

Quick answers

Is the Apple iPhone 15 bigger than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra?: The Apple iPhone 15 is 14.7 mm shorter, 7.4 mm narrower, 0.8 mm thinner and 62 g lighter than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Its screen is 0.7" smaller.
Which has the bigger battery, the Apple iPhone 15 or the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra?: The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has the bigger battery: 5,000 mAh against 3,349 mAh. Real battery life also depends on the chip and screen.
Which gets software updates for longer?: The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: its maker promises OS updates until around January 2031, against September 2028 for the Apple iPhone 15.