Which has the bigger battery, the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max or the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra?

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has the bigger battery: 5,000 mAh against 4,685 mAh. Real battery life also depends on the chip and screen.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Which should you buy?

Pick the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max for

Faster wireless charging: 25 W vs 15 W
Lighter: 227 g vs 233 g (6 g less)
Thinner: 8.3 mm vs 8.6 mm
Newer: launched September 2024

Pick the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for

Bigger battery: 5,000 vs 4,685 mAh (7% more)
Brighter display: 2,600 vs 2,000 nits peak
Higher-resolution main camera: 200 MP vs 48 MP
More RAM: up to 12 GB vs 8 GB

Size comparison

The Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max is 0.7 mm taller, 1.4 mm narrower, 0.3 mm thinner and 6 g lighter than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Its screen is 0.1" larger.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max163 × 77.6 × 8.25 mm
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra162.3 × 79 × 8.6 mm

Specs side by side

Launch	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Announced	September 9, 20241	January 17, 20241
Released	September 20, 2024	January 31, 20241
Launch price	$1,199	—

Body	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Size	163 × 77.6 × 8.3 mm	162.3 × 79 × 8.6 mm
Thickness	8.3 mm (better)	8.6 mm
Weight	227 g (better)	233 g
Frame	titanium	—
Back	textured matte glass	—
Water resistance	IP68	IP68
Colours	Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, Desert Titanium	Titanium Black, Titanium Grey, Titanium Violet, Titanium Yellow, Titanium Blue, Titanium Green, Titanium Orange1

Display	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Size	6.9"	6.8"
Type	Super Retina XDR OLED	Dynamic AMOLED 2X
Resolution	1320 × 2868	1440 × 3120 (better)
Refresh rate	120 Hz	120 Hz
Peak brightness	2,000 nits	2,600 nits (better)
Protection	Ceramic Shield	Corning Gorilla Glass Armor1

Performance and software	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Chipset	A18 Pro	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
CPU	6-core (2 performance + 4 efficiency)	Octa-core (1x3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 & 5x3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.3 GHz Cortex-A520)
Process	—	4 nm
Ships with	iOS	Android 14 (One UI 6.1)
OS updates	—	7 years (to Jan 2031)1
Security updates	—	7 years (to Jan 2031)1

Memory	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
RAM	8 GB	12 GB (better)
Storage	256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB	256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB

Cameras	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Rear	48 MP Main, OIS 12 MP Telephoto (5× optical), OIS 48 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	5×	5×
Front	12 MP	12 MP
Video	4K Dolby Vision at 120 fps	8K@24/30fps1

Battery	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Capacity	4,685 mAh1	5,000 mAh (better)
Wired charging	—	45 W1
Wireless charging	25 W (better)	15 W1
Reverse wireless	—	Yes1

Connectivity	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
5G	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)	Wi-Fi 71
Bluetooth	5.3	5.3
NFC	Yes	Yes1
USB	USB-C, USB 3 (up to 10Gb/s)	USB-C 3.2 (5Gbps)
Headphone jack	—	No1
eSIM	Yes	Yes
Satellite messaging	Yes	—

Features	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max	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 16 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra pages.

Quick answers

Is the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max bigger than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra?: The Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max is 0.7 mm taller, 1.4 mm narrower, 0.3 mm thinner and 6 g lighter than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Its screen is 0.1" larger.
Which has the bigger battery, the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max or the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra?: The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has the bigger battery: 5,000 mAh against 4,685 mAh. Real battery life also depends on the chip and screen.