Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max and the Galaxy S22 Plus are different in many ways, but they also share some similarities. Both phones, for example, have an OLED display with a bezel-less design and a cutout towards the top. You also get a triple camera setup on both devices along with other similarities like a battery unit with similar specs, almost the same physical dimensions and more. As for which phone is better for you, it’s totally subjective and may depend on whether you prefer Android or iOS, but we’ll try to highlight some of the big differences between the two in this Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus. comparison Let’s dive in!
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Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus: Specs
Specifications Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus Build
- Medium stainless steel frame
- Glass back
- Ceramic glass front
- IP68 dust and water resistant
- Aluminum armor
- Corning Gorilla Glass Food+
- IP68 dust and water resistant
Dimensions and weight
- 160.7 x 77.6 x 7.9 mm
- 240 grams
- 157.4 x 75.8 x 7.6 mm
- 196 grams
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- 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display
- Resolution of 2796 x 1290 pixels at 460 ppi
- Support for HDR, ProMotion technology (120 Hz), True Tone technology, always-on screen, dynamic island
- Maximum brightness of 2,000 nits.
- 6.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X
- Resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels 393 ppi
- Adaptive refresh rate of 120 Hz
- 1,750 nights
I am
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
- Exynos 2200
RAM and storage
- 6GB
- 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB
Battery and charging
- 4,323 mAh
- Fast charging, 50% in 30 minutes
- 15W MagSafe wireless fast charging
- 7.5W Qi wireless charging
- Charger not included
- 4,500 mAh
- 45W fast wired charging support
- 15W wireless charging support
- 4.5W reverse wireless charging
- Charger not included
Security Face ID Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor on the screen Rear cameras
- Professional rear camera system:
- Main: 48MP, ƒ/1.78
- Ultra Wide: 12MP, ƒ/2.2
- Telephoto lens: 12MP, ƒ/1.78
- Primary: 50MP, 1.0µm, 85° FoV, 23mm, f/1.8, DPAF, OIS
- Ultra Wide: 12MP, 1.4µm, 120° FoV, 13mm, f/2.2
- Telephoto lens: 10MP, 1.0µm, 36° FoV, 69mm, f/2.4, OIS, 3x optical zoom
Front Cameras Front TrueDepth Camera: 12MP, ƒ/1.9 10MP, 1.22µm, f/2.2, 80° FoV Port(s)
- USB type C
- No headphone jack
- There is no microSD card slot
- USB type C
- No headphone jack
- There is no microSD card slot
Audio Stereo speakers Stereo speakers Connectivity
- 5G (mmwave)
- Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with 2×2 MIMO
- Bluetooth 5.3
- NFC
- 5G (mmWave/sub6)
- 4G LTE
- Wi-Fi 6E
- Bluetooth 5.2
- NFC
Software iOS 16 One UI 4.1 based on Android 12 Other features
- Four Android OS updates have been promised
- Five years of security patches have been promised
Design and exhibition
Both the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the Galaxy S22 Plus look a lot like their predecessors. You’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the new phones and their predecessors from the outside if it weren’t for the new colors. The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a bit more individuality due to Apple’s new dynamic island, so we’d say it’s a bit more recognizable when the screen is on. You don’t get anything new in particular in terms of design, so keep that in mind.
Both phones have glossy mid-frames and matte glass back panels that look equally stylish. We think the rear design of the iPhone 14 Pro Max looks busier due to the massive camera island that has been growing in size with each iteration of the phone. Samsung’s “Contour-Cut” design that blends the camera island with the Galaxy S22 Plus’ housing looks much cleaner in comparison. Design, however, is entirely subjective, so we’ll leave it up to you to decide which one you like best.
In terms of build quality, we’d say both the iPhone 14 Pro and the Galaxy S22 Plus are equally durable. The Galaxy S22 Plus comes with Gorilla Glass Victus Plus for both the front and back, while Apple uses Ceramic Shield glass on the front and dual-ion glass on the back. Both phones are also IP68 rated for dust and water resistance, so there are no differences either. You may not need any extra protection for your phones, but we always recommend picking up good cases and screen protectors for your devices.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max and Galaxy S22 Plus also have almost the same physical dimensions. As you can see from the spec sheet, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is taller and wider by a couple of millimeters, which we don’t think will translate into much difference in the real world. The Galaxy S22 Plus, however, is significantly lighter at 196 grams. Even with one of the best cases out there, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus will likely weigh less than an iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Moving on to the front, both phones in this comparison feature a bezel-less display with a cutout for the sensors at the top. This particular notch is more noticeable on the iPhone 14 Pro Max than the Galaxy S22 Plus due to Apple’s Face ID technology. But instead of hiding the cutout or the area around it with a notch or wallpaper, Apple decided to build an entire user interface around it and called it Dynamic Island. Some people think it creates more problems than it solves, while others think it’s a fun and clever user interface that’s here to stay.
Looking beyond the cutout conundrum, you get two great-looking screens with crisp images and high refresh rate support. The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display with a resolution of 2796 x 1290 pixels, while the Galaxy S22 Plus features a 6.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels . Both displays support a 120Hz refresh rate, but the iPhone 14 Pro Max has a higher maximum brightness outdoors. Thanks to Apple’s new screen engine, the iPhone 14 Pro Max screen reaches 2,000 nits of brightness outdoors. The Galaxy S22 Plus isn’t far behind with 1,750 nits.
Internal hardware
Apple’s iPhones have historically been more powerful than Android flagships, and that trend continues with the new iPhone 14 Pro as well. The new iPhone 14 Pro Max features Apple’s new A16 Bionic chip, which is said to use two Everest cores (performance) and four Sawtooth cores (efficiency) in a Hexa-core configuration. The Galaxy S22 Plus, on the other hand, is offered worldwide in both Snapdragon and Exynos. Depending on where you buy the Galaxy S22 Plus, you’ll get either Samsung’s Exynos 2200 or Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC.
We tested the Galaxy S22 Ultra with Exynos and Snapdragon and found the latter to be more powerful in almost every scenario. We hope that the same results will also be reflected in the case of the Galaxy S22 Plus. That said, the A16 Bionic is the most powerful chip in this comparison, and it’s not even close. In fact, the A16 Bionic is also more powerful than the new Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. Here’s a look at Geekbench 5 results to show you the difference between single-core and multi-core performance A16 Bionic cores versus the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 running inside a Galaxy Z Fold 4:
GeekBench score of Apple A16 Bionic vs Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 score.
You might not notice a big difference in performance when it comes to day-to-day use, but the more powerful A16 Bionic certainly helps the iPhone 14 Pro Max do better in intensive tasks. The new iPhones only pack 6GB of RAM across the board compared to the Galaxy S22 Plus’ 8GB of memory, but we can all agree that iOS is significantly better at memory management. The base variants of both phones come with 128GB of storage, but the Galaxy S22 Plus goes up to 256GB while the iPhone 14 Pro Max can be bought with up to 1TB.
In terms of batteries, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is said to pack a 4,323mAh unit which goes against the 4,500mAh unit inside the Galaxy S22 Plus. You’re likely to get more screen time between charges on the iPhone 14 Pro Max due to software optimization. It also depends on your daily use, so it’s not easy to predict which one will last longer. But what we do know is that the Galaxy S22 Plus will charge faster, as it supports fast wired charging of up to 45W instead of the 25W charging on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Both phones also support wireless charging, but you’ll need to bring your own charger, wired or wireless.
cameras
Both the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the Galaxy S22 Plus, as we mentioned earlier, have a triple camera setup on the back. In the case of the Galaxy S22 Plus, we’re looking at a 50MP f/1.8 main shooter with OIS, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera with a 120-degree field of view, and a 10MP f/2.2. telephoto lens that offers 3x lossless zoom. Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max features what Apple calls a “Pro Camera System” that includes a 48MP sensor with an ƒ/1.78 aperture, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide and a 12MP ƒ/1.78 telephoto shooter with 3x optical zoom. And just like the iPhone 13 Pro Max, the new iPhone 14 Pro models also include a LiDAR depth sensor for portraits.
Selfies are handled by a 10MP shooter on the Galaxy S22 Plus, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max captures selfies with a new 12MP TrueDepth selfie camera. We weren’t able to capture the same set of photos with both phones for this particular comparison, but we’ve attached individual samples taken from both devices below. Alternatively, you can also head over to our reviews of these phones, both linked earlier in this post, for more samples along with other details.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max camera samples
Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus camera samples
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