Apple Could’ve Matched Samsung’s Zoom Camera, But It Blew the Chance

When it comes to zoom range, Samsung has long been the leader in smartphone cameras. Since the release of the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the company’s top-tier Galaxy S series phones have featured a 10x optical zoom camera, with Samsung continuously improving the zoom performance. The Galaxy S23 Ultra has the best zoom camera available on a smartphone right now, it can be said with confidence.

Apple unveiled its first iPhone with a USB Type-C port last night. The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s long-range zoom camera is the main talking point, surpassing its new port and faster processor. Apple is catching up to Samsung, but we believe it is still a ways off.

iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 5x Zoom Camera is Nowhere Close to Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 10x Zoom Range

The iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple’s most recent flagship device (and most expensive device to date), has a 12MP telephoto camera coupled with a 5x optical zoom lens. The Galaxy S23 Ultra uses a 10MP camera sensor that is positioned perpendicular to the phone’s body and a periscope-style zoom lens that folds light once, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro Max uses a tetraprism lens that folds light four times.

A number of Samsung and Samsung Electro-Mechanics patents are likely avoided by this clever trick. Its range, however, is inferior to that of Samsung’s most recent flagship devices, like the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Galaxy S23 Ultra, which have telephoto cameras.

Although Apple’s long-zoom camera has a smaller appearance than Samsung’s, it can only zoom in up to 5 times optically, compared to the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 10 times optical zoom. Apple typically has really good image processing algorithms, but even with its new 5x telephoto camera, it most likely won’t be able to capture zoomed images as well as Samsung does since the iPhone 15 Pro Max only uses a 12MP sensor.

Samsung improved its image processing algorithms with the Galaxy S23 Ultra. In our tests, we discovered that even at 30x digital zoom, zoomed-in images taken with the Galaxy S23 Ultra still looked good. Apple’s performance at zoom levels above 10x might not be as good as Samsung’s, but it can probably compete with it. Apple might switch to a higher-resolution sensor in the future, but given its history, the company is likely to take its time.