Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Max plan apparently involves doing the opposite of the Galaxy S26 Ultra

As far as beefy smartphones go, Apple's iPhone Pro Max series is in direction competition with Samsung's Galaxy S Ultra handsets. If someone were shifting to Android from a top-of-the-line iPhone, the Ultra would be their most likely choice.

Both marque devices have followed similar trends over the past couple of years and the broad strokes have been similar. However, a new rumor claims that Apple might take next year's iPhone 17 Pro Max into an opposite direction compared to the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

The existing flagships are quite similar in their dimensions. The iPhone 16 Pro Max measures 163 x 77.6 x 8.3mm at 227g vs 162.8 x 77.6 x 8.3mm at 218g for the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It's rumored that this similarity in dimensions will change in a big way next year.

Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Max will apparently measure 8.76mm, noticeably thicker than its predecessor, while Samsung is expected to reduce the thickness of the Galaxy S26 Ultra in the 7.xmm range. The weight difference is said to be larger as well since Apple's phone will go up while Samsung's will become lighter.

Rumors have already emerged regarding the changes Samsung will make to the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Given Samsung's focus on slimming down phones this year, it's entirely believable that the company may take some drastic measures with its next flagship.

Some rumors even suggest that Samsung will remove the S Pen digitizer from the Galaxy S26 Ultra next year to make it thinner. That's also the strategy it has used to slim down the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 7.