Next top iPhone could give the Galaxy S26 Ultra's camera a run for its money

Samsung's best camera experience can be found on its Galaxy S Ultra phones. No other device in its lineup comes close to the hardware these devices have. It also stands out amongst Android OEMs as few match its capabilities.

Apple's top iPhone Pro Max models offer the best camera capabilities of the any device in the series. The company is reportedly working on a major upgrade that could give the Galaxy S26 Ultra a run for its money.

According to Macrumors, the iPhone 17 Pro due later this year will have a new telephoto lens with 8x optical zoom. That will be an upgrade from the 5x zoom lens on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Its further claims that this lens would allow for continuous optical zoom even at different focal lengths.

The report mentions that Apple may also provide a new pro camera app that would be similar to third-party options the likes of Halide and Kino. Lastly, a new camera control button may also be added to the top edge of the devices, in addition to the camera control button that already exists at the bottom right edge of newer iPhones, for faster access to the camera and related settings.

None of these claims have been substantiated as yet but if true, they show that Apple's taking a different direction to make its devices stand out from Samsung's offerings.

While the Korean giant appears to be focused on slimming down devices as much as possible, Apple's leaning in hard on camera capabilities, hoping that those upgrades would help drive sales momentum for its new flagship iPhone.