If you want the fastest phone, buy one. iPhone 14 Pro. If you want the best camera and selfies? DxOLabs says it’s the iPhone 14 Pro. The brightest and sharpest phone screen? Also the iPhone 14 Pro. Now, leaks suggest that Apple’s unchecked dominance could be in jeopardy, as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra could be the biggest threat the iPhone has faced in years.
We criticize Apple for its walled garden approach, but that’s not why people buy the best iPhones, especially not the high-end iPhone 14 Pro. It is true that Apple services like iMessage, or its iCloud backup, keep users addicted to Apple and feeling unable to leave. If phones weren’t great, people would find a way.
Apple phones had the coolest designs, but Samsung and Google have caught up, and who doesn’t wrap their phone in a case anyway? Previously, Apple phones were so much prettier and sleeker than the competition, anyone interested in style wouldn’t be surprised in public with anything less. Those days are behind us.
Apple’s iPhone still has the best cameras, right?
Apple cameras are still the best, but Apple doesn’t pack all the best cameras into its iPhone. You can take the best wide and ultra-wide photos with the iPhone 14 Pro, but you can’t take a photo with 10X optical zoom like the Galaxy S22 Ultraand you can’t make amazing enhanced astrophotography shots like you can with Samsung’s flagship and the Google Pixel 7 Pro.
Recent Galaxy S23 Ultra spec sheet leaks show us that Apple could fall even further behind in the coming year. Samsung is taking no prisoners with its 200MP camera sensor, which would be the highlight of the next big phone, launching in February 2023.
Samsung Semiconductor has been manufacturing a 200MP sensor for a year, but Samsung Mobile Experience has yet to include one in a Galaxy phone. Motorola sold the Edge 30 Ultra with Samsung’s large sensor, but we’re hearing unusually enthusiastic leaks that the 200MP camera sensor in the Galaxy S23 Ultra will be a step ahead of what current phones can produce.
Is the iPhone still the fastest phone you can buy?
The gap between Apple Bionic chips and the Android world was so far in the past, it wasn’t even close
Besides the new camera sensor, we already have a good idea of the performance of the upcoming Galaxy S23 family. Qualcomm hinted bluntly that it would be the exclusive mobile platform for Samsung’s next phone worldwide, leaving behind the underperforming Samsung Exynos.
Some kind people have compared the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset that the Galaxy S23 Ultra will likely use, and it performs admirably. Using benchmark tools that work on both iPhone and Android, Qualcomm’s upcoming platform comes closer than any previous Snapdragon to matching Apple’s current chipset.
It’s not quite a win, and the benchmarks are a measuring tool, not the complete picture. Yet the gap between Apple Bionic chips and the Android world was so far in the past that it wasn’t even close.
This attracted more developers to Apple. This has reduced the number of complaints about sliding performance from iPhone owners. If Samsung phones run as fast as iPhones and don’t slow down, what will owners complain about? Not a lot.
What can Apple do to keep winning?
There won’t be a single phone to scare Apple, but Apple should be scared. Its domination in all respects is crumbling. Over the next year, we could see Samsung phones beat Apple in performance, camera image quality, and who knows how many other new ways? Samsung phones already contain features like stylus support that the iPhone lacks.
We hear that Apple could launch a foldable phoneor maybe a iPad tablet that folds. It’s a classic Apple move, especially when faced with the challenge of its biggest hardware competitor. When Samsung changed the market with its huge galaxy note phone phones, Apple spent years waiting before it quickly caught up with its own big phones.
Yet, what is Apple’s victory in foldable phones? Will its phones be the most foldable? How will Apple differentiate any of its new devices in the future, foldable or flat, as its competitors finally close the gap on key features and benefits that were previously unmatched?
Apple’s walled garden needs a hedge
The walls are crumbling for Apple on all sides. iPhone should lose sound Lightning port in the next generation or so, which will mean the end of despicable proprietary accessories.
If your iPhone accessories work equally well with any Samsung or Google phone, you might not feel like you’re stuck with Apple the next time you need a new phone. Losing lighting to USB-C is great for consumers, but also for competitors. Apple should be scared because another garden wall is collapsing.
Google is progressing with RCS Messaging and other text message adaptations that thwart Apple’s iMessage advantage. Even prehistoric features, like phone calls, are seeing improvements on Google Pixel phones that Apple won’t match. Google has just launched clear call AI features on its Google Pixel 7 phones, powered exclusively by the Tensor G2 chip.
We haven’t seen similar proprietary features enabled by the Apple A16 Bionic chip, just raw performance. Apple felt comfortable leading the pack of smartphones with the fastest phones, best cameras, and coolest designs. As these advantages fade, Apple should worry about remaining stagnant as the competition moves forward.
Before the world flips on its axis and Apple is suddenly threatened by Samsung, you might want to take a look at some of the best phones of the yearwhich includes models from Apple and Samsung, of course.
