iPhone 17 Pro Max Could Humiliate Galaxy S25 Ultra in Telephoto Zoom

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is just months old, but it’s already staring down what could be its biggest camera challenge. Renowned tipster Ice Universe recently sounded the alarm: Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 Pro Max could leave Samsung’s telephoto zoom camera tech in the dust. The tipster says the S25 Ultra will be “the worst in the industry” among major flagship brands.

The new iPhone may crush the Galaxy S25 Ultra in camera zoom

Samsung made a bold decision last year, dropping the 10x zoom camera in favor of a new 5x unit. While the company claimed lossless 10x photos thanks to a higher resolution 50MP sensor, that’s far from the actual truth. Ice Universe claims to have compared the Galaxy S25 Ultra against Samsung’s own S21 Ultra from 2021 at 10x zoom, only to find the newer model “crushed” in detail and clarity.

According to the tipster, the S25 Ultra’s computational photography produces images that look fine at first glance but fall apart into “a pixelated disaster” upon closer inspection. He blames years of “complacency” in Samsung’s camera strategy for this slide. And the upcoming iPhone launch could deal a killer blow to the company.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is expected to debut next month with a 48MP telephoto sensor, possibly with 8x optical zoom or at least 5x. And Apple will take a different approach than Samsung, which leans heavily on AI enhancements to simulate higher optical quality. Ice says Apple’s new telephoto camera will rely on raw processing power and precision tuning — no “gimmicky” tricks.

The new iPhone’s telephoto results will allegedly “surpass the Galaxy S25 Ultra in every way.” If that happens, Samsung may need to rethink its hardware priorities for the S26 Ultra to avoid falling further behind. Its 3x zoom camera is already showing its age, and the 5x solution may fail to hold up against key rivals. It remains to be seen how Samsung responds.