Apple should make an iPhone 17 Ultra and copy these phone cameras

The iPhone has long been recognized as a leader in both mobile photography, but in recent years, companies from across the globe have aimed to dethrone it. Five years ago, Samsung launched its Ultra series, which includes the latest Galaxy S25 Ultra. More recently, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi have all launched Ultra competitors that have broken new barriers in mobile photography and videography. 

Fast forward to this year, and Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17 Air, a new thin with a single camera designed to usher in a thinner, lighter era for smartphones. Yet, the iPhone 16 Pro Max remains a camera powerhouse, albeit one that’s limited by Apple’s imagination and willingness to be the best in mobile photography.

For the past few months, I’ve used all four main Ultra phones for a variety of photos and tested them against the iPhone 16 Pro, which has the same camera as its bigger brother. The results have left me convinced that Apple should launch an iPhone 17 Ultra and copy these features from its rival Ultra phones. Here’s how the iPhone 16 Pro compares and why Apple should finally push the Ultra barrier.

How each camera compares

Let’s take a quick look at the main spec differences between each phone camera and how Apple’s best smartphone camera right now stacks up.

Examining the specs sheet reveals the key issues with Apple’s current approach compared to the best smartphone cameras. First, there’s the distinct lack of a secondary telephoto camera, or failing that, one capable of AI-powered zoom at larger magnifications. Then, there’s the poor quality selfie camera. Finally, there’s the smaller sensor sizes.

Each of the Ultra competitors solves one or more of these issues, and as we’ll see, that makes a significant difference to the overall pictures captured. Let’s take a look.

few common differences between the iPhone 16 Pro and its Ultra competitors. First, most competitors feature dual telephoto lenses, and all but Samsung offer a minimum capture distance of just 10cm. The net result is far better zoom capabilities than those available on an iPhone today. 

The iPhone 16 Pro is also limited to just 25x zoom, and there is significant degradation past 10x. Meanwhile, Samsung is strong at up to 30x, and Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo all prove capable at up to 100x zoom. To take it a step further, Vivo and Xiaomi also offer add-on lenses that can significantly extend the zoom.

Let’s take a closer look at how each camera compares to the iPhone 16 Pro and what lessons Apple can learn from its chief rivals.

Comparing to the Galaxy S25 Ultra in Dubai

Huawei was the first to make periscope telephoto lenses popular on smartphones, but Samsung was the first to define the term Ultra in smartphones. The Galaxy S20 Ultra delivered exceptional zoom, and one key selling point was the performance at higher magnifications.

The iPhone 16 Pro is limited to a maximum magnification of 25x, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra can go up to 100x. You likely won’t use that on the latter, but it does mean great performance at the 30x magnification, as we’ll see.

At 1x, both phones are fairly evenly matched under the Dubai sunshine, although the Galaxy S25 Ultra has much better color reproduction thanks to the higher saturation. While the iPhone 16 Pro is technically more accurate, Samsung’s color science has always skewed towards saturated, and it works wonders for landscapes and scenes like this.

Both phones feature a periscope lens offering 5x optical zoom, so how do they compare? This is probably the best indication of the difference in the overall results with that lens, and looking closely at these results shows that Apple’s lower resolution 12MP telephoto struggles to match the detail captured by the 50MP telephoto on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Apple’s color science once again skews natural, but this is less of a concern in this scene.

The power of two telephoto lenses starts to kick in once we go into hybrid or digital zoom. Comparing the same 10x photo captured on both phones, the degradation in the iPhone 16 Pro zoom photo has become obvious. The degradation is fairly subtle so the finaly image is still completely usable, but it’s definitely visible.

Rounding off this comparison at 30x, the iPhone 16 Pro photo has actually improved over the quality in the previous photo. This isn’t always the case, and there are plenty of other examples of higher degradation at these magnifications, but here the differences are more nuanced. The iPhone 16 Pro picture has better colors but lesser detail, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra has better detail but a less visually appealing photo.

Throughout the past four months, I’ve yielded similar results to these. Like the Google Pixel 9 Pro, the iPhone 16 Pro is limited in its zoom capabilities, but considering the Pro Max version is priced at $200 below the Galaxy S25 Ultra, these phones are all designed to compete against each other.

For Apple, Samsung doesn’t pose the largest threat. Rather, it’s the innovation by other companies to push the boundaries of smartphone photography. Vivo and Oppo both have incredible phones that pose a threat to Apple’s camera appeal in the biggest smartphone markets in the world (outside of the US, where they’re not available).

Comparing to the Oppo Find X8 Ultra and Vivo X200 Ultra in Paris

Vivo has been pushing the boundaries with smartphone cameras for years, and the Vivo X200 Ultra is no different. It’s an incredible all-around smartphone that shows you don’t need a secondary telephoto to capture incredible photos. The triple camera setup on the X200 Ultra prioritizes parity between lenses so that you can shoot with any lens and get similar results with minimal loss of quality. The one key downside to the Vivo X200 Ultra is the starting 35mm focal length; while it’s designed to replicate what your eye can see, it makes comparisons really hard and feels jarring when you come from the wider cameras on most phones.

Oppo has taken a somewhat different approach with the Find X8 Ultra. It’s designed to have parity between the different lenses, ensuring that you don’t suddenly lose quality in a photo or video when you switch between the different lenses. It includes two periscope telephoto lenses and while there are differences between the color science across the four lenses, maintaining parity in the resolution is a worthwhile endeavor.

During a recent trip to Paris, I managed to test these three cameras out. Let’s first start at the Eiffel Tower.

For these lower magnifications, the Vivo has the brightest image but the Oppo captures the most detail. The iPhone 16 Pro mostly keeps up with its rivals, but the trend continues with images lacking color and vibrancy.

As we go above 5x, the iPhone starts to struggle as it has done consistently throughout my testing. This is the biggest issue with Apple’s approach to the camera: it doesn’t heavily use AI to enhance captured photos, and it lacks the hardware to offer strong zoom at above 5x magnification. It’s a problem that would be solved with a secondary, longer telephoto lens.

Alongside daytime, both the Oppo Find X8 Ultra and Vivo X200 Ultra have proven extremely capable at night as we’ll see below.

Although the iPhone 16 Pro does struggle with zoom, it’s still incredibly capable in lowlight. Here it has my favorite overall photo, as it has less flare from the lights and the photo visually appears to be clearer. There’s little difference between Oppo and Vivo, but Apple is the winner here.

This was an interesting test as there’s a lot of detail, there’s street lights providing background glow and it would challenge many phones. The Vivo X200 Ultra fails to capture the correct light balance here, but it captures the most detail. The lighting is slightly warm on the iPhone, but it takes the most balanced photo overall again.

Without doubt, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra has the best all-around set of pictures in this scene. In particular, the 3x photo is fantastic as the phone adjusts for lens flare from the bulbs underneath the canopy, which makes the scene sharper. I dislike the Vivo’s odd focal lengths again, as they feel strange but that’s a personal preference. Vivo’s photos are perfectly fine here, although it struggles with some of the lighting. The iPhone does well overall, but it overexposes most scenes resulting in less vibrant images.

Testing the portrait mode

I saved the best for last: the Oppo Find X8 Ultra is my current smartphone camera of choice, for everything from capturing memories to capturing content on new gadgets. Most of the content I use on social media, in articles, and even in video has been captured on the Find X8 Ultra, which proves to be the most versatile smartphone camera I’ve ever used.

I’ve found that parity amongst the lenses works wonders during regular use, and the use of a 1-inch sensor in the main camera means you can get incredible light. It has f/1.6 aperture, which also allows it to capture stunning bokeh. It’s fast become my favorite portrait mode hardware, although I still prefer Samsung’s color point mode.

Here’s some comparison of the portrait mode across all three devices.

The larger sensor of the Oppo Find X8 Ultra helps capture far more light, and the color spectrum sensor works wonders in ensuring that white balance remains accurate throughout the image. At both focal lengths, the Oppo takes the best photo, but Apple isn’t far behind so better hardware and finer tuning could yield these results from an iPhone.

The final test yields a clear victory for Apple. Despite the different focal lengths (these were all captured at the maximum permitted in the camera’s viewfinder), there’s fantastic color reproduction and dynamic range in the picture captured on the iPhone. The Oppo Find X8 Ultra is close behind, but the Vivo X200 Ultra is too aggressive in smoothening skin tones and textures.

Why Apple should embrace the Ultra culture

There are several reasons why Apple should adopt the trend of launching an Ultra smartphone with the very best mobile photography capabilities. The main one is obvious: Apple has positioned the iPhone as a creator’s dream, but while it’s the best for video, an Ultra phone would also allow it to be one of the best for photos. 

Beyond this, however, there are four main reasons. First, Samsung has proven that Ultra cameras make sense. The higher sale price, likely higher margin, and ability to attract people who are price-insensitive all make sense in Apple’s current business model. Second, Samsung’s cameras will eventually match the iPhone for video, meaning Apple will need to compete in photography as well.

Third, Apple would inspire an ecosystem of additional products. Companies like Moment have built entire additional ecosystems around photography and videography on the iPhone, but providing them with better hardware would inspire the next generation of mobile photography apps and services.

Fourth and finally, product differentiation. The rumored thin iPhone 17 Air and reported low sales of current-generation phones, such as the iPhone 16 Plus, suggest that Apple’s lineup may have stagnated. An iPhone 17 Ultra (or future generation) would offer a product that can stand alone from its siblings. Considering the iPhone 17 Air is expected to be the more expensive phone in the lineup, an Ultra model could help Apple push even higher pricing.

For now, this is the Ultra phone to use

Unsurprisingly, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra remains my smartphone camera of choice, at least for photography. The iPhone will stay in my pocket for video (and as my primary phone for sensitive apps), but the Oppo Find X8 Ultra will continue to be my phone of choice for all my photos.

Although the Vivo X200 Ultra takes better photos than its rivals at many focal lengths, I’ve found that Oppo is slightly better at others, and I prefer Oppo’s color science. Furthermore, ColorOS is far smoother, with a more intuitive interface that allows for quick changes to settings and features.

Then there’s the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the only Ultra phone you can buy in the US. I hope that Samsung adopts a 1-inch sensor in a future Ultra phone, as well as better telephoto cameras, which would likely bring it to parity with the competition. For now, at least it still has the best portrait mode of any smartphone.