iPhone 18 Pro Max in UAE today while Galaxy S27 Ultra leaks heat up flagship camera race: Should you buy or wait?

Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max has now gone on sale across the UAE today, September 18. Buyers who pre-ordered for in-store pickup are being notified by email about collection times, rather than simply walking in and choosing any configuration. Day-one buyers can also check Apple Stores at Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, Yas Mall and Al Maryah Island, as well as e& and du, which are offering the phones on carrier plans.

But while Apple's latest Pro models are now in shoppers' hands, another phone's leaks are beginning to make the usual rounds: Samsung's next Ultra flagship. The Galaxy S27 Ultra is not expected until the first quarter of 2027, giving Apple an early opportunity to set the agenda for the next round of flagship phone comparisons.

The headline upgrade on the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max is the move to a variable-aperture main camera. Apple's triple 48MP camera system now includes a main lens with six laser-cut blades that can adjust continuously across four aperture settings.

The widest setting opens to ƒ/1.48, allowing roughly 50% more light through than the previous fixed-aperture design. Apple is also giving users more manual control in the Camera app, including aperture, shutter speed and white balance, along with a built-in histogram.

Variable aperture itself isn't new to smartphones. Samsung experimented with a two-position variable-aperture camera on the Galaxy S9 in 2018. Apple's implementation is different, allowing continuous adjustment across its range rather than switching between two fixed positions.

That makes the camera one of the most interesting areas to watch when Samsung's next Ultra arrives.

The iPhone 18 Pro models also introduce Apple's A20 Pro chip, built on a 2nm process. Apple says its seven-core GPU can deliver up to 40% faster performance than the previous generation, while a dual 16-core Neural Engine is designed to handle AI workloads.

Apple has paired the chip with a redesigned vapor-chamber thermal system. The company says it has three times the surface area of the system used in the iPhone 17 Pro and can deliver up to 40% better sustained performance.

Another notable addition is Apple's "Reference Image" camera mode, which creates signed sensor data through Private Cloud Compute. The feature is designed to help verify that a photograph has not been altered by AI, adding an authenticity angle to Apple's camera push at a time when AI-generated and AI-edited images are becoming harder to distinguish from conventional photographs.

This is where things get interesting.

Samsung has yet to officially confirm the Galaxy S27 Ultra's name, specifications, price or launch date. The current picture comes from leaks and reports, and some details remain contradictory.

The phone is expected to arrive in Q1 2027, potentially between January and March. One CAD-leak report from Android Headlines has pointed to the week of February 22, although that date should be treated as speculation rather than a confirmed launch plan.

The design could also change. Some reports, from Geeky Gadgets, suggest Samsung may move away from its current floating camera-ring design towards a unified camera module, while another leak has suggested a horizontal camera arrangement reminiscent of the Galaxy S10. For now, the exact design remains unclear.

Under the hood, Samsung could once again use different chipsets depending on the market. Reports point to a Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 in some regions and an Exynos 2700 in others, including India.

Other leaked specifications include a 6.9-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X display with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness.

The camera story is less certain. Earlier reports suggested Samsung was working on a large 1/1.12-inch 200MP "HPA" sensor for its 2027 phones. A more recent report from leaker Ice Universe, however, says Samsung does not plan to use Sony's newly launched 200MP LYT-901 sensor in the next flagship.

That leaves the camera as one of the biggest question marks around the S27 Ultra.

Samsung could have another advantage in the battery department. The phone is rumoured to feature a 5,700mAh silicon-carbon battery, which would represent a sizeable increase over previous Ultra models.

Leaks also point to 12GB or 16GB of RAM, although the S27 Ultra may not receive the anticipated LPDDR6 RAM and UFS 5.0 storage upgrades.

Pricing remains unconfirmed, but current reports put the starting price around $1,300, potentially reflecting higher component costs. An India leak has pointed to a starting price of around Rs. 1,49,990.

With the iPhone 18 Pro Max now available and the Galaxy S27 Ultra still in development, it's too early for a direct verdict. But Apple's latest launch does highlight several areas that could shape Samsung's next flagship.

First, the camera battle is changing. Samsung has traditionally leaned heavily on high-resolution sensors, zoom and camera hardware as key selling points for its Ultra phones. Apple's move to a variable-aperture system, combined with more manual controls in the native Camera app, gives the iPhone a new hardware-and-software talking point.

The question for Samsung is what its next Ultra will bring in response. The conflicting reports around its 200MP camera plans make that particularly difficult to predict at this stage.

AI authenticity is another emerging battleground. Apple's Reference Image feature shows that the smartphone camera conversation is expanding beyond image quality and editing tools to include questions about whether a photograph can be trusted as an original capture. There is currently no comparable leaked feature for the Galaxy S27 Ultra.

Then there is the timing. The iPhone 18 Pro Max is available now, while Samsung's next Ultra is not expected until Q1 2027. That gives Apple several months to establish its latest camera, chip and AI features before Samsung's response arrives.

Samsung's leaked battery and display specifications could give it some strong hardware talking points, particularly if the 5,700mAh silicon-carbon battery and 3,000-nit display make it to the final product.

For now, however, the comparison is less about declaring a winner and more about what Samsung may need to answer when the Galaxy S27 Ultra finally arrives. And once early S27 Ultra benchmarks and hands-on reports begin to surface, the more revealing comparison may be how Samsung's next flagship performs against the A20 Pro-powered iPhone 18 Pro Max in sustained performance, camera quality and AI features.

Should you buy or wait?

Buy now if: you want a camera system that's real, tested, and shipping — the variable aperture on the 18 Pro Max is a genuine first for iPhone, backed by manual controls and the 2nm A20 Pro chip. You're also waiting on unconfirmed rumors otherwise; Samsung hasn't locked in specs, a launch date, or even settled its own camera plans (the Sony sensor u-turn is proof of that). If camera versatility and being current matter more than banking on a bigger battery, there's no reason to hold off.

Wait if: battery life and screen brightness are your priority. Leaks point to the S27 Ultra packing a 5,700mAh silicon-carbon battery, a real jump over current Ultra models , plus a display hitting 3,000 nits peak brightness. Neither is locked in, and the phone likely won't land before Q1 2027, so you're trading five-plus months of waiting for specs that could still change.

The honest bottom line: the 18 Pro Max is the safer buy because it's real and in stores today; the S27 Ultra is the better bet only if you're specifically chasing battery and brightness gains, and you're comfortable treating leak-stage specs as a promise rather than a guarantee.