Premium smartphone showdown — iPhone 15 vs Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Huawei Mate 60 Pro

Apple launched its latest line of smartphones — the iPhone 15 range — at its “Wonderlust” event last month.
Prices for the iPhone 15 lineup start at R21,999, and we compared its hardware to the Samsung Galaxy S23 range and Huawei’s Mate 50 Pro and P60 Pro to see how they weigh up against each other.
Based on pricing, the base iPhone 15 compares closest with the standard Samsung Galaxy S23 and the Huawei Mate 50 Pro, although it is R2,000 and R5,000 more expensive, respectively.
The iPhone 15 Plus, at R24,999, compares closely with the Samsung Galaxy S23+, which costs R22,999, and the Huawei P60 Pro at R24,999.
Huawei doesn’t offer a smartphone comparable to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max in terms of price. However, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s pricing sits between the two top-end iPhone 15s.
Regarding the processors powering the smartphones, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus pack Apple’s A16 Bionic chip, while all the Samsung Galaxy S23 models feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip.
With the sanctions placed upon it by the US, Huawei falls behind on the chip side of things, with the Mate 50 Pro and P60 Pro packing Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4G chips.
The top-end iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max pack Apple’s latest and most powerful smartphone chip — the A17 Bionic.
Concerning storage, the entirety of the Samsung Galaxy S23 range is only available with 256GB of internal storage space, and the same can be said for Huawei’s P60 Pro.
The Mate 50 Pro is available with 256GB or 512GB of internal storage.
On the other hand, Apple offers broader storage options for its latest devices — 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max adds a 1TB configuration but drops the 128GB variant.
Regarding memory, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra offers the most RAM at 12GB, with the lower-specced Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ both featuring 8GB.
Huawei’s devices also feature 8GB of RAM, while only Apple’s higher-specced iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max offer the same.
On the other hand, the iPhone 15 Plus and base iPhone 15 pack 6GB of RAM.
Apple’s rear-camera design has remained constant over its past few iPhone generations, with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus getting dual-camera setups and the higher-specced models getting triple-camera arrangements.
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus each have a 48-megapixel primary shooter and a 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor on the back.
The Pro and Pro Max add a 12-megapixel telephoto shooter to the rear camera setup. Apple’s entire iPhone 15 lineup features a 12-megapixel selfie camera.
Samsung’s Galaxy S23 and S23+ both have a 50-megapixel primary sensor, while the S23 Ultra ups this to 200MP.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra features a quad-camera setup on the rear, featuring two 10-megapixel shooters, a 12-megapixel sensor, and a 200MP primary camera.
The Huawei P60 Pro combines two 48-megapixel and a 13-megapixel sensor on its rear, while the Mate 50 Pro uses a 50-megapixel primary camera with 64-megapixel and 13-megapixel sensors.
Apple’s base iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Plus are the only devices compared that don’t offer refresh rates higher than 60Hz. All other devices offer a refresh rate of up to 120Hz.
Below are specifications for and images of the smartphones compared in this article.
Apple iPhone 15 vs Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Huawei Mate 50 Pro
Specification | iPhone 15 | Samsung Galaxy S23 | Huawei Mate 50 Pro |
OS | iOS 17 | OneUI 5.1 | EMUI 13 |
Display | 6.1-inch 2,556 x 1,179-pixel OLED | 6.1-inch 2,340 x 1,080-pixel OLED | 6.7-inch 2,616 × 1,212-pixel OLED |
Display refresh rate | 60Hz | 120Hz | 120Hz |
Processor | A16 Bionic | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4G |
Memory | 6GB | 8GB | 8GB |
Storage | 128GB / 256GB / 512GB | 256GB | 256GB / 512GB |
Rear camera | 48MP + 12MP | 50MP + 10MP + 12MP | 50MP + 64MP + 13MP |
Front camera | 12MP | 12MP | 13MP |
Cellular | 5G | 5G | LTE |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 |
Ports | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C |
Biometrics | Face ID | Under-display fingerprint scanner | Face ID, under-display fingerprint scanner |
Battery and charging | 3,349mAh, fast charging rate not specified | 3,900mAh, 25W fast charging | 4,700mAh, 66W fast charging |
Dimensions | 147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8mm (171g) | 146.3 x 70.9 x 7.6mm (168g) | 162.1 x 75.5 x 8.5mm (209g) |
Price | R21,999 | R19,999 | R15,999 |
Apple iPhone 15 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S23+ vs Huawei P60 Pro
Specification | iPhone 15 Plus | Samsung Galaxy S23+ | Huawei P60 Pro |
OS | iOS 17 | OneUI 5.1 | EMUI 13.1 |
Display | 6.7-inch 2,796 x 1,290-pixel OLED | 6.6-inch 2,340 x 1,080-pixel OLED | 6.7-inch 2,700 x 1,220-pixel OLED |
Display refresh rate | 60Hz | 120Hz | 120Hz |
Processor | A16 Bionic | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4G |
Memory | 6GB | 8GB | 8GB |
Storage | 128GB / 256GB / 512GB | 256GB | 256GB |
Rear camera | 48MP + 12MP | 50MP + 10MP + 12MP | 48MP + 48MP + 13MP |
Front camera | 12MP | 12MP | 13MP |
Cellular | 5G | 5G | LTE |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 |
Ports | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C |
Biometrics | Face ID | Under-display fingerprint scanner | Under-display fingerprint scanner |
Battery and charging | 4,383mAh, fast charging rate not specified | 4,700mAh, 45W fast charging | 4,815mAh, 88W fast charging |
Dimensions | 160.9 x 77.8 x 7.8mm (201g) | 157.8 x 76.2 x 7.6mm (196g) | 161 x 74.5 x 8.3mm (200g) |
Price | R24,999 | R22,999 | R24,999 |
Apple iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Specification | iPhone 15 Pro | iPhone 15 Pro Max | Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra |
OS | iOS 17 | iOS 17 | OneUI 5.1 |
Display | 6.1-inch 2,556 x 1,179-pixel OLED | 6.7-inch 2,796 x 1,290-pixel OLED | 6.8-inch 3,088 x 1,440-pixel OLED |
Display refresh rate | 120Hz | 120Hz | 120Hz |
Processor | A17 Bionic | A17 Bionic | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
Memory | 8GB | 8GB | 12GB |
Storage | 128GB / 256GB / 512GB / 1TB | 256GB / 512GB / 1TB | 256GB |
Rear camera | 48MP + 12MP + 12MP | 48MP + 12MP + 12MP | 200MP + 10MP + 10MP + 12MP |
Front camera | 12MP | 12MP | 12MP |
Cellular | 5G | 5G | 5G |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 |
Ports | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C |
Biometrics | Face ID | Face ID | Under-display fingerprint scanner |
Battery and charging | 3,274mAh, fast charging rate not specified | 4,441mAh, fast charging rate not specified | 5,000mAh, 45W fast charging |
Dimensions | 146.6 x 70.6 x 8.3mm (187g) | 159.9 x 76.7 x 8.3mm (221g) | 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9mm (234g) |
Price | R27,699 | R33,499 | R29,999 |