Technologies

iPhone 17 Pro Camera Battles the Galaxy S26 Ultra: Let the Fun Begin

They’re both top-end flagship phones, but which one takes better photos? I wanted to find out.

Both Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra earned coveted CNET Editors’ Choice awards in their full reviews. And they damned well earned them, too, thanks to their stellar overall performance and wealth of top-end tech on board. But they also garnered praise for their camera quality, with both able to take great-looking photos in a variety of conditions. But which does it better?

As a professional photographer myself, I was keen to find out, so I took them on a series of photo walks around Scotland to put them to the test in the same conditions.

Before we dive in, a few notes from me. First, all images were captured in JPEG format using the standard camera app on each phone. On some images on the iPhone, Apple’s Gold Photographic Style was activated; on others, it was set to Standard, and I’ll be highlighting which is which. The images have been imported into Adobe Lightroom for comparison purposes and exported at smaller file sizes to better suit online viewing. No edits to the images themselves were made, and no sharpening was applied on the export.

Crucially, though, it’s important to keep in mind that the analysis here is my opinion. Photography is largely subjective, and what might look good to one person might not to another. For me, I love a more natural-looking image with accurate tones that I could then edit further later if I want to. You may like a punchy, vibrant tone straight out of the camera, and that’s fine. You’ll just need to take my results here with a slight pinch of salt.

All that said, let’s dive in.

This was an image I took with the Gold filter accidentally enabled on the iPhone. So its warmer color tones are to be expected to an extent, but what I liked more here is the depth of shadow that the iPhone has maintained. The S26 Ultra has done a fair bit of processing here to lift those shadows and create a more balanced exposure overall, but I think it’s killed some of the evening drama as a result. I see this in a lot of Android phones, to be fair.

Taken earlier in the day, there’s much less difference to be seen here. The iPhone’s colors are a bit warmer, thanks to the Gold filter, but they actually look more natural as a result. The shot doesn’t look warm in its white balance; it just has a richness to it, while the S26 Ultra’s shot looks quite cold.

I switched the iPhone to Standard Photographic Style here, and as a result, the shot it took looks pretty similar to that taken by the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The exposures are pretty much the same, and while the green plants on the steps definitely look more vivid in the Galaxy’s shot, the colors elsewhere are broadly on par.

If I’m nitpicking — which I really have to when the phones cost this much money — the S26 Ultra appears to have done a neater job rendering the details on the front of the VW Camper’s spare wheel. I also noticed more detail in some of the small twigs on the tree, especially where they’re visible against the sky. Is that a difference you’d ever notice without a side-by-side comparison? Definitely not. But this whole article is basically an exercise in pedantry, so I will continue to pick away at even the tiniest of things in these photos.

I’m back on the Gold Photographic Style with the iPhone here, so again, those warmer tones are to be expected, but I will say again that I much prefer the deeper shadows seen on the house in the Apple phone’s image. It looks much more natural, while the S26 Ultra’s shot looks a bit too HDR and oversaturated for my tastes. But that’s not the most important thing here…

What took me more by surprise was what happened when I put each phone into the ultrawide camera mode. The iPhone’s color tones stay almost exactly the same, but the Galaxy’s image has shifted quite dramatically between the main and ultrawide lenses.

The blue sky has shifted its hue into a much more teal-toned color, and I’m surprised by just how different it looks from the main camera. I usually expect to see these sorts of color shifts on cheaper phones, where there’s less effort put into ensuring consistent colors across the lenses. So I’m a bit disappointed to see Samsung’s phones producing such a noticeable shift here.

The iPhone 17 Pro also displays a color shift, but it’s far less pronounced than the S26 Ultra’s.

I turned on the zooms on both phones. With its 10x optical zoom, the S26 Ultra has a longer reach than the 8x on the iPhone 17 Pro, but in terms of details within those images, there’s honestly nothing to choose between them. Again, the iPhone had the Gold style applied, so it looks warmer, and also again, the S26 Ultra has gone further in lightening those shadows. I can’t really say either one is better than the other in this example.

But there’s a much bigger difference in this example. The colors are much richer in the iPhone’s shot, even though the Photographic Style is set to Standard. The S26 Ultra’s shot looks like the phone’s white balance has been tricked by the warm orange tones of the brickwork, and produced a colder-looking image as a result.

But I also don’t like what the S26 Ultra has done with the details here. It’s oversharpened the scene, giving a weird, crunchy look to the subject that looks extremely unnatural. The iPhone, despite not having the same zoom range on paper, has delivered a much better-looking image, even when viewed at the same scale.

But here the opposite seems to have happened. The iPhone has looked at this warm, sun-drenched scene and automatically set its white balance to cool it, while the S26 Ultra has maintained those warmer tones. Sure, the greens of the leaves in the S26’s image look almost neon, but the image overall is the nicer of the two in my view.

The iPhone has done a much better job here of capturing the warmer tones that I loved so much when I took these images. I do think the S26 Ultra has gone too far in its hyper-saturation of the green leaves. Sure, it’s a punchy look, but if I wanted that much saturation, I’d maybe add a bit more back in in the editing stage. I’d much rather have a more natural image as a starting point, so the iPhone takes the win here for me.

There’s so little to pick out between the images here. The greens are a little more vibrant in the S26 Ultra’s shot, but the tones overall in the iPhone’s are a bit more natural. Neither one is a spectacular photo, and honestly, you may as well toss a coin to decide which one is better.

Switching to the ultrawide lenses on both phones, the S26 Ultra has again gone quite hard on the saturation, delivering a much more vibrant blue sky than it did in its image from the main camera. As before, I’m not a fan of this sort of high-contrast, high-saturation photo. As a result, the iPhone 17 Pro is my preferred shot here.

I think the S26 Ultra’s tendency towards vibrancy has helped here, however, with this shot of spring blossom looking more joyful than the almost drab-looking image from the iPhone.

And sure, the colors are a little overbaked from the S26 Ultra’s ultrawide image, but it still screams “spring” more than the iPhone’s shot, which again looks pretty dull and lifeless by comparison.

I was thrilled to find these fishermen hanging out in Edinburgh, and I think the iPhone has done the better job of capturing the moment. The Gold Photographic Style hasn’t produced an overly warm image here. It’s more like it applied just the correct white balance, with the S26 Ultra’s shot looking quite cold. It’s especially the case on the pink paintwork on the base of the building, which looks richer and much more true-to-life on the iPhone’s image.

At night, both phones have done a good job of capturing this complex image. The bright moon has been kept under control, and there’s plenty of detail still visible in some of the more shadowy areas. The exposures are also broadly similar (the iPhone’s is a touch brighter), and even when peering up close, there’s not much to choose from in terms of detail.

It’s a slightly different story here, though. The iPhone’s shot is much brighter, but that results in some detail being lost in the highlights inside the phone booth. The S26 Ultra has retained that highlight detail, though its overall shot is darker. Personally, I prefer the darker version, especially as it’s much more in line with the moody nighttime aesthetic I was going for.

What I don’t love is how much the S26 Ultra has oversharpened its image. Like the earlier image of the figure sitting on the wall, this image has been digitally sharpened to the point that the details look crunchy, high-contrast and ultimately quite unnatural. Which image would I choose — properly exposed but oversharpened, or natural details with blown-out highlights? Ideally, I’d simply take the photo again on the iPhone and lower the exposure a tad. But between the two images above, I’d probably go for the one shot on the Samsung phone.

iPhone 17 Pro vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Which has the better camera?

I always complain that these photo-capturing comparison stories are really close and therefore difficult to make into compelling articles, but this one felt especially close. In some shots, the iPhone’s more natural shadow rendering and less reliance on over-sharpening and other digital processing factors make them look better to my eye. But in other examples — especially the image with the tree trunks surrounded by ivy — the S26 Ultra has done a much better job with its color balancing.

Overall, Samsung’s phone leans harder into contrast and saturation, which is literally the same thing we’ve said about Samsung’s phones since it first started putting cameras in them. Buying a Samsung camera phone has always meant getting more vibrant, punchy images out of it, and that’s exactly the case here. If you want quick images of your friends and family that look good enough to share straight to your family WhatsApp group, the S26 Ultra will serve you well.

The iPhone 17 Pro tends to be more neutral in its color and contrast adjustments, which typically gives a more natural base for you to then add any extra edits of your own. It’s why Apple’s phones have typically always been the device of choice for more enthusiast or pro photographers and video creators. I count myself among that crowd, and it’s why the iPhone 17 Pro remains my preferred model of the two. But really, these are both excellent phones with superb cameras, and you can’t go far wrong with either.

Technologies

Houthis reportedly advance to key Red Sea island, further threatening crucial oil choke point

The advance raises the threat to shipping near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a waterway that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden to global markets.

The Iran-backed Houthis reportedly advanced to Yemen’s strategic Perim Island on Friday, delivering a major boost to the militant group’s push to take control of one of the world’s most important shipping choke points.

The capture of Perim Island, which was reported by several news agencies, citing multiple Yemeni government sources, comes just one day after the Houthis seized Yemen’s port city of Mokha on the Red Sea coast. CNBC could not independently confirm the report.

The rapid ground offensive is seen as a severe setback to Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni forces it backs and puts Iran and its proxies on course to exercise control over two critically important oil choke points on either side of the Arabian Peninsula: the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz.

Perim Island is a small and rocky area of land that divides the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a waterway that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and to global markets.

There are concerns that the Houthis’ advance toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could have significant ramifications for global trade, particularly if the militant group ratchets up threats or attacks on Red Sea shipping.

The Houthi advance prompted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to personally press President Donald Trump for U.S. military intervention, MS NOW reported later Friday, according to a person familiar with the conversations.

The crown prince spoke with Trump twice Thursday and urged him to strike the Iranian-backed group as it closed in on the Bab el-Mandeb. Trump declined, saying the U.S. does not plan to widen its regional military campaign to include the Houthis, according to the person, who was granted anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the conversations. Axios first reported the calls.

A senior administration official told CNBC the U.S. remains focused on protecting core national security interests, including freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, “while empowering our regional partners to take the lead in managing and resolving regional security challenges.”

The official added that the U.S. is “in continuous dialogue with Saudi Arabia.”

The capture of Mokha marked a “major blow” to Saudi Arabia as it raises the possibility of the group exerting a tighter grip on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to Hamish Kinnear, principal Middle East and North Africa analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

Mokha is situated about 75 kilometers (46 miles) north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

“The Houthis were already threatening Saudi shipping from previous positions, but their capture of Mocha opens up the possibility of further advances towards the Bab el-Mandeb coastline and a tighter grip on the chokepoint,” Kinnear said in a research note.

As the war continues, Kinnear said both Tehran and Washington believe time is on their side, making a new truce unlikely for now.

“Oil and gas prices, and more specifically refined products such as diesel, will continue to tick upwards while that remains the case – even if US convoys and Strait of Hormuz export alternatives cushion the price impact,” Kinnear said.

The strategic importance of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has grown significantly since the start of the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran in late February, with the waterway emerging as an alternative route for crude moving toward Asia.

What next for oil prices?

Oil prices traded sharply lower on Friday, but both major benchmarks could still end the week above $100 per barrel for the first time since mid-May.

International benchmark Brent crude

The resilience of the oil market is being tested by a clearer recognition of the mounting threat to regional supply, strategists at ING said, with energy market participants seen repricing both the duration and severity of the conflict.

Even as flows continue through the Strait of Hormuz, ING’s strategists said flows remain well below prewar levels, underlining how fragile the situation has become.

“Saudi energy infrastructure and crude oil exports from the Red Sea are increasingly at risk, with the Houthis in Yemen targeting Saudi Arabia,” ING’s Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey said in a research note published Friday.

“As the Houthis have taken control of the Red Sea port of Mokha in Yemen, recent events increase the threat to shipping around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait,” they added.

— Luke Fountain contributed to this report.

Technologies

Wall Street firm believes the AI stock market boom is ‘nearing an end.’ Here’s why

Stretched earnings expectations, extreme concentration and surging equity issuance point to growing bubble risks.

A range of equity market bubble indicators show that while the S & P 500 ‘s rally has further to run this year, its medium-term prospects look poor given how frothy the market has become, according to Capital Economics. “Most indicators suggest the AI equity boom is nearing an end,” Capital Economics’ senior market economist James Reilly said Thursday in a note. Capital has been more bullish than most on the stock market since mid-2023, reflecting a view that AI will be a transformative technology. Its year end-2026 S & P 500 forecast has consistently been above consensus. But the firm has also maintained that the AI-driven rally is a bubble that will eventually burst. To assess and spot a late-stage market bubble, Reilly looks at eight indicators including valuations, earnings, index concentration, equity issuance and foreign interest in U.S. equities. Some of those measures are already at or near levels that preceded previous stock market peaks. The analysis shows that while market variables such as earnings expectations look consistent with a market top, others such as volatility and leverage look slightly less alarming. Earnings stand out as the biggest warning sign. Expectations for S & P 500 earnings growth are around levels seen only at the peak of the dot-com bubble, while long-term EPS growth forecasts have surged to a record high. According to Reilly, the heavy concentration of this expected growth in the tech sector means that any signs of weakness in the tech firms’ earnings will weigh heavily on the index. Other indicators are also flashing warning signs. Index concentration is around dot-com-era extremes, net equity issuance has turned positive and foreign ownership of U.S. stocks is at a record high. Reilly said another wave of IPOs and share sales could be particularly significant, since similar issuance booms have historically coincided with market peaks. “On past form, this suggests that the end of the bubble is just months away, rather than years,” he said. Measures of leverage are not yet alarming compared to other factors, though the analyst warns that they are heading in a “concerning direction.” While volatility metrics look consistent with a mid -stage bubble, Reilly notes that constituent -level volatility isn’t as extreme as it was near the end of the dotcom boom. “While we continue to think that the S & P 500 will rally from around 7,650 now to 8,250 by end-2026 , we ultimately forecast it to fall back to 6,500 by end -2027,” he wrote. Those assumptions would equate to 8% upside this year and a 21% slide in 2027.

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Technologies

Experts sound alarm after researcher puts AI extinction risk above 10%

Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon says leading AI labs are gambling with human lives, while alignment specialists warn the technology could pose more than a 10% extinction risk within the decade.

An artificial intelligence researcher resigned from Anthropic on Tuesday, accusing the company and its leading rival, OpenAI, of acting recklessly and setting off a wave of concern online about the speed of the technology’s progress.

Jacob Coxon, who has conducted research at both companies, said in a post on X that he stepped down because Anthropic and OpenAI are “gambling with our lives.” He said those developing AI “earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.”

“Do not underestimate the power of this technology,” Coxon wrote. “These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources.”

Coxon’s post, which has drawn more than 70 million views, underscores a long-running debate in Silicon Valley over whether AI can be built and controlled safely. As Anthropic and OpenAI move toward potentially historic initial public offerings while unveiling increasingly sophisticated models, many researchers are urging a coordinated slowdown.

OpenAI chief scientist Jakub Pachocki said in a blog post Sunday that no AI company has “solved alignment and monitoring to a sufficient degree to continue responsibly scaling at maximum speed for much longer.” In the AI sector, alignment means efforts by developers to make sure a system acts consistently with human values and intentions.

“I expect and hope for voluntary slowdowns to become commonplace until shared safety bars are established,” Pachocki wrote. “And I believe that international coordination on future AI development needs to become a top priority for governments around the world.”

Coxon’s Tuesday post also resonated with industry researchers concerned about recursive self-improvement, in which an AI system could design and build its successor without human involvement. Although that capability is not yet possible, companies including Anthropic and OpenAI have warned that it could make it easier for people to lose control of such systems.

“Neither company is acting responsibly,” Coxon wrote. “They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence.”

Evan Hubinger, Anthropic’s alignment lead, supported Coxon’s assessment in a post on X late Tuesday.

“Jacob is correct here—we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade,” Hubinger wrote. “I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to.”

Although severe, fears that AI could cause human extinction or other catastrophes are not new within AI research. In 2023, prominent researchers and executives, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, signed a statement declaring that “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”

Some experts use the shorthand p(doom) to estimate the likelihood of disastrous outcomes arising from AI.

Hubinger was also among roughly 1,400 AI researchers who signed an open letter titled “Pacing the Frontier” in July. The letter called on the U.S. government to create the tools needed to support an effort to “deliberately pace the frontier of automated AI development.”

Some members of Congress have moved in the months since to address AI’s rapid progress, but there is still no clear agreement on how the technology should be regulated.

In July, Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., and Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., introduced the FRONTIER Act, legislation intended to create a framework for overseeing the deployment of advanced AI models. Earlier this month, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, which would temporarily halt advanced AI development until the federal government puts safety rules in place. Both measures have received mixed responses.

“Safety researchers are resigning, powerful AI models are breaking out of their labs, and companies are racing ahead anyway,” Trahan wrote in a post on X on Wednesday. “It’s past time for Congress to get off the sidelines and do its job.”

Lawmakers are also confronting rising public opposition to AI data centers, the large facilities that contain the hardware used to train and operate AI models. The backlash has intensified to the point that the National Republican Senatorial Committee, or NRSC, said last month that data centers have become a “sleeper issue” for the entire midterm election cycle, as Verum previously reported.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this month that AI companies have done a “horrendous job of explaining themselves to the American people.”

“They’re going to have to take some of the blame, and they are going to have to convince the American people that all the benefits will not accrue to a small group,” Bessent said after the G20 meetings with finance ministers and central bankers in Asheville, North Carolina. “That’s what they hear from me.”