Samsung’s rumored Galaxy S26 name change just got a whole lot riskier thanks to the iPhone 17 Pro

In the week of Apple^[1]‘s ‘Awe Dropping’ event^[2], which saw the reveal of the iPhone 17^[3], iPhone 17 Pro^[4], iPhone 17 Pro Max^[5], and the all-new iPhone Air^[6], the Cupertino tech giant has dominated the airwaves.

And why not? It seems like this year will go down as one of the big ones in iPhone history – the iPhone 17 gets a pro-level display and new ultra-wide camera, the iPhone Air reworks the iPhone 16 Plus^[7] into an entirely new thin and light concept, and the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max bring some serious camera, battery, and performance upgrades to the table.

With so many new features to dive into and discuss, it’s easy to skip over the wider impacts of the new iPhone 17 family on the plans and positions of other phone makers. Despite how brilliant the best Android phones^[8] are, it’s still true that the rest of the industry looks to Apple for inspiration, and also that the rest of the industry will be compared to Apple by tech fans and journalists alike.

For example, I’ve been thinking about how Samsung^[9] might react to the release of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, specifically in the context of recent rumors about the future of Samsung’s flagship lineup.

Pro vs Pro

According to recent rumors, Samsung could be planning a name change for its next base-model flagship smartphone. Specifically, we could see the Samsung Galaxy S25 replaced by a new Samsung Galaxy S26 Pro^[10] when the Galaxy S26 family is released (presumably next year).

We’ll get onto what that could mean for the Galaxy S26 Pro itself shortly, but what’s immediately clear is that this will encourage comparison with other ‘Pro’ handsets, like the iPhone 17 Pro and Google Pixel 10 Pro.

That’s a bit of a shift in perception. The current-gen Samsung Galaxy S25^[11] is most often compared to the regular iPhone 16^[12] and Google Pixel 10^[13] – the three phones share a starting price of $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, have fairly similar specs, and serve as the ‘baseline’ variant of their respective lineups.

In this comparison, the Galaxy S25 fares very well. Its telephoto camera was unique at its price point until the Google Pixel 10 launched in August 2025, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is still the fastest mobile chipset we’ve tested (we’ve yet to run tests on the iPhone 17 Pro’s A19 Pro chipset).

Put simply, the Galaxy S25 is often able to plainly outclass its peers when it comes to hardware. It’s also strong on the software front, with tons of AI tools and One UI 8’s countless settings and options. But I’m not sure the Galaxy S26 Pro will look quite so impressive next to the iPhone 17 Pro, for a few key reasons.

Firstly, let’s talk cameras. There have been no major rumors suggesting that the Galaxy S26 Pro will get any sort of camera upgrade^[14]. That suggests another year with the Galaxy S25’s camera system – a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP selfie camera.

Unluckily for Samsung, photography is where Apple played its best hand when it comes to the iPhone 17 Pro, with the new model boasting a 48MP main camera, 48MP ultra-wide camera, 48MP telephoto camera with 4x optical zoom, and an 18MP square-sensor selfie camera that performs identically in landscape or portrait, not to mention the Camera Control capacitive shutter button.

Then there’s the iPhone 17 Pro’s display, which boasts 3,000 nits of peak brightness (the Galaxy S25 manages 2,600 nits) and matches the rumored 6.3-inch size of the Galaxy S26 Pro. Consider, too, the Action Button, which gives iPhone users more hardware control over their device. Or how about charging speeds? The iPhone 17 Pro supports at least 40W of power draw, while the latest rumors suggest the Samsung Galaxy S26 Pro might be stuck at 25W.

None of this is to say that the Galaxy S26 Pro will be a bad phone – in fact, I’d be surprised if it doesn’t make our lists of the best Android phones^[15] and best Samsung phones^[16]. But, hopefully, this does illustrate the point that the ‘Pro’ moniker comes with much higher expectations, and that even Samsung, the masters of mobile hardware, may need to improve its standard flagship to compete effectively.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Pro: Suggested upgrades

So, what does Samsung need to do to make the Galaxy S26 Pro more competitive against its rivals?

The simplest answer is nothing at all: if the Galaxy S26 Pro inherits the $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 starting price from the Galaxy S25, it’ll be a good bit cheaper than the other ‘Pro’ flagships – the iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,999, with the Google Pixel 10 Pro not far behind at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699. That could be enough on its own, or with otherwise minor upgrades, to pull the Galaxy S26 Pro through comparisons unscathed.

Personally, though, I’d like to think that Samsung would use the new name as an excuse to give the Galaxy S26 Pro some more exciting hardware upgrades.

A higher-resolution telephoto camera would be a great start, allowing for higher-quality images at further zoom levels. Bumping RAM up to 16GB would be a boost for Galaxy AI and Gemini, while faster charging is quickly becoming a necessary standard for flagship phones. In terms of chipset, display, and build quality, Samsung is already out in front.

Even if taking on some of these upgrades incurs a price hike, the already solid pricing and hardware spec of the Galaxy S25 mean the prospective Galaxy S26 Pro has plenty of headroom with which to undercut the competition. A few choice upgrades and a price tag of around $899 / £899 / AU$1,549 would make the Galaxy S26 Pro a real force to be reckoned with.

For now, though, it seems that the iPhone 17 Pro is king of the conversation. Be sure to check out our hands-on iPhone 17 Pro review^[17] and Samsung Galaxy S25 review^[18], and let us know how you think Samsung should respond to Apple’s new lineup in the comments below.

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