Owners of the iPhone 15 Pro Max are sharing videos of how far the new camera can zoom, but Android owners aren't impressed

• iPhone 15 Pro Max users are showing off the phone's 5x zoom abilities on TikTok.
• Samsung fans pointed out that they've enjoyed super zoom on the Galaxy S23 Ultra since February.

It's a cycle that many Android owners are used to by now. A new iPhone comes out, introducing a new feature to Apple fans that generates buzz but that Android owners have been enjoying for months — and sometimes years.

The latest example is the 5x telephoto camera on Apple's top-of-the-line smartphone, the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

iPhone 15 Pro Max users are taking to TikTok to share videos showcasing just how far their phones can now zoom in. The results are undoubtedly impressive — a zoomed-in video shows Coldplay's Chris Martin performing on stage at a concert, and then the user pans out to reveal they recorded the footage near the back of the crowd.

Another video recorded from an airplane zooms in on the Las Vegas skyline to show the MSG Sphere.

But Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra owners are flooding the comments, pointing out their phones have had this super-zoom ability since February — more than half a year before the iPhone 15 Pro Max launched.

So how do the two phone cameras stack up?

The iPhone 15 lineup came out on September 23, and the zoom capabilities differ depending on the specific model you spring for. The iPhone 15 Pro is only able to zoom in by 3x, but the iPhone 15 Pro Max includes a lens that allows up to 5x zoom.

Interestingly, the Pro Max sells for $1,199, which is the same price as its competitor, the Samsung S23 Ultra. The S23 has a 200-megapixel sensor, the ability to record 8k video at 30 frames, and, as some TikTok commenters pointed out, a camera with 10x zoom. It came out earlier this year, on February 17.

The zoom-in abilities of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, however, had users impressed. In addition to videos from concerts and on planes, others have used the zoom to capture detailed footage of the moon and the Golden Gate Bridge.

One video from TikTok user @TuttoTech.Net even compares the zoom capabilities of the two phones side by side.

Of course, there's more to a phone than just how far it can zoom in, but for those who want to be able to zoom in the furthest, it's clear the S23 Ultra wins this round.