The MacRumors Show: Samsung's Latest Challengers to Apple

On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss all of the major new device announcements from Samsung's 2024 Galaxy Unpacked event and how they compare to Apple's offerings.


The Galaxy Z Fold6 features a 7.6-inch main screen and a 6.3-inch cover display, both enhanced with a new dual-rail hinge and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for improved durability. It features the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and includes AI-powered tools like new camera capabilities and on-device language translation. The Galaxy Z Flip6, with its compact form factor, also sports a more durable display, a new camera system with a 50MP wide sensor, and various AI features.

The Galaxy Buds3 and Buds3 Pro earbuds adopt a stem design reminiscent of Apple's AirPods. The Galaxy Buds3 offer active noise cancellation and maintain an open-ear design, while the Galaxy Buds3 Pro include advanced features like adaptive noise control, built-in lights for visual cues, and real-time audio translation. Both models are designed to provide optimized audio quality through internal and external sound analysis. Just like Samsung, Apple is expected to bring active noise cancellation to its standard AirPods later this year.

Samsung's smartwatch lineup is refreshed with the Galaxy Watch7, available in 40mm and 44mm sizes. The Galaxy Watch7 is powered by a 3nm processor, offering enhanced performance and power efficiency. It includes dual-frequency GPS for improved location accuracy and advanced health tracking capabilities, along with new gesture controls. While Apple is rumored to bring sleep apnea detection to the Apple Watch later this year, with the Galaxy Watch7, Samsung has beaten Apple to deliver the feature first.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra is Samsung's new high-end smartwatch, designed for durability and extreme conditions, making it suitable for athletes and adventurers. It features a titanium frame, water resistance up to 100 meters, and the ability to function at a wide range of altitudes. With a battery life of up to 100 hours in power-saving mode, the Watch Ultra includes multi-course workout tracking, advanced heart rate monitoring, and an emergency siren. Its design and feature-set largely mirrors that of the Apple Watch Ultra.

Finally, Samsung introduced the Galaxy Ring, a health-focused wearable designed to track a variety of metrics, including sleep, heart rate, and skin temperature. Made of titanium and available in nine sizes, the Galaxy Ring offers up to seven days of battery life and does not require a subscription for accessing health data. It provides comprehensive health insights with features like sleep scoring and an overall energy score, and it closely integrates with other Samsung devices.

The MacRumors Show has its own YouTube channel, so make sure you're subscribed to keep up with new episodes and clips:

You can also listen to ‌The MacRumors Show‌ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or your preferred podcasts app. You can also copy our RSS feed directly into your podcast player.


If you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up for our discussion with Luke Miani about the upcoming Apple Watch "Series X."

Subscribe to ‌The MacRumors Show‌ for new episodes every week, where we discuss some of the topical news breaking here on MacRumors, often joined by interesting guests such as Matthew Cassinelli, Brian Tong, Quinn Nelson, Kevin Nether, Jared Nelson, Eli Hodapp, Mike Bell, Sara Dietschy, iJustine, Jon Rettinger, Andru Edwards, Arnold Kim, Ben Sullins, Marcus Kane, Christopher Lawley, Frank McShan, David Lewis, Tyler Stalman, Jon Prosser, Sam Kohl, John Gruber, Federico Viticci, Thomas Frank, Jonathan Morrison, Ross Young, Ian Zelbo, and Rene Ritchie.

‌The MacRumors Show‌ is on X @MacRumorsShow, so be sure to give us a follow to keep up with the podcast. You can also head over to The MacRumors Show forum thread to engage with us directly. Remember to rate and review the podcast, and let us know what subjects and guests you would like to see in the future.

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday November 6, 2025 11:12 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump. ...
Finder Siri Feature

Apple's New Siri Will Be Powered By Google Gemini

Wednesday November 5, 2025 11:57 am PST by
The smarter, more capable version of Siri that Apple is developing will be powered by Google Gemini, reports Bloomberg. Apple will pay Google approximately $1 billion per year for a 1.2 trillion parameter artificial intelligence model that was developed by Google. For context, parameters are a measure of how a model understands and responds to queries. More parameters generally means more...
Liquid Glass General Feature

Apple Shares Liquid Glass Design Gallery

Thursday November 6, 2025 2:45 pm PST by
Apple is promoting the new Liquid Glass design in iOS 26, showing off the ways that third-party developers are embracing the aesthetic in their apps. On its developer website, Apple is featuring a visual gallery that demonstrates how "teams of all sizes" are creating Liquid Glass experiences. The gallery features examples of Liquid Glass in apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Apple...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday November 3, 2025 5:54 am PST by
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, including the ability to adjust the look of Liquid Glass and more. Below, we outline iOS 26.1's key new features. Liquid Glass Toggle iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass. In the Settings app, under Display...
airtag purple

Apple's Website Lists AirTag 4-Pack at Shockingly Low Price [Updated]

Friday November 7, 2025 6:40 am PST by
Apple's online store in the U.S. is suddenly offering a pack of four AirTags for just $29, which is the same price as a single AirTag. This is likely a pricing error, and it is unclear if orders will be fulfilled. Apple has not discounted the AirTag four-pack in any other countries that we checked. Delivery estimates are already pushing into late November to early December, suggesting...
apple watch se 3 always on

Apple to Remove iPhone-Apple Watch Wi-Fi Sync in EU With iOS 26.2

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:37 am PST by
Apple in iOS 26.2 will disable automatic Wi-Fi network syncing between iPhone and Apple Watch in the European Union to comply with the bloc's regulations, suggests a new report. Normally, when an iPhone connects to a new Wi-Fi network, it automatically shares the network credentials with the paired Apple Watch. This allows the watch to connect to the same network independently – for...
ikea smart home devices

IKEA Debuts 21 HomeKit-Compatible Smart Bulbs, Sensors, and Controls

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:08 pm PST by
IKEA today announced the upcoming launch of 21 new Matter-compatible smart home products that will be able to interface with HomeKit and the Apple Home app. There are sensors, lights, and control options, all of which will be reasonably priced. Some of the products are new, while some are updates to existing lines that IKEA previously offered. There are a series of new smart bulbs that are...
Home Hub Command Center with Dome Base Feature

Apple's 2026 Smart Home Revamp: All the Rumors

Wednesday November 5, 2025 3:54 pm PST by
It's been over a decade since Apple's HomeKit smart home platform launched, and it is overdue for an update. HomeKit and the Home app can no longer keep up with AI-powered solutions from other companies like Google and Amazon, but that's set to change with a smart home revamp that Apple has planned for 2026. Home Hub Apple is working on a home hub or "command center" that will serve as a...

Top Rated Comments

Kermit262 Avatar
17 months ago
I wish Apple would release an Apple Ring. I would ditch my Apple Watch in a minute. I wear a mechanical watch so I wind up wearing two watches.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SMH4KIDIOT Avatar
17 months ago

I’m used to Samsung releasing products with elements that mimic Apple products, but the Watch Ultra felt like an April Fool’s product. I’m not sure they could have copied the AW Ultra name, composition, features, etc. any more than they did. The only thing they didn’t blatantly copy is the shape, though it has its own odd form with a rounded rectangle shape, just as the AW Ultra has the strange stacked design with protrusion on one side. I get that you can only do so much with a watch, but they easily could have kept the round form factor, and simply made it more robust, like a Garmin-esque smart watch, imho.
What happens is people have really short-term memory. The design is an original Samsung design, they revamped the Galaxy Gear Sport watch, now called Ultra which matches their Ultra phone. The Gear Sport watch line from 2017 which was made for "extreme" sport activity with 5ATM /50m water resistance depth rating. It's a similar square circle design. Those are standard smart watch features that Samsung pioneered. All people need is to do tiny research into past Samsung product lines, they were producing square smartwatches before they started making circular ones. They were 5 generations in before Apple made the first Apple Watch.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
victorvictoria Avatar
17 months ago
Samsung could make a phone with next gen AI, infinite battery life, and a bullet-proof Nano-LED folding screen. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still Android.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Johns12 Avatar
17 months ago
Looks like a good lineup. I've pre-ordered the Fold 6
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GuruZac Avatar
17 months ago
Samsung really went creative with the Watch Ultra...even down to the watch band and button accent colors. sarcasm off❕
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
9081094 Avatar
17 months ago
It took Samsung years to mimic the Apple look and feel. The packaging of the ring is very Apple like, also their laptops and phones. You can say what you want, but competition has been coming from a long way. The parts Apple set itself apart from the competition in a positive way are over. Innovation has been very stagnant at Apple since Timmy is at the helm of Apple. Big projects like Titan and Vision Pro failed. The one thing that Apple was able to leapfrog the competition (A- and M- series of processors) diminished by the time Qualcomm released their snapdragon xelite processors. Their first iteration is on par with the M3 series. I’ll bet their next iteration of their chips will leapfrog Apple as well.
Oh and another failure of Apple is to compete with 5G modems.

It seems that Timmy is following the famous hockeypuck instead of knowing where it will be going.

Time for a new visionair at Apple who shows more love at tech innovation than Timmy who’s only concerned about money and investors.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)