Samsung is finally retiring the 12MP selfie camera that has anchored its flagship phones for years. The Galaxy S27 Pro and S27 Ultra will reportedly switch to a 16MP square sensor, matching a design choice Apple introduced with the iPhone 17 series.
The upgrade comes from GalaxyClub, a leak source with a strong track record on Samsung hardware, shared via leaker Ice Universe. Both phones are expected to adopt the square sensor, which changes more than just resolution.
Square sensors let the camera capture a wider field of view and crop for either portrait or landscape orientation from a single shot. That means users can take market selfies while holding the phone vertically, no rotation required. The iPhone 17 series has drawn positive attention for the same capability, and Samsung appears to be following suit.
The front camera isn't the only change. Ice Universe separately pointed to a 50MP telephoto camera and a 50MP ultrawide camera coming to both the S27 Pro and S27 Ultra. The current S26 Ultra already packs a 50MP ultrawide and a 50MP 5x telephoto lens, but the 10MP 3x camera on the S26 Ultra could see the 50MP upgrade on the S27 Pro.
The S27 Pro itself is a new addition to Samsung's lineup. GSMA database filings uncovered four model numbers for the S27 family: the base S27 (SM-S952U), S27 Plus (SM-S956U), S27 Pro (SM-S957B/DS), and S27 Ultra (SM-S958U). That makes 2027 the first year Samsung fields four mainline Galaxy S flagships simultaneously, breaking a pattern that held since 2020.
The Pro slot targets buyers who want Ultra-grade hardware in a smaller body. Rumored specs include a 6.47-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro for Galaxy globally, at least 12GB of RAM, and a 5,000mAh battery with 60W wired charging.
Privacy Display, a hardware layer that blocks side-angle viewing, is also expected to carry over from the S26 Ultra.
Samsung confirmed its first UFS 5.0 storage module in June 2026, and the S27 lineup is widely expected to debut the faster standard. On-device AI features will benefit from the doubled read and write speeds over UFS 4.0.
Pricing remains unconfirmed, but the current S26 lineup sits at $899 for the base model, $1,099 for the Plus, and $1,299 for the Ultra. The Pro is expected to land around $1,099 to $1,199, putting it in direct competition with the iPhone 17 Pro.
A January or February 2027 Unpacked event is the working target, following the S26's February 25 launch earlier this year. Samsung typically locks in Unpacked dates around late October or November.
