The iPhone has supported 5G connectivity since the iPhone 12 in 2020, and Apple continues to make improvements to the experience. New data now reveals that the iPhone 15 Pro, arriving to customers next week, will offer major improvements to 5G performance thanks to its new Qualcomm modem.
The report comes from SpeedSmart, which has data on speed tests performed on AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon using the new iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The report reveals that these devices use Qualcomm’s X70 modem, which offers three primary improvements:
- “Significantly lower power consumption gains.”
- “Better 5G carrier aggregation capabilities.”
- “Better connectivity when your iPhone is further away from a cell tower.”
With these benefits in tow, the speed test data reveals that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max offer up to 24% faster 5G speeds in comparison to the iPhone 14 Pro lineup. Verizon users will see the biggest improvements, followed by T-Mobile and AT&T.
The improvements mainly come in the form of boosted download speeds, though there are also “minor bumps” in upload speed and improvements to ping times.
All 3 major networks in the US saw significant gains in download speed with minor bumps in upload speed we were expecting. An average download speed of 255 Mbps over 5G is very impressive.
Verizon had the biggest gain with the new phones being 24% faster, T-Mobile a close second at 22% faster but with 300 Mbps being the average download speed across the country. AT&T had a 14.6% faster average download speed. It is a very impressive showing all 3 networks averaging over 200 Mbps on 5G across the country.
Qualcomm’s X70 modem is also what powers some of the flagship Android smartphones on the market. Notably, Apple is also in the process of developing its own in-house 5G modems, but those are expected to be several years away. Just this week, Qualcomm announced that Apple will continue to use Qualcomm 5G modems for the iPhone at least through 2026.
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