iPhone 15 Models Have Up to 54% Better 5G Download Speeds Than iPhone 14 Models

[MacRumors]

The iPhone 15 models are equipped with Qualcomm's X70 modem chip that promises faster 5G speeds than the X65 in the prior-generation iPhone 14 models, and testing shared by Ookla confirms that download speeds have notably improved.

Using data collected from its online Speedtest for measuring connection speeds, Ookla has been able to determine that the iPhone 15 models support download speeds that are up to 54 percent faster than the download speeds available on the iPhone 14 models.

Compared to their equivalent iPhone 14 models, the iPhone 15 Plus saw 54 percent faster download speeds, the iPhone 15 had 45 percent better download speeds, the iPhone 15 Pro Max was 27 percent faster, and the iPhone 15 Pro had a 25 percent better download speed.

The iPhone 15 models had the fastest download speeds out of all the Apple and Samsung devices included on Ookla's results list. Median download speeds on the iPhone 15 Pro Max were at 285Mb/s, and the other iPhones weren't far behind.

The iPhone 15 had the slowest median download speed out of Apple's lineup at 249Mb/s, but it still came out ahead of Samsung's latest smartphones, including the Galaxy Z Fold5 and the Galaxy Z Flip5.

Note that Ookla's data covers median download speeds across the entire United States, and connectivity could vary depending on location, proximity to a major city, location of the closest cellular tower, carrier, and more. Data shared for the iPhone was collected from September 22 to October 30.

5G download speeds also improved in multiple other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, South Korea, Spain, the UK, and the UAE, with full results available on the Ookla website.


Article Link: iPhone 15 Models Have Up to 54% Better 5G Download Speeds Than iPhone 14 Models

 

[mikey918]

That’s great, but Verizon still can’t be bothered to build out a usable 5G network where I live so this is meaningless for me.

 

[antiprotest]

210 on an iPhone 14 Pro? I get 5-10 on a good day.

 

[jz0309]

sorta kinda expected, but s stated, it depends heavily on your location ... and I have gotten faster download speed on my 13PM than the median 285, but I was in the "right" location

 

[goonie4life9]

This is great. Could someone let AT&T know that if they don’t have sufficient capacity, they will continue to lag in speed tests?

 

[kalafalas]

My main issue with these charts is how many of them were connected to low band, or mid/high band? There’s quite a striking difference, and I bet a lot of non-pro iPhone owners at least here in the US on Verizon or ATT do not subscribe to a plan that has access to anything but lowband

 

[arthurgd3]

I'll have to test my wife's 15 Pro but my Pixel 8 Pro I've gotten over a gigabit before on T-Mobile's 5G in LA.

 

[Radeon85]

Seems a bit slow, had 895Mbps down on EE on my old 12 PM back in 2021, need to test my 15 PM in a decent area and see what I get.

 

[DougiePhresh]

If, presumably, all iPhone 15 models are using the same chip - why is there such a disparity between speeds across the model range?

 

[Radeon85]

If, presumably, all iPhone 15 models are using the same chip - why is there such a disparity between speeds across the model range?

Depends on the carrier, some cap the speeds based on your price plan, some carriers are just slow, suppose it also depends on the cell tower capacity and how many are using it.

 

[Michael Scrip]

It's great that a phone can get 285mbps in a brief 30-second Speedtest. Hooray!

But I'd love to see 10 people do the same test all hitting the same tower at one time. Or 100 people.

Or 100 people streaming a movie on the same tower at the same time.

That would make difference, right?

 

[Victor Mortimer]

The only reason I'd even care would be tethering. Otherwise, 4G is really fast enough for a phone.

 

[ericinboston]

All the points so far here are valid. However, why do people need speeds over, say, 100Mbit/sec for iPhone use? Seriously. I'm honestly asking and not trying to be snarky.

I get that people always want faster speeds in general. But what are you using an iPhone for that needs 800Mbit or Gigabit speeds? Maybe uploading a video to Youtube I guess (and if the carrier supports that upstream gigabit speed) but for practically all other apps (email, text, social media, youtube, movie streaming, etc.) you should be more than fine at 100Mbit. If you're using your carrier plan as your home ISP and/or tethering through your iPhone, ok, I get that...but that's not cell phone usage.

 

[jhwalker]

T-Mobile 5G in my area is sometimes faster than my gigabit cable service. Definitely faster on my 15 than my 14.

 

[JohnE121]

492 / 13.8 with my 15 Pro on T-Mobile

 

[MacBird]

Just did a quick test with my 15 Pro Max on T-Mobile. I normally get 3 bars on 5G UC at home. Download is 550 and upload 26. Interestingly, my address is not eligible for their home internet plan yet.

 

[The Mad Kiwi]

Im in Australia I just speed tested my 14pro and got 718 Mbps. If someone wants to send me a 15 I’ll test it too, and I promise to return it 😉

 

[BC2009]

You know what? So far I have really hated 5G. Ever since carriers began "upgrading" their networks to 5G, voice calling quality has plummeted. It is rare that I can make a phone call for more than 2 minutes without one of the person's voices becoming robotic and garbled. I first experienced this when I opted to switch to T-Mobile and they were the first in my area implementing 5G -- horrible voice calls. We switched back to AT&T which was good for a while, but once they got their 5G network up and running (not their fake 5Ge) the voice call quality fell apart with AT&T too.

In fact, I have found that I can do FaceTime Audio and get better voice quality consistently than I get with cellular voice now. So while the data speeds have increased it would seem at least T-Mobile and AT&T have let their voice quality fall apart.

 

[thegerman]

I mean yeah, the 15 gets qualcomm’s best modem that is ever shipped in an phone

 

[HiRez]

If, presumably, all iPhone 15 models are using the same chip - why is there such a disparity between speeds across the model range?

Could be many factors, but for one thing the shells and layout of internal components is different. Pros use some titanium instead of aluminum. And maybe the reason the Plus/Max phones are a little faster than their smaller versions is because there's more room to put a little larger antenna?

 

[kalafalas]

If, presumably, all iPhone 15 models are using the same chip - why is there such a disparity between speeds across the model range?

People with regular iPhone 15s are probably on basic plans with access to only low band 5G. People with the pro models are more likely to have more expensive plans

 

[shpankey]

Wait. Why is the 15 Plus faster than the 15 Pro? 🤔

 

[JapanApple]

pro max 14 15 is not that much difference 😅

 

[shpankey]

All the points so far here are valid. However, why do people need speeds over, say, 100Mbit/sec for iPhone use? Seriously. I'm honestly asking and not trying to be snarky.

I get that people always want faster speeds in general. But what are you using an iPhone for that needs 800Mbit or Gigabit speeds? Maybe uploading a video to Youtube I guess (and if the carrier supports that upstream gigabit speed) but for practically all other apps (email, text, social media, youtube, movie streaming, etc.) you should be more than fine at 100Mbit. If you're using your carrier plan as your home ISP and/or tethering through your iPhone, ok, I get that...but that's not cell phone usage.

Hotspot/Tethering. Some of us use it on the regular. I do this for my kids iPads and for work when traveling or during outages.

 

[bLackjackj]

Note that Ookla's data covers median download speeds across the entire United States, and connectivity could vary depending on location, proximity to a major city, location of the closest cellular tower, carrier, and more.

Which therefore negates the data 🤦‍♂️