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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- The iPhone 16 and 16e showed akin web speeds successful astir regions.
- The iPhone 16 outperformed the 16e connected much precocious networks.
- The iPhone 17 is expected to proceed to usage Qualcomm modems.
Looking for an iPhone with the champion transportation speeds and undecided betwixt an iPhone 16 and an iPhone 16e. (Or bash you wait for an iPhone 17?) The mean download and upload speeds thin to favour the iPhone 16. However, the 16e performs arsenic good arsenic oregon amended successful definite situations, astatine slightest according to a caller study from Ookla.
iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16e transportation speeds
For a report released Monday, Ookla utilized its fashionable Speedtest instrumentality to comparison the online show of the iPhone 16 against the iPhone 16e. With a starting terms of $799, the iPhone 16 comes with a traditional Qualcomm modem, specifically the Snapdragon X71 5G. In contrast, the $599 iPhone 16e is outfitted with Apple's archetypal in-house 5G modem, the C1.
Apple has been connected a teardrop the past fewer years to replace cardinal components usually obtained from extracurricular vendors with its ain in-house parts. And that includes the modem utilized successful the iPhone series.
To measurement the differences betwixt the Qualcomm and Apple modems, Ookla said that it tested the online speeds crossed a scope of markets and countries, particularly ones successful which radical person gravitated toward the lower-cost 16e. The institution specifically chose the iPhone 16 and 16e since some devices are likewise designed and athletics the aforesaid 6.1-inch screen, with the modem being the large quality betwixt them.
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Here's however they fared.
Depends connected your bearer and country
In astir of the markets that Ookla analyzed, the iPhone 16e with the Apple C1 modem performed likewise to the iPhone 16 with the Qualcomm modem astatine median download speeds. The biggest quality was successful Saudi Arabia, wherever the iPhone 16 recorded a velocity of 353.49 Mbps compared with the 16e's 295.01 Mbps. On the different end, Spain saw the iPhone 16e successful the pb with a median download velocity of 139.88 Mbps versus the iPhone 16's 110.38 Mbps.
Overall, though, the iPhone 16's Qualcomm modem captured amended download speeds connected mobile networks with a 5G standalone (SA) footprint supporting higher bearer aggregation combinations and uplink MIMO technology. The 16e's C1 modem lacks these technologies and truthful can't vie arsenic good connected specified networks.
To enactment it simply, a 5G standalone footprint uses a 5G web with a 5G halfway arsenic opposed to 1 with a 5G web and a 4G LTE core. Higher bearer aggregation combinations tin usage aggregate frequence bands simultaneously for amended performance. Uplink MIMO means that the instrumentality tin person aggregate information streams astatine once.
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Among the supported networks that springiness the borderline to the Qualcomm modem are those successful the US, Saudi Arabia, China, and India.
In the US, for example, T-Mobile subscribers saw amended speeds with the iPhone 16, which supports four-carrier aggregation, than those who utilized an iPhone 16e, which supports a maximum of three-carrier aggregation. The median download velocity connected T-Mobile's web was 317.64 Mbps with the Qualcomm modem compared with 252.80 Mbps with Apple's modem. More than 65% of the locations connected T-Mobile's web usage four-carrier aggregation, offering a immense vantage to the iPhone 16.
Blame it connected bottlenecks
If the Qualcomm exemplary seems truthful overmuch amended connected paper, wherefore did Apple's modem execute conscionable arsenic good successful galore markets? Blame it connected bottlenecks.
Many networks can't yet payment from the Qualcomm modem's much precocious capabilities. As much providers upgrade their networks with 5G SA, bearer aggregation, and precocious MIMO for downloads and uploads, Ookla said it expects the web show of the iPhone 16 to outpace that of the 16e.
So does each this mean you should wage the other $200 for an iPhone 16 alternatively of an iPhone 16e? Well, that depends connected however overmuch you worth the faster transportation speeds. And you'll astir apt privation to clasp disconnected anyway, arsenic Apple is astir to merchandise its caller iPhone 17 lineup. The modular iPhone 17 models (base, Pro, and Pro Max) are expected to proceed utilizing Qualcomm modems, portion the rumored iPhone 17 Air volition apt see Apple's C1 modem.
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