Following the big reveal of Apple’s iPhone 16, we’re now learning about a few exciting upgrades that the tech giant didn’t share during the event. One of these developments is a new Snapdragon X75 modem inside the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, boosting both download and upload speeds compared to last year’s premium Apple smartphones.
The new details are courtesy of SpeedSmart, via 9to5Mac, with the internet speed testing site putting together a graphic of the iPhone 16 Pro’s capabilities against the iPhone 15’s. The big wins are in download speeds, with the iPhone 16 Pro beating its predecessor by over 50 Mbps on the AT&T network, 70 Mbps on T-Mobile, and a whopping 85 Mbps on Verizon. These new speeds easily make the iPhone 16 Pro one of the best 5G phones of 2024, with Apple catching up with the impressive speeds offered by the Samsung Galaxy S24 series.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we can expect the same sort of 5G speeds from the base model iPhone 16. The 9to5Mac report suggests the more affordable device utilizes the older Snapdragon X70 modem, which isn’t quite as rapid as the newer Qualcomm hardware. Still, Apple hasn’t confirmed the iPhone 16’s modem at the time of writing, so it could surprise us and reveal that all iPhone 16 models share the same state-of-the-art modem.
While the iPhone 16 Pro’s 5G speeds are certainly impressive, this could be the last year we see Apple rely on Qualcomm for its modem technology. We’ve heard rumors that Apple is developing its own modem technology to debut in its 2025 handsets. This would be a big loss for Qualcomm. While you might find the brand’s chipsets in nearly all the best Android phones on the market, losing a contract with Apple, the smartphone market leader, is never welcome news.
While different modems for different iPhone 16 models might be a little disappointing, especially if you were looking to pick up the base model, the good news is that all four devices are Wi-Fi 7 capable. So, while you might not get better download speeds outside of the home, your Wi-Fi downloads should be faster than ever, so there’s no excuse not to load up your new device with the best mobile games on the App Store.