Apple’s iPhones trail Samsung, Google devices in internet speeds
If you paid top dollar for the iPhone X and Apple Inc’s other
flagship smartphones expecting the fastest mobile internet
speeds around, you won’t like these results.
Apple’s iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and $1,000 iPhone X trail the
latest smartphones from Samsung Electronics Co and Alphabet
Inc’s Google in download speeds, according to data from Ookla
LLC, a company that provides the most popular online service
for measuring the speed of an internet connection with its
Speedtest app and website.
Faster internet data means that users can load websites and
start watching movies more quickly, make crisper video calls
and get higher-quality video.
As smartphones start to look more like each other, handset
makers are trying to tout under-the-cover hardware features.
Samsung has marketed the issue against Apple with commercials
highlighting the faster mobile internet speeds in its recent TV
ad push.
Ookla’s data are important because they are created by users –
not in a corporate lab – and encompass the range of random
real-world conditions that affect performance like distance
from cellular towers and network congestion. Ookla said it
hosts millions of tests a day and has done 20 billion in total.
To be sure, it can be difficult for users to tell the
differences between how fast pages load on a phone. But it’s
easier to sense the quality of video, how long it takes to pull
up a song and how long it takes to send an email.
Web speeds aren’t the only important device speed metric.
Apple’s main processors that control the speed of launching
apps, swiping through PDFs and loading games are often
recognized as some of the fastest in the industry.
“With both LTE-Advanced speeds and Apple’s custom-designed A11
Bionic, the smartest and most powerful chip ever in a
smartphone, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X provide an
incredibly fast wireless experience that can easily handle
today’s most demanding tasks,” an Apple spokeswoman said in a
statement.
“With up to 27 LTE bands, more than any other smartphone in the
world, these iPhones also provide the best worldwide LTE
coverage.”
The slower load times also haven’t noticeably hurt the iPhone
against its competition. It’s one of the best-reviewed
smartphones in the world, with the latest models constantly
outselling the competition. Apple sold more than 216 million
iPhones last year and could top that in 2018 given strong
interest in new larger and lower-cost models planned to be
released later this year.
Samsung was the world’s biggest smartphone maker in 2017,
shipping more than 317 million units, according to research
analyst IDC.
The speed-test data, reviewed by Bloomberg, show that Samsung’s
Galaxy S9 phones had an average download speed – across
carriers in the US – of 38.9 megabits per second, based on
about 102,000 tests over the past three months.
The larger model, the S9+, delivered speeds of 38.4 Mbps,
according to a sample size of about 169,000 phone connections.
The iPhone X on average downloaded data at 29.7 Mbps, based on
a 603,000 tests.
The iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 8 were close behind with speeds of
29.4 Mbps and 28.6 Mbps, respectively.
Ookla’s data breakdown indicated the iPhone X operated faster
on Verizon Communications Inc’s wireless network with average
speeds of 31.5 Mbps and slowest on Sprint Corp.’s with speeds
of 25.1 Mbps.
The Galaxy S9+, which is closest to the iPhone X in terms of
price, recorded average speeds of 38.2 Mbps on Verizon and 34.2
Mbps on Sprint.
Google’s Pixel 2 XL delivered a speed of 33.9 Mbps and the
smaller Pixel 2 showed speeds of 34.4 Mbps.
Huawei Technologies Co’s Mate 10 Pro, a phone for the US
market, recorded the slowest average speeds of 22 Mbps, based
on a small sample size of 884 phones.
Apple shares were little changed at $191.19 at 12:48 p.m.
Monday in New York. Qualcomm gained 1%t to $59.15, while Intel
also increased about 1% to $52.40.
Ookla’s insight into speed may become more of a factor in
purchase decisions next year when the industry plans to start
offering fifth generation, or 5G, services, which will be
multiple times faster than what’s currently available – if the
technology can translate theory into practice.
Companies that are able to provide phones on those networks
earlier may grab market share. Apple has typically lagged
behind on such moves, preferring to wait until standards are
established and networks fully built out.
The speeds of smartphone data downloads are determined by a
combination of the modem chips used in the device and the
software that tunes the hardware. Apple uses a mix of modems
from Intel Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. in the newest iPhones.
Verizon and Sprint models in addition to those purchased
without a carrier from an Apple retail store use Qualcomm
components, while the phones designed for AT&T Inc. and
T-Mobile US Inc. use cellular modems from Intel.
Qualcomm’s latest modems are usually speedier than the ones
built by Intel, but Apple uses software to keep the speeds of
the Qualcomm chips closer to that of the Intel devices.
Qualcomm, the biggest maker of mobile phone modem chips, put
out its own view of the numbers Monday, arguing that Apple
phones that don’t use its chips are slower than competing
devices, and even those that do, are slower than other devices
with the same connection component.
Apple and Qualcomm are embroiled in a worldwide legal dispute
in which Apple is arguing that the chipmaker has unfairly used
its position in such chips to force it and other phone makers
to pay technology licensing fees. Apple has pared back its
reliance on Qualcomm and used Intel modems for some of its
phones.
Read: How many iPhones Apple sold in
its second quarter
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