
iPhone 16e has faster download speeds than the iPhone 16 on AT&T, Verizon. | Image credit-Ookla


iPhone 16e has faster upload speeds than the iPhone 16 on ATT, Verizon, and T-Mobile. | Image credit-Ookla
When looking at speeds in the 90th percentile, which Ookla calls top-end performance, the iPhone 16 outperformed the iPhone 16e on all three major U.S. carriers with a median download data speed of 756.13 Mbps. The download data speed of the iPhone 16e was 560.4 Mbps. At the 10th percentile, which Ookla calls the “Worst-case speeds,” the iPhone 16e (27.35 Mbps) topped the iPhone 16 (16.66 Mbps).
Another interesting comparison reveals that the iPhone 16e, despite not supporting mmWave, was faster than the iPhone 16 (which does support mmWave) on AT&T and Verizon. Yet, on T-Mobile‘s Standalone (SA) 5G network, the iPhone 16 was much faster than the iPhone 16e. The C1 modem on the iPhone 16e appears to have underperformed on T-Mobile‘s SA 5G network because the carrier employs advanced tools such as Carrier Aggregation. The latter combines multiple frequency bands into a single wider channel allowing it to support more capacity and faster speeds by helping devices receive and transmit more data at the same time.
The bottom line is that unless you’re using T-Mobile, you should experience faster download and upload speeds with the iPhone 16e using Apple’s C1 5G modem. T-Mobile subscribers will get better performance from the iPhone 16 sporting the Snapdragon X70 5G modem.