LTE Speeds of iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s Compared in New Video

by

According to Apple, both the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus have "faster LTE download speeds" than the iPhone 5s, reaching up to 150Mbps thanks to the inclusion of the Qualcomm MDM9625M LTE chip, which supports LTE Advanced.

A demonstration of the speed difference between the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6 when connected to a high-quality LTE network has been conducted by iClarified, suggesting the iPhone 6 is able to reach much higher speeds than the iPhone 5s.

The test, which was conducted in London, Ontario, Canada on the Fido network, shows the iPhone 6 topping out at download speeds of 101Mbps while the iPhone 5s reaches 35Mbps. Upload speeds are similarly improved, reaching 27Mbps on the iPhone 6.


According to iClarified, the tests, which were conducted using the Ookla SpeedTest.net app, were done in a spot in the city where the best reception was found.

We were able to consistently reach speeds in the high 90s with the iPhone 6. The absolute highest download speed we were able to obtain was 111 Mbps. I'm confident that if the conditions were optimal we could have obtained even higher speeds.

First introduced in 2013, LTE Advanced takes advantage of carrier aggregation technology, combining separate spectrums into a single faster connection to increase data speeds and network capacity. Several carriers offer the technology, and the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are Apple's first devices to support it. Because not all carriers support LTE Advanced and due to differences in connection strength, not all users may see increased speeds on Apple's new devices.

Along with LTE Advanced, Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus offer several other connectivity improvements, including support for up to 20 different LTE bands. With additional bands (7 more than the iPhone 5s), iPhone users are able to connect to more LTE networks when traveling abroad and LTE connections are available in more countries. The phones also include support for voice over LTE (VoLTE), improving voice quality and allowing some users to access voice and data simultaneously over LTE for the first time.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
Read Full Article • 75 comments
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
Read Full Article • 88 comments
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
Read Full Article • 34 comments
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
Read Full Article • 132 comments
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Read Full Article • 99 comments
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
Read Full Article • 71 comments
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.4.1 With Bug Fixes

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1 come two weeks after the launch of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There have been complaints about ...
Read Full Article • 41 comments
tvOS 18 Thumb 1

Apple Releases tvOS 18.4.1

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released tvOS 18.4.1, a minor update to the tvOS 18 operating system that came out last September. tvOS 18.4.1 comes two weeks after Apple released tvOS 18.4, and it is available for the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD models. tvOS 18.4.1 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the new software....
Read Full Article • 13 comments
iPhone Security Feature 25

Five iPhone Security Features You Should Be Using

Wednesday April 16, 2025 4:15 pm PDT by
Apple has quite a few security features that it's added to iPhones, iPads, and Macs over the years. Now more than ever, it's important to make sure you're taking advantage of the built-in security tools that are available to keep yourself and your data safe, so we've rounded up a list of the most important options. If you don't already have these enabled, you might want to consider turning...
Read Full Article • 70 comments

Top Rated Comments

aristotle Avatar
aristotle
138 months ago
Be careful with testing your speed too much if you have a data cap on your plan as you can easily burn through your cap with these tests.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
darkslide29 Avatar
darkslide29
138 months ago
Not nearly this high for my AT&T!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
oatman13 Avatar
oatman13
138 months ago
I can definitely verify this. About two weeks ago I did a speed test on the T-Mobile network using my new iPhone 6 Plus and I achieved this speed test. What amazes me more than the speed is the low latency.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
harleyb Avatar
harleyb
138 months ago
I'm getting even higher speeds in Toronto, at my office near Dufferin and Dupont. Good thing I'm still on the grandfathered 6GB plan!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jclo Avatar
jclo
138 months ago
Video flashes at 0:25 looks fake.

This is actually explained in the iClarified article: "The flicker on the iPhone 6 is an app issue which occurs when speeds reach a high level. It's not a video capture issue."

http://www.iclarified.com/44419/iphone-lte-speed-test-iphone-6-vs-iphone-5s-video
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Krizoitz Avatar
Krizoitz
138 months ago
Call me paranoid

Whats to prevent a provider like AT&T or Verizon from detecting when you are connecting to one of these speed test servers and optimizing your traffic so their network looks as good as possible? Seems like the only indepdent and truly accurate way to verify network speed would be to test using a custom app that runs against random servers that the providers can't precache before hand.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments