iPhone 12 Pro Max Named Most Popular 5G Smartphone in United States - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iPhone 12 Pro Max Named Most Popular 5G Smartphone in United States

by

Apple's iPhone 12 Pro Max held the title of most popular 5G smartphone in 49 of 50 U.S. states as of January 2021, according to PCMag, citing data from Speedtest.net parent company Ookla and research firm M Science.

galaxy s21 iphone 12 pro max
The methodology behind the rankings:

M Science directly tracks sales, and gave us cumulative sales figures up until Jan. 23. Ookla looks at the usage of its Speedtest apps on consumers' phones, and gave us data for tests taken in January. They agree that the iPhone 12 Pro Max is the most popular 5G phone in the US.

The standard iPhone 12 Pro was the most popular 5G smartphone in Vermont and the Washington, D.C. capital region, the report claims.

While the iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12, and iPhone 12 Pro took the top three spots in the rankings, the smaller iPhone 12 mini was far less popular, in line with reports indicating that the 5.4-inch device has faced lackluster sales. Samsung's Galaxy S20+ and Galaxy S20 Ultra rounded out the top five best-selling 5G smartphones.

iPhone 12 models support ultra-fast mmWave 5G in the United States, and rumors suggest that iPhone 13 models will expand mmWave support to additional countries.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro: Pre-Orders and Release Date

Sunday August 16, 2026 8:24 pm PDT by
Apple has yet to reveal when the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra will be announced and released, but the dates usually follow a familiar pattern. As usual, the event is expected to take place in the first half of September. Labor Day falls on September 7 this year. The last time the holiday was on that day was in 2020, but the iPhone event that year was delayed until October due to the...
Read Full Article
apple camera airpods

Apple's Camera-Equipped AirPods Confirmed: See Them in Action

Monday August 17, 2026 6:21 pm PDT by
Apple is working on camera-equipped AirPods that appear to be nearly ready to launch, based on a video MacRumors found in the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate. In a short demo, a man holds a book up so the camera in the AirPods can see the title. "With Visual Intelligence, your world becomes savable. See something you like? Just ask me to save it for later," says the voiceover text. Here ...
Read Full Article • 271 comments
iPhone 18 Pro Dark Cherry Feature

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra: New Details Leak as Apple Event Nears

Monday August 17, 2026 11:09 am PDT by
"iPhone Ultra" supply will be very limited when the foldable device is first released later this year, according to Fixed Focus Digital, a known leaker on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. The account also claimed that the iPhone 18 Pro's A20 Pro chip will be up to 18% faster and up to 30% more power efficient compared to the iPhone 17 Pro's A19 Pro chip. The A20 Pro chip will be the...
Read Full Article • 29 comments

Top Rated Comments

C
Cwoods
72 months ago
I’m actually surprised the max is more popular than the regular 6.1” pro.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️ Avatar
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
72 months ago
Favorite iPhone!!! It is a total BEAST. It will only get better.

iPhone 12S will take over the smartphone world in 2021-2022. Cannot wait till September for the announcement.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Return Zero Avatar
Return Zero
72 months ago

It's interesting to me that the regular 12 is so much more popular than the Mini. It wasn't even in the running for me. I either wanted the Pro feature set, or I wanted the small form factor. Why would I want a marginally bigger phone castrated of the features of the identically sized Pro?
And don't tell me battery life. I am just shy of a power user most days and this Mini has held its own as well or better than my 11 Pro did.
This is exactly where I was (ended up with the mini and I love it). I'm not surprised the Max is a top seller, especially when it stands alone with the best features. However, the regular 12 if nothing else plays the psychological/marketing "medium" tier very well, with medium price, medium size, and medium features. Even if many people may be more satisfied going to one extreme or the other, they still often choose the medium because they feel it is the most versatile and carries the least potential for post-purchase regret. Exhibit A: the crossover automobile era. They suck at many things, but they're at least somewhat versatile and low-risk, so everyone keeps buying. Exhibit B: the index fund investment era. They have zero chance of beating the market, but they're a safe long-term play for hands-off types. Risk aversion almost sells itself these days.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SDJim Avatar
SDJim
72 months ago

You left out the most important point. The 6.1" model has a 26% larger display area compared to the mini. That's not a marginal increase.
Those % metrics are silly to me. They make it seem like it's some massive difference because in linear metrics that would be major, but when talking about screens on a phone, the difference between these two is minimal (IMO, of course). I even have large hands and still two-hand type on the Mini just fine.

I think it mainly just comes down to the immortal feeling of bigger=better, and the close price of the Mini and 12. That, along with people now accepting the cons that come along with a large phone as normal. For me, I miss being able to forget my phone was in my pocket. Not having it jab me in the hip when sitting in my car and having to adjust it. Not having it so heavy it pulls down gym shorts. Not being able to use it with one hand. The Mini is magical to me because it is the closest thing we have had to the 5s since it was released. The 5s was the best phone design for its time of all time, IMO.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LFC2020 Avatar
LFC2020
72 months ago
Not hard to do, when the rest of the completion is releasing garbage phones with garbage software. 😎🥇📱

Hardly see any android users here in Australia, wonder why. 🤔🤮🤢
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SDJim Avatar
SDJim
72 months ago

I’m actually surprised the max is more popular than the regular 6.1” pro.
Apple's reinvigorated ploy to reserve major camera upgrades for the largest models continues to work, unfortunately, which means they will continue to do it...
Also, we are reaching a point in the market where people expect phones to be massive.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments