iPhone 16e’s Apple C1 modem vs. iPhone 16’s Qualcomm modem

Apple C1
Apple’s new iPhone 16e made its commercial debut in late February with much fanfare because it’s the first device to include the Apple-designed C1 modem. Historically, Apple relied upon Qualcomm to provide most of its iPhone modems so its decision to use the C1 modem in the iPhone 16e is considered a significant move.
Although it’s early in the adoption curve for the iPhone 16e, Ookla analyzed the performance of the new device from March 1st through March 12th, and compared it to the performance of iPhone 16. Both devices run on the same Apple-designed A18 SoC. However, it’s important to note that unlike the iPhone 16, the iPhone 16e does not support mmWave spectrum. This is the first iPhone available in the U.S. without mmWave support, but Ookla expects future Apple modems will include mmWave support.
Ookla:
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When we compare Speedtest Intelligence® data from the top 90th percentile (those with the highest performance experience) of iPhone 16e and iPhone 16 users from all three of the top U.S. operators, we see the iPhone 16 performing better in download speeds. However, at the opposite end, with the 10th percentile of users (those who experience the lowest performance) we see the iPhone 16e performing better than the iPhone 16.
iPhone 16e outperforms on download speeds for AT&T and Verizon, but not T-Mobile
Speedtest data shows the iPhone16e recorded faster median download speeds than the iPhone 16 on both AT&T and Verizon’s networks, but was markedly slower on T-Mobile’s network.
iPhone 16e users on T-Mobile’s network experienced median download speeds of 264.71 Mbps, which is at least 47% faster than iPhone 16e users on Verizon’s network that experienced median download speeds of 140.77 Mbps. The download speed performance for iPhone 16e users on AT&T’s network was 226.90 Mbps, closer to that of T-Mobile users.
However, when comparing median download speeds for T-Mobile users with the iPhone 16e (264.71 Mbps) to T-Mobile users with the iPhone 16 device (357.47 Mbps), the iPhone 16 outperformed the iPhone 16e by at least 24%.
The iPhone 16e’s underperformance in median download speed compared to the iPhone 16 on T-Mobile’s network is most likely due to the fact that T-Mobile is the only US carrier to have a nationwide commercialized 5G standalone network (SA) and one of the few operators globally to deploy significant spectrum depth and advanced features like carrier aggregation (CA) on the new 5G architecture.
The C1 modem’s more limited capabilities on 5G SA networks compared to the Qualcomm modem in the iPhone 16 may be a key factor contributing to the larger performance gap between device models observed on T-Mobile’s network in early testing.
Verizon’s download performance lags on both devices
While much has been made of the lack of mmWave support on the iPhone 16e, which will have some impact on performance, particularly for users that are in range of these higher bands, both Verizon Speedtest users with the iPhone 16e and the iPhone 16 experienced median download speeds that lagged behind that of both AT&T and T-Mobile.
iPhone 16e beats the 16 among those in the 10th percentile
When we examine Speedtest Intelligence® data for the bottom 10th percentile (those with the lowest overall download speeds) of iPhone 16e vs. iPhone 16 users, we see that iPhone 16e users experienced better download speeds compared to iPhone 16 users across all three mobile providers.
For example, T-Mobile iPhone 16e users in the bottom 10th percentile are experiencing speeds of 57.34 Mbps compared to T-Mobile iPhone 16 users that are experiencing speeds of just 27.27 Mbps.
At the other end of the scale at the 90th percentile (those with the fastest overall download speeds), we saw the reverse with the iPhone 16 outpacing the iPhone 16e for each mobile provider. For example, T-Mobile iPhone 16 users in the 90th percentile experienced blazing fast median download speeds of 889.83 Mbps compared to T-Mobile iPhone 16e users that are experiencing median download speeds of 627.01 Mbps.
Performance at the lowest 10th percentile often provides a more accurate reflection of overall quality of experience (QoE) than the fastest 90th percentile, which can be skewed by deployments in mmWave-covered locations and is subject to declining marginal returns.
iPhone 16e is higher in upload speeds
Interestingly, in upload speeds, we saw iPhone 16e users on Verizon and AT&T experiencing higher upload speed performance than those using the iPhone 16. T-Mobile users, however, experienced just slightly higher upload speeds on the iPhone 16e compared to the iPhone 16. The gap was the biggest with AT&T iPhone 16e customers, who experienced median upload speeds of 14.63 Mbps, which is at least a 38% increase over AT&T iPhone 16 users who experienced median upload speeds of 8.60 Mbps.

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MacDailyNews Take: The bottom line: iPhone 16e offers better worst-case speeds, but iPhone 16 has a higher top-end performance, skewed due to its support for mmWave.
Tons more, including many graphs, in the full article here.

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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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