Apple iPhones lag behind Samsung and Google phones in internet speed tests: Report

People buy Apple products with the expectation that they will have the most premium devices with nothing to worry when it comes to internet connection speeds. However, Ookla LLC, a company that provides a tool to measure internet connection speeds, with its Speedtest App and website, doesn’t think so. According to data collected by Ookla, Apple’s iPhone 8 , iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X lag behind the latest smartphones by Samsung and Google . [caption id=“attachment_4749491” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Apple iPhone X. Image: tech2/Rehan Hooda[/caption] Ooklas’s revelation was first reported by Bloomberg by 23 July. The data collected by Ookla is interesting because it is created by users and not in the company’s corporate lab. They are collected by taking care of real-world conditions that affect internet performance like distance from cellular towers and network congestion. Millions of tests are hosted each day by Ookla and it has a record of 20 billion tests in total. What do you mean by faster internet data? It simply means that users should be able to load websites, download files, stream videos, make better video calls, easily, with a good speed. As phones these days are beginning to look more and more similar, what varies is what lies under the hood, and Ookla things that Apple’s is lagging, at least in terms of internet speeds. [caption id=“attachment_4392435” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] That Infinity display sure hasn’t lost its charm even against the iPhone X. Image: Tech2/Rehan Hooda[/caption] Internet speeds, however, aren’t the only measures important to check the device speed. Apple’s main processors that control the speed of launching and running apps, among others, are as we know, recognised as one of the fastest in the smartphone industry. According to the speed test data, that Bloomberg reviewed, Samsung Galaxy S9  showed an average download speed of 38.9 Mbps based on about 102,000 tests over the past three months. The S9 Plus showed a speed of 38.4 Mbps. Apple’s iPhone X, on the other hand, displayed a download speed of 29.7 Mbps based on 603,000 tests. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus had speeds of 28.6 Mbps and 29.4 Mbps, respectively. Coming to Alphabet’s Google, the smartphone Pixel 2 XL delivered a speed of 33.9 Mbps and the Pixel 2 showed speeds of 34.4 Mbps. [caption id=“attachment_4230091” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] The Google Pixel 2 XL is not a bezel-less smartphone.[/caption] As you can note here, both Samsung and Google smartphones have outdone the Apple iPhones. Speeds of smartphone data downloads are determined by the modem chips used in the device and Apple uses a mix of modems from Intel  and Qualcomm in the newest iPhones. Apple has, however, reportedly **notified Intel** that it will not use the chipmaker’s radio chips in its 2020 iPhones. Apple was Intel’s primary customer for its 5G modems, but Intel has now halted the development of the chip and dissolved the team that worked on it. Further, Apple and Qualcomm, have been in a  **dispute**  over patent infringements, which hints that Apple is looking for alternatives. As per another report by Bloomberg, recently a Goldman Sachs analyst wrote a research paper that indicated that Apple could be planning to tap the chip supplier,  MediaTek , for its 5G chips.