US statistics from Opensignal indicate that the iPhone 12 series has poorer performance in 4G and 5G networks than many mobile phones with Android.
The absolute fastest mobile phone in the 5G network right now is the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G. That phone’s average speed is 56 Mbps according to Opensignal.
In second and third place we find TCL Revvl 5G and OnePlus 8T Plus respectively.
They reach an average of 50 Mbps according to the same survey. After that, we find a lot of Android phones from Samsung, TCL, OnePlus, Motorola, LG and Google on the same list. First, really far down the list, we find the iPhone 12 series.
Here are the average speeds for the entire iPhone 12 series:
- iPhone 12 Pro Max: 36.2 Mbps
- iPhone 12 Pro: 36.9 Mbps
- iPhone 12 Mini: 32.9 Mbps
- iPhone 12: 29.6 Mbps
All four perform better than all previous iPhones, but they are far behind the competition.
With the iPhone 12 Pro Max, the average speed is as much as 36 percent lower than the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G. The worst is for the iPhone 12, which is 46 percent slower (!) On average. Ouch Apple.
Big difference between 4G and 5G
When Opensignal compares the average speeds for 4G versus 5G, it is a big difference among all manufacturers. Especially the iPhone series where 5G is 134 percent faster than 4G. Here is the difference for Apple, LG, Samsung, OnePlus and Google:
| Manufacturer | 4G | 5G |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | 18.9 | 44.5 (+ 134%) |
| LG | 28.9 | 47.9 (+ 66%) |
| Samsung | 34 | 54 (+ 59%) |
| OnePlus | 38.4 | 53.1 (+ 35%) |
| 38.6 | 52.2 (+ 35%) |
The reason why speed differences are so marked on the iPhone is probably related to the internal circuits. According to OpenSignal, Apple uses fourth-generation radio circuits from Intel, while Samsung, for example, uses modems from Qualcomm.
The statistics above come from OpenSignal’s report where data was retrieved from users in the US market.
