iPhone 11 Devices to Gain Massive LTE, Wi-Fi Speed Boosts over iPhone XS

The iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max will feature “faster gigabit-class LTE” performance and Wi-Fi 6, according to Apple. But just how much faster will the new iPhones be?

Since the device isn’t in consumer or critical hands quite yet, we don’t know for certain – but there are promising signs suggesting that the iPhone 11 could feature much faster connectivity across the board.

iPhone 11 Cellular Performance

While widespread cellular testing of the iPhone 11 is yet to take place, internet speed testing service SpeedSmart claims to have some early data showing a marked improvement.

According to SpeedSmart, the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max will feature 4G LTE performance about 13 percent faster than last year’s iPhone XS.

The company says it based this data through testing on all major U.S. carriers. While speeds appeared roughly similar across all carriers, T-Mobile edged out Verizon for the top spot.

That’s a decent year-over-year improvement, but it doesn’t rival last year’s jump in cellular performance.

According to SpeedSmart test results published around this time last year, the iPhone XS offered up to 100 percent faster download speeds than the iPhone X. Largely, that was due to the addition of 4×4 MIMO on the XS.

It’s worth noting that it isn’t clear how SpeedSmart got this data, seeing as how the iPhone 11 or iPhone 11 Pro lineup isn’t available yet.

iPhone 11 with Wi-Fi 6

Alongside “Gigabit-class LTE,” Apple also introduced the all-new Wi-Fi 6 standard on the new iPhones. That’s actually a bigger deal than it might sound.

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Again, like with LTE performance, we won’t know how much quicker Wi-Fi 6 will be when the iPhone 11 reaches consumers. But early testing of the Wi-Fi 6 standard could suggest major improvements.

According to CNET, Wi-Fi 6 provides improved data speeds as much as 40 percent faster than Wi-Fi 5 (which was the standard used in the iPhone XS lineup).

It also improves Wi-Fi reliability in dense or crowded environments, bumps up battery life, and generally improves Wi-Fi performance across the board.

So while LTE performance will only be getting a nominal boost, expect Wi-Fi to perform a lot better on Apple’s 2019 handsets.

iPhone 11 Connectivity

There are still quite a few unanswered questions about this year’s iPhone cellular performance, however.

It’s not clear if the iPhone 11 lineup uses Qualcomm or Intel-produced modems, although it’s likely to the be the latter based on the timing of production and the chipmaker’s settlement with Apple.

Apple’s handsets have also had some sporadic issues with LTE performance over the last few years. While Apple says data speeds will be faster, it’s not clear at this point if the connectivity will be more reliable.

Still, while these speed bumps sound marginal at best, it’s worth noting that the first 5G-equipped iPhones could start rolling out with Qualcomm modems beginning next year.