Report says Apple N1 modem improves Wi-Fi stability

A new group of tests from Ookla shows that the new Apple-built modem in the iPhone 17 series is helping people achieve more stable and faster connections on average. This is a significant move for Apple, as the iPhone modems were among the last components manufactured by third-party suppliers.

The test says that globally, the iPhone 17 sees median speeds of 329Mbps, while the iPhone 16, with its Broadcom modem, averages out at 236Mbps. It also says that in the bottom ten percent of speeds, the iPhone 17 series performs around 60 per cent better than its predecessors. Interestingly enough, this is all done on the 160 MHz spectrum instead of the flashier 320Hz that some other flagships advertise. This demonstrates that there’s more to a connection than just brute speed.

Notably, the iPhone still doesn’t take the crown for the best median download speeds, with the Pixel 10 Pro claiming the top spot with an average download speed of 335Mbps. That said, when you get into the worst-case scenarios with slow speeds and bad connections, the iPhone 17 edges the Pixel out, 56Mbps to 53Mbps.

It should also be noted that this data was gathered from iPhone 17 models six weeks post-launch.

One interesting finding from this study is that Canadians using iPhone 17 models have an average download speed of 416 Mbps, while Singapore and France both exceed 600 Mbps. The U.S. trails us with an average of 409Mbps.

Overall, the report says the phone gains the most ground when using modern Wi-fi 6/6E/7 hardware. Older modems will still help, but the newer ones seem to play nicer with the N17 modem. This means that, on average, most people are just going to have a better connection with the new iPhones. It also suggests that Apple will have an even larger advantage if it can maintain this consistency while also increasing top-end speeds.

Source: Ookla