LTE Speeds of iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s Compared in New Video - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

LTE Speeds of iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s Compared in New Video

by

According to Apple, both the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus have "faster LTE download speeds" than the iPhone 5s, reaching up to 150Mbps thanks to the inclusion of the Qualcomm MDM9625M LTE chip, which supports LTE Advanced.

A demonstration of the speed difference between the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6 when connected to a high-quality LTE network has been conducted by iClarified, suggesting the iPhone 6 is able to reach much higher speeds than the iPhone 5s.

The test, which was conducted in London, Ontario, Canada on the Fido network, shows the iPhone 6 topping out at download speeds of 101Mbps while the iPhone 5s reaches 35Mbps. Upload speeds are similarly improved, reaching 27Mbps on the iPhone 6.


According to iClarified, the tests, which were conducted using the Ookla SpeedTest.net app, were done in a spot in the city where the best reception was found.

We were able to consistently reach speeds in the high 90s with the iPhone 6. The absolute highest download speed we were able to obtain was 111 Mbps. I'm confident that if the conditions were optimal we could have obtained even higher speeds.

First introduced in 2013, LTE Advanced takes advantage of carrier aggregation technology, combining separate spectrums into a single faster connection to increase data speeds and network capacity. Several carriers offer the technology, and the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are Apple's first devices to support it. Because not all carriers support LTE Advanced and due to differences in connection strength, not all users may see increased speeds on Apple's new devices.

Along with LTE Advanced, Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus offer several other connectivity improvements, including support for up to 20 different LTE bands. With additional bands (7 more than the iPhone 5s), iPhone users are able to connect to more LTE networks when traveling abroad and LTE connections are available in more countries. The phones also include support for voice over LTE (VoLTE), improving voice quality and allowing some users to access voice and data simultaneously over LTE for the first time.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
Read Full Article • 151 comments
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Read Full Article • 111 comments
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
Read Full Article • 104 comments

Top Rated Comments

aristotle Avatar
aristotle
156 months ago
Be careful with testing your speed too much if you have a data cap on your plan as you can easily burn through your cap with these tests.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
darkslide29
156 months ago
Not nearly this high for my AT&T!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
O
oatman13
156 months ago
I can definitely verify this. About two weeks ago I did a speed test on the T-Mobile network using my new iPhone 6 Plus and I achieved this speed test. What amazes me more than the speed is the low latency.
MacRumors content image
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
H
harleyb
156 months ago
I'm getting even higher speeds in Toronto, at my office near Dufferin and Dupont. Good thing I'm still on the grandfathered 6GB plan!
MacRumors content image
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jclo Avatar
jclo
156 months ago
Video flashes at 0:25 looks fake.

This is actually explained in the iClarified article: "The flicker on the iPhone 6 is an app issue which occurs when speeds reach a high level. It's not a video capture issue."

http://www.iclarified.com/44419/iphone-lte-speed-test-iphone-6-vs-iphone-5s-video
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Krizoitz Avatar
Krizoitz
156 months ago
Call me paranoid

Whats to prevent a provider like AT&T or Verizon from detecting when you are connecting to one of these speed test servers and optimizing your traffic so their network looks as good as possible? Seems like the only indepdent and truly accurate way to verify network speed would be to test using a custom app that runs against random servers that the providers can't precache before hand.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments