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iPhone XS, XS Max LTE speed tests show massive gains

By JC Torres/

Some might not think of the iPhone XS, particularly the smaller one, as a big step forward in terms of design but it's hard to deny that it's a massive leap in terms of the things that you don't see. For one, there's the new A12 Bionic processor. But there's one more that even more invisible but palpably felt the moment you start streaming videos. Yes, the 2019 iPhones have significantly faster LTE modems, and one of the earliest benchmarks shows exactly how much faster they are.

The new iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max use new LTE modems with more capabilities. Specifically, they add 4x4 MIMO support, something that Android phones have been enjoying for a while now. Better late than never, as they say, and it's definitely better in this case.

SpeedSmart, an LTE speed testing service, has put the new iPhone XS to the test on three of the major US carriers. For reference, it also showed the LTE performance of the iPhone X on those same carriers. In most cases, the download speed is nearly or more than doubled while uploads, although still on the low side, still see some substantial improvements.

It's definitely good news for those buying the iPhone XS and XS Max but, sadly, not for the iPhone XR. It was recently revealed that the cheaper iPhone X uses the same modem form last year, which caps MIMO to 2x2. In other words, you will be getting last year's network performance but, thankfully, this year's CPU power and design.

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