How fast is 5G on iPhone 12 series?

I recently purchased the iPhone 12 Pro Max and for the most part, I am satisfied. What is disappointing and also perplexing is the 5G claims.

In this article, I will share my experiences with screenshots from different locations and environments. I did test my GFs device in some of those locations where she was okay. You tell me if iPhone’s 5G is fast enough.

Before we jump in, let’s discuss is the iPhone 12 series’s 5G technology all about. Just like people using the buzz word “Artificial Intelligence” when they are not, people also tend to through 5G left and right.

1. Low-band — The lowest part of a cream cake
2. Mid-band — Somewhere in the middle between the cream and the bottom crust, more of a filling
3. High-band (mmWave Band) — What makes a cake a cake and iPhone 12 series do support this network where they are available.

To learn more about 5G technology, check this blog. Well written!

More than the band your phone supports, it’s more to do with the network you are on. For instance, T-Mobile (which I am on) claims to be the “America’s First nationwide 5G Network”, but they never talk about which band it is. Marketing is so deceptive. We saw that in Apple’s new iPhone’s release too.

Here are some of the screenshots from my iPhone 12 Pro Max.

I clicked this picture in front of a Walgreens in Towson. Not a rural area and it did have high raised buildings around.

As you can see, I only got 29 Mbps. I was in an open area. I was surprised to see the speed to be slow as this when we heard 5G will give a few 100 Mbps speed. Disappointing.

I then drove a little bit more and ended up in front of a huge parking lot where there are not many high raised buildings.

I was able to get 50 Mbps. Still, didn’t get to even a 100. And then things got interesting.

I went inside Kohl’s and tested the speed again. And this is what I ended up with.

You may also see the network change from 5G to LTE. Not sure if it was because there was no reception, or it was because my iPhone decided to switch to LTE for some reason.

But you could see that I still got 39 Mbps inside a building while I could get 29 in 5G in front of Walgreens a bit earlier. I then asked my GF to test with her phone right from the same spot with her Samsung Note 8 which doesn’t support 5G.

She did have a full bar on LTE yet her max speed was 10 Mbps. It did make me happy that I could get 4 times as faster internet as hers with exactly identical test environment. Still not in 100s as they claim it to be. Not even close.

I decided to drive back home at this point and wanted to do a little bit more research on the network availability before I could do more testing.

And then this happened.

While I was driving back, I saw a T-mobile store on my right, I immediately decided to pull over to ask them about it.

Unfortunately, the store was closed, so I had to make a u-turn to head back home. Then an idea popped in my head, why not test it in front of their own store and lodge a complaint?

This is what the speed was near T-mobile’s parking lot.

A couple of things that are still intriguing,

1. T-Mobile knows its users will go to the T-mobile store to check the devices. If you can’t even get this speed at their store, how do you imagine getting high-speed internet elsewhere? I will be testing this theory, so make sure you follow me on Medium.
2. T-Mobile’s 5G is not really there yet. Yes, it’s definitely faster than their existing LTE, but is it truly 5G? Can you stream 4K videos with this internet speed? Can you download gigs of data within seconds? I don’t think so. This is the Wi-Fi speed that I get at home, and we couldn’t get 3 people on zoom peacefully simultaneously, I don’t think 5G, especially indoors is going to be as fast as they claim it to be.

What is your max speed on 5G? We all know we are not there yet with this technology, what I am trying to say is, DON’T BUY THE NEW iPHONE BECAUSE IT SUPPORTS 5G. Your phone might contribute to 30% of the internet speed, your location is 30%, whether you are inside enclosed walls or outside your environment contributes 10%, your network provider controls the rest of the 30%.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Have a wonderful rest of the day. Stay safe & healthy!