The iPhone 16e’s 5G performance seemingly has the iPhone 16’s beat

The iPhone 16e (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

The iPhone 16e's 5G modem has outperformed the iPhone 16's in some tests
Its lack of mmWave support might be the only thing holding it back
This bodes well for future iPhones and future versions of this modem

One interesting aspect of the iPhone 16e is that it uses Apple’s C1 modem. This is Apple’s first in-house 5G modem, and so far the iPhone 16e is the only device you’ll find it in.

With this being a cheaper phone than the rest of the iPhone 16 series you might expect the C1 to trail the Qualcomm modem used in those, but in fact tests suggest the C1 might offer better performance in most situations.

Ookla (via 9to5Mac) has collected data from iPhone 16 and iPhone 16e users in the US, and found that the iPhone 16e offers 10^th percentile download speeds of 27.35Mbps, compared to 16.66Mbps on the iPhone 16. Those are essentially the speeds that the users experiencing the lowest performance on either phone can expect.

Just as good for uploads

A speeds comparison between the iPhone 16e and iPhone 16 — (Image credit: Ookla)

The iPhone 16e and its C1 modem are similarly impressive when looking at median upload speeds, having the iPhone 16 comfortably beat across all three tested carriers (T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T).

This all is good news for Apple, since it suggests the company could switch to its in-house modem across all new iPhones without sacrificing speeds, and it’s all the more impressive as Apple claims the C1 is also more efficient than other iPhone modems, meaning it shouldn’t impact battery life as much.

It does put the iPhone 16e in the unusual position of actually having an advantage over Apple’s top models – other than its lack of mmWave support – but that’s one more reason to buy this phone, and looking ahead, it’s a promising sign for future iPhones, especially since the next generation of this modem might be even better.

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James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.