If you’re struggling to decide whether upgrading to the iPhone 14 Pro from an iPhone 13 Pro is worth it, then 5G speeds could help seal the deal.
That’s because comparison testing done by SpeedSmart has uncovered that the iPhone 14 Pro can achieve up to 38% faster 5G speeds than the iPhone 13 Pro, when using Verizon’s and T-Mobile’s 5G networks. The results are as follows.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | iPhone 14 Pro | iPhone 13 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Download on Verizon | 175.56 Mbps | 126.33 Mbps |
| Upload on Verizon | 27.28 Mbps | 21.64 Mbps |
| Download on T-Mobile | 255.91 Mbps | 173.81 Mbps |
| Upload on T-Mobile | 28.25 Mbps | 22.51 Mbps |
The upload speeds might not offer a night-and-day difference, but it’s clear the iPhone 14 Pro has the download speed advantage over its predecessor. In real-world terms, that should mean watching things like 4K movies on the move or downloading a relatively large game to play during a journey will be faster on the newer iPhone.
And for people like me, who have a slow home internet connection, this boost in 5G speeds would make for faster downloads and streaming when tethering the likes of a PS5 or Xbox Series X to an iPhone 5G hotspot; this can turn the time it takes to download a large game from agonizing to more acceptable.
On top of better 5G speeds, SpeedSmart also reported improved latency with the iPhone 14 Pro, with it yielding a ‘ping’ of 52.88 milliseconds on T-Mobile’s 5G network compared to the iPhone 13 Pro’s 62.20 ms. This should be a boon for anyone playing competitive online multiplayer games like Call of Duty Mobile over a 5G connection.
We ran the SpeedSmart test on our review iPhone 14 Pro Max in New York City over T-Mobile, and we saw an average download speed of 213.3 Mbps and 133.9 Mbps uploads.
The reason for this overall boost in 5G performance is down to the use of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X65 modem chip, which is an upgrade on the Snapdragon X60 used by the iPhone 13 Pro. Not only are improved speeds on offer, but the chip is also more power efficient, which should also help the iPhone 14 Pro be a little more economical with battery life when using 5G.
As for other upgrades the iPhone 14 Pro brings to the table, the most striking is the Dynamic Island display feature, and that’s joined by a 48-megapixel main camera and a new A16 Bionic chip. Check out our rundown of the iPhone 14 Pro vs iPhone 13 Pro to see if these new features make an upgrade worthwhile or if you should wait for the iPhone 15.
We'll also be following up with our own 5G test results comparing the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro.
