We got an early look at the iPhone 15 Pro Max cellular performance from Ookla in October with its Q3 report showing almost 100% faster 4G/5G speeds compared to iPhone 14 Pro Max. Now Ookla has shared a new 5G performance study and iPhone 15 lineup has dominated as the fastest 5G devices around the world.

Ookla shared the new report on its blog. Collecting data from 13 countries between September and October for iPhone (August to October for Samsung devices), the results show the iPhone 15 Pro Max or in some cases the iPhone 15 or 15 Plus are the fastest 5G smartphones by a good margin. And an iPhone was the fastest 5G device in all but just one of the 13 countries.

Ookla notes that there are a number of variables when it comes to 5G performance like “5G investments by governments and mobile operators, different 5G spectrum allocations, and mobile 5G plans.”

In the US, the iPhone 15 Pro Max was on top with 285.02 Mbps as the median 5G download speed. The rest of the iPhone 15 family took 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place, with the next closest device being the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 with 231.56 Mbps.

 

 

 

 

5G performance in Canada was lower overall with the iPhone 15 Pro Max at 217.35 Mbps. The 15 Plus and 15 Pro took 2nd and 3rd and the Galaxy Z Fold5 snuck into 4th place with 175.63 Mbps.

 

 

 

 

In the UK, the new iPhones dominated with the Galaxy Z Fold4 coming in 6th place roughly 20-30 Mbps slower than the modern iPhones’ median 5G download speed.

 

 

 

 

One interesting result was in Brazil – the iPhone 15 took the top spot over the 15 Pro and Pro Max with 533.32 Mbps. However, the 15 Pro and Pro Max were close being with 523 Mbps.

 

 

 

 

The only country on the list where an iPhone didn’t have the fastest 5G median download speed was the Philippines. The Galaxy Z Fold5 beat out the iPhone 15 Pro by just 1 Mbps.

 

 

 

 

 

In Australia, two out of four iPhone 15 models showed median 5G download speeds that were significantly faster than their iPhone 14 equivalents during the September 22-October 20, 2023 period. Speedtest Intelligence reveals the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max both had a 14% better download speed than their prior year counterparts. There was no statistical winner for the iPhone standard model or the iPhone Plus in Australia during this period.

The Galaxy Z Flip5 had a 30% better download speed than the Galaxy Z Flip4 during the August 11-October 20, 2023 period in Australia, while there was no statistical winner for the Galaxy Z Fold.

Recommendation: Depending on your model of choice, only half the devices surveyed merit an upgrade based on performance alone in Australia.

 

 

 

 

 

Other Countries are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the full Ookla report on iPhone 15 5G performance against other devices for more details.