Some Apple iPhone 7s Reported To Be Superior Than Other Units: How Can You Know?

Users may well be excited to show off their newly purchased iPhone 7s, boasting its incredible specs and features, as it is undeniably pricey and high-quality. But users will be surprised to know that not all iPhone 7s were created equal. So how can be someone else' iPhone 7 to be superior than yours?

The latest Apple smartphones that run on Verizon Communications' network are technically capable of downloading data faster than those from AT&T. Yet in testing, the two phones perform about the same, according to researchers at Twin Prime and Cellular Insights.

Nothing yet was confirmed, but Twin Prime says it may be because Apple is not using all the potential of a crucial component in the Verizon version. "The data indicates that the iPhone 7 is not taking advantage of all of Verizon's network capabilities," said Gabriel Tavridis, head of product at Twin Prime. "I doubt that Apple is throttling each bit on the Verizon iPhone, but it could have chosen to not enable certain features of the network chip."

Jim McGregor, an analyst at Tirias Research, commented that it may make other consumers think twice about buying an Apple phone, especially if they think they might be purchasing a sub-standard product. The firm does paid analysis for smartphone suppliers, including Qualcomm and Intel.

The component at the root of the performance gap is the modem, a tiny chip buried deep inside a phone's innards that turns wireless signals into data and voice. The iPhone 7 is the first Apple phone for several years to have versions with different modems. Verizon users get an iPhone 7 with Qualcomm's latest X12 modem - capable of downloading data at up to 600 megabits per second. AT&T customers get a handset with an Intel modem that tops out at 450 megabits per second, according to Financial Review.

In field tests by Twin Prime, the Verizon version is a little faster than its AT&T stablemate - but not as fast as it could be. The firm proved this by doing the same tests on the Samsung Galaxy S7, which also runs on Verizon's network and uses the Qualcomm X12. The S7 was about twice as fast as the iPhone 7 running on the same network with the same modem chip, Twin Prime found. This was based on data from more than 100,000 phones downloading an image in large US cities.

Twin Prime and Cellular Insights have no relationships with chip makers, phone makers or wireless carriers. Four other network testing firms contacted by Bloomberg News said measuring phone data speeds is difficult because performance can be influenced by weather and other factors beyond the control of wireless providers and phone makers. However, none of these other firms have disputed the findings of Twin Prime and Cellular Insights.