![]() In good signal conditions, they double the phone's speeds, but they also help in weak signal conditions. The first thing you see is the effect of the new 4x4 MIMO antennas. Our tests used a 20MHz channel of Band 4, which is used by AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and the major Canadian wireless carriers, and attenuated an LTE signal from a strong -85dBm until the modems showed no performance. The Google Pixel 3 is coming out soon, but it isn't out yet, and we didn't have a Qualcomm-powered model of the iPhone X running iOS 12 to compare. We compared the US model of the iPhone XS Max with the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, last year's Intel-powered model of the iPhone X, and the Google Pixel 2. But 4x4 MIMO is more widespread than it was a year ago, both on the handset side and on the carrier side, so we thought it was time to put four on the floor. Last year, we tested the phones with 2x2 MIMO, meaning the phones were using two download antenna branches. This year, Apple's new iPhone XS and XS Max phones both have 4x4 MIMO, which should put them closer to par with other leading flagships. It also compared the Google Pixel 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 to the Qualcomm-powered iPhone, finding that Apple's lack of 4x4 MIMO antennas made a big difference in speed. Last year, Cellular Insights compared the Intel-powered and Qualcomm-powered models of the iPhone X and found that Qualcomm's modems provided faster performance at nearly every signal level. For real-world results, we used the week of Septemfrom Ookla's massive crowdsourced Speedtest Intelligence database. To check hardware capabilities, we had Cellular Insights look at the iPhone XS ($227.16 at Amazon) (Opens in a new window) and other devices with advanced Rohde & Schwarz measurement equipment. The 7560 is Intel's first modem to support all four US wireless carriers, letting Apple drop Qualcomm, the world's dominant high-end modem supplier. The new iPhone XS and XS Max use an LTE modem that we've never seen used anywhere else: the Intel XMM7560. But it still doesn't quite match the Qualcomm X20 modem used in the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. The iPhone XS is a huge step up from the iPhone X when it comes to LTE download speeds, according to exclusive new data from Cellular Insights and Ookla Speedtest.
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