Apple’s custom Wi-Fi chip gives the iPhone 17 a noticeable boost, according to speed tests

On paper, the N1 chip’s Wi-Fi capabilities look “nearly identical to its Broadcom-based predecessor” in the iPhone 16, according to Ookla. The N1 is also limited to 160MHz channels and doesn’t take full advantage of them Wi-Fi 7 channels faster at 320MHz,But for real world users, this limitation did not have much ,impact.

Using Speedtest Intelligence data collected during the six-week period following the launch of Apple’s latest smartphones, Ookla found that average download and upload speeds for the iPhone 17 family were up to 40 percent faster than the iPhone 16 family around the world. The N1’s 10th percentile speeds were 60 percent faster than the iPhone 16, implying that the new chip’s performance improvements are more pronounced in “challenging Wi-Fi conditions.”

The iPhone 17 family has outperformed flagship Android devices like the Pixel 10 family and Galaxy S25 family in North America, where Wi-Fi 7 devices can use up to three 320MHz channels, and the N1 should be at a disadvantage. The iPhone 17 family had the highest average and 90th percentile Wi-Fi download speeds of 416.14 Mbps and 976.39 Mbps, respectively. That could change as the number of Wi-Fi 7 routers supporting 320MHz increases in North America, but it reinforces findings that the N1 can “deliver more consistent performance in less-than-ideal Wi-Fi conditions.”