Apple’s first in-house networking chip is shaking up the smartphone connectivity scene. Six weeks after the iPhone 17’s September launch, a flurry of independent Speedtest Intelligence data suggests the N1 chip catapults Apple’s new flagship ahead of the Android competition—in real, everyday Wi-Fi performance.
Speeds aren’t just up. They’re way up. According to data collected across multiple regions and analyzed by Ookla, the iPhone 17 series now posts median Wi-Fi download speeds up to 40% higher than its predecessor, the iPhone 16. The median download shot from 329.56 Mbps up to 416.14 Mbps, outpacing the Pixel 10 Pro (411 Mbps) and putting significant daylight between Apple and Samsung’s new Galaxy S25 (323.69 Mbps). The leap is even more dramatic when Wi-Fi conditions are challenging: at the 10th percentile—the toughest real-world rooms and most congested cafes—performance is up by a whopping 60%. That’s a clear sign the new N1 silicon handles interference and network saturation far better than Apple’s older Broadcom-based Wi-Fi modules.
Custom Chip, Surprising Results
The N1 chip marks Apple’s break from years of Broadcom hardware, bundling Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread in a single in-house package. The result? Apple now enjoys tight, Apple Silicon-style control over its wireless stack—just as it did when it ditched Intel for its own CPUs.
Curiously, the iPhone 17 series doesn’t even exploit the full breadth of Wi-Fi 7’s capabilities. Unlike Android heavyweights, it tops out at a 160 MHz channel width (versus 320 MHz on rivals like the Pixel 10 and Xiaomi 15T Pro). So on paper, the iPhone should lag behind in raw throughput. But in practice, Apple’s N1 consistently maintains higher usable speeds in less-than-ideal environments. Ookla’s data repeatedly shows Apple’s chip holding more bandwidth as conditions worsen, whereas many Snapdragon and Dimensity-based Androids stumble.
Median upload speeds also saw a notable jump: from 73.68 Mbps on the iPhone 16 to 103.26 Mbps on the iPhone 17. Xiaomi’s latest tops the global charts at 129.22 Mbps, but Apple comfortably edges out major rivals like OPPO and Samsung.
Android’s Strengths—But Apple’s Winning Where It Counts
Top-tier Androids—think Pixel 10 Pro, Pura 80, and Xiaomi 15T Pro—still stand tallest in peak Wi-Fi 7 and 6 GHz benchmarks, especially where big 320 MHz channels are available. In Southeast Asia, for example, the Pura 80 flexes its muscles with a blistering 603.61 Mbps upload on Wi-Fi 6. But head-to-head, and especially in real-world network messiness, Apple’s iPhone 17 with the N1 chip emerges the all-around reliability champion of this year’s crop.
If history is any guide, Apple’s first-generation move to custom networking silicon could be the biggest shakeup in wireless performance since its M-series CPU revolution.
