T-Mobile is America's fastest mobile network this year—except if you have an older iPhone. That's because T-Mobile's win comes from its massive new mid-band 5G network, and only the most recent iPhones support 5G.
For our 12th Fastest Mobile Networks study, we drove more than 10,000 miles to 30 US cities and surveyed the 4G and 5G networks there. We frequently found that T-Mobile's 5G was far better than its 4G. If your phone can't take advantage of that, it's time to trade it in.
To get 5G on an iPhone, you need an iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, or 12 Pro Max. The iPhone SE and iPhone 11 won't do. Though they still work pretty well, those models and older ones will be stuck on 4G, getting a fraction of the speed of T-Mobile's new 5G superhighway.
The Biggest Gaps Between 4G and 5G
These 10 cities had the biggest gaps between 4G and 5G download performance on T-Mobile's networks. The numbers indicate how much faster 5G is than 4G; for example, in our tests in Charlotte, average 5G download speeds were 5.1 times as fast as average 4G speeds.
- Chicago (3.3x)
- Charlotte (5.1x)
- Dallas (3.6x)
- Denver (3.6x)
- Indianapolis (3.6x)
- Las Vegas (2.9x)
- Oklahoma City (3.4x)
- Salt Lake City (3.3x)
- San Diego (3.5x)
- St. Louis (3.8x)
If you've been frustrated with T-Mobile's 4G performance in those urban areas—and even if you haven't—upgrading your phone could make a big difference.
Not an iPhone fan, or thinking of making the switch to Android? Plenty of Android phones can take advantage of 5G, too. Our roundup of the best 5G phones is the best place to learn more and find the right phone for you.