In the latest iPhone 17 series, Apple launched its first self-designed Wi-Fi chip, Apple N1, bringing Apple chips to a new stage.

The N1 chip supports Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), Wi-Fi 6 and Thread smart home communication protocols, replacing the previous third-party wireless chips mainly provided by Broadcom. Apple claimed that N1 will improve the connection stability of local communication functions such as AirPlay and AirDrop, but did not specify its performance.

According to analysis by Ookla, the developer of the SpeedTest app, after about five weeks of user test data, the N1 chip is better than the iPhone 16 in both download and upload speeds, and performs well in almost all regions and percentiles. The median download speed of the iPhone 17 series is 329.56 Mbps, which is significantly higher than the 236.46 Mbps of the iPhone 16; the upload speed also increased from 73.68 Mbps to 103.26 Mbps.

Although the performance of the N1 chip failed to reach the top of the global performance rankings, Ookla pointed out that N1 performed particularly well in the bottom 10 percentile of performance tests, showing that Apple's own chips have significantly improved the stability. At the same time, the Pixel 10 Pro series slightly surpassed the iPhone 17 in download speed, while the Xiaomi 15T Pro equipped with MediaTek Wi-Fi chip performed better in upload speed.

In addition, Android phones are generally faster in adopting new technologies, and devices that support 6 GHz Wi-Fi 7 and 320 MHz channel width can surpass iPhone 17 in some cases. Although the N1 chip does not support these cutting-edge technologies, it has little impact on the actual use of most users.

It is worth noting that Ookla’s data analysis cannot control the distance between the user and the Wi-Fi router, the type of router used, and the upload and download speeds set by the ISP. To reduce outliers, Ookla only publishes the median data for the phones it tracks, and combines data for phones within the same product line.

Since the launch of N1 in the iPhone 17 series, Apple has also launched a new Apple M5 iPad Pro equipped with N1, but the chip was not included in the M5 MacBook Pro released at the same time. N1's Thread support makes it ideal for Apple smart homes and related devices such as HomePod speakers or Apple TV streaming boxes, and future hardware updates for these devices are expected to include the N1 chip.

Testing shows Apple N1 Wi-Fi chip improves on older Broadcom chips in every way. iPhone 17 N1 delivers the best Wi-Fi speeds of any smartphone in North America Further reading: iPhone 17 demand surges, A19, A19 Pro chip orders estimated to increase by 5 million within two months iPhone 17 sells well, Apple’s smartphone market share in China returns to 25% It’s not an iPhone. I don’t want it! London burglar meets Android second return