Some new data reported by PCMag indicates that the iPhone 12 Pro Max, 12 Pro and 12 are already the top three 5G phones in the US. The fact that the phones are only four months old speaks to the continued popularity of the iPhone in the US and how big a role it will play in promoting the 5G adoption in this country.
These reports come from research firm M Science’s sales data and information collected from Ookla Speedtest users. M Science monitors the cumulative sales of 5G phones in the US. This data set contains sales from the week of January 23 and especially does not include the phones of the Galaxy S21 series, which at that time had not yet started shipping. These are third-party reports, so it should be taken with a grain of salt, but the findings of M Science are consistent with previous reports of strong 12 Pro Max sales outside the gate and less good 12 mini sales.
As is usually not the case, Apple has taken time to add 5G to its phones. Samsung launched the Galaxy S10 5G in 2019 and added 5G in its S20 series in 2020. In addition to the two manufacturers, 5G recently dropped from a one-time premium feature in the budget class. Despite this growing range of options, acceptance is slow. Since Apple is responsible for a little less than half of all shipments of cell phones in the US, it makes sense that a 5G iPhone would give adoption rates a beating. So far this seems to be the case.
In the US, the slow start of 5G has certainly not been helped by a less than amazing product. Although every major airline offers nationwide 5G coverage, performance is often the same as 4G – and sometimes even worse. That will change when the next spectrum makes more spectrum available later this year, but not before many new iPhone 12 owners (unfortunately?) Experience 5G themselves.