Ookla, the network intelligence company known for its Speedtest tool, today published the results of its second iPhone 16e cellular speed test.


In short, Ookla found that the iPhone 16e with Apple's custom-designed C1 modem "performs similarly" to the standard iPhone 16 with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X71 modem in the "vast majority of markets" that it examined.

However, results sometimes varied considerably based on carrier and country.

Ookla said the median 5G download speed for the standard iPhone 16 on T-Mobile's network in the U.S. was 317 Mbps, compared to 252 Mbps on the iPhone 16e. However, on an unspecified Spanish network, it said the iPhone 16e achieved a median 5G download speed of 139 Mbps, topping the iPhone 16 at 110 Mbps.

All in all, Ookla said the iPhone 16e performs "comparatively" to the iPhone 16 for 5G connectivity, which reinforces its earlier March findings.

iPhone 16e users can rest assured that Apple's first 5G modem is no slouch, which is good news ahead of Apple's special event tomorrow, as the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air is also expected to be equipped with the C1 modem.

Head to Ookla's website for the in-depth results.
This article, "Apple's C1 Modem Put Through New Speed Test Ahead of iPhone 17 Air" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple is preparing to launch two versions of the AirPods Pro 3 over 2025 and 2026, according to a Weibo leaker.


Yesterday, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to debut the ‌AirPods Pro 3‌ this year. They could arrive as soon as this week at Apple's "Awe dropping" event.

Crucially, Kuo added that Apple is planning to introduce a successor to this year's AirPods Pro in 2026. This would be somewhat unusual since Apple normally waits around three years to make major changes to the AirPods' hardware. ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 debuted at the iPhone 14 event in September 2022, and they were updated with a USB-C charging case and a few other tweaks in September 2023. Otherwise, Apple has waited about three years to update all of its AirPods models.

Kuo said that the 2026 ‌AirPods Pro‌ will feature a "more significant" hardware upgrade in the form at least one tiny infrared camera. He previously said AirPods with infrared cameras could recognize hand gestures and provide an enhanced spatial audio experience with Apple's Vision Pro headset.

Now, the Chinese leaker known as "Instant Digital" has corroborated the rumor with some additional details and clarifications. Rather than being a new generation, the 2026 ‌AirPods Pro‌ will be a high-end variant of the ‌AirPods Pro 3‌ introduced this year, suggesting that both models will ultimately be on sale alongside each other. It is worth noting that Apple offers two version of the AirPods 4 at $129 and $179 price points.

As Kuo first said, Instant Digital similarly believes that the key differentiator will be an infrared camera for gesture controls. In fact, Apple may remove the high-end model's pressure-sensors and go all-in on gesture controls. The cost for customers is expected to exceed the current ‌AirPods Pro‌'s full retail price of $249.

All signs point towards Apple unveiling the ‌AirPods Pro 3‌ during its iPhone 17 event on Tuesday, September 9. The ‌AirPods Pro 3‌ will likely have the same heart rate monitoring feature that Apple first introduced on the Powerbeats Pro 2 earlier this year, along with a smaller charging case, improved sound and active noise cancellation, and more.








This article, "Two Versions of AirPods Pro 3 Coming With These Differences" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Just ahead of Apple unveiling the iPhone 17 series on Tuesday, it appears that battery capacities for the devices have surfaced in a Chinese regulatory database.


The table below lists the alleged battery capacities for each model, which were shared in a post on X today by an account known as ShrimpApplePro.

The database suggests that the iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will be available with and without a physical SIM card tray, depending on the country of sale. On the other hand, the base-model iPhone 17 might have only one battery size, as only a single capacity for that device has been discovered so far.

Given the SIM card tray takes up some space inside an iPhone, the models with it appear to have slightly lower battery capacities than eSIM-only variants.

Model	With SIM Card Tray	Without	YoY Increase (Maximum)
iPhone 17	3,692 mAh		+3.7%
iPhone 17 Air	3,036 mAh	3,149 mAh	—
iPhone 17 Pro	3,988 mAh	4,252 mAh	+18.7%
iPhone 17 Pro Max	4,823 mAh	5,088 mAh	+8.6%

MacRumors has independently confirmed that some of these battery listings are present in the Chinese regulatory database shown in the screenshot, but we cannot explicitly say that they are for the iPhone 17 models, as Apple stopped using obvious "A####" identifiers for iPhone batteries a few years ago. However, we do believe there is a good chance these are in fact the battery capacities for the iPhone 17 series.

Here are the battery capacities for all iPhone 16 models:

Model	With and Without SIM Card Tray
iPhone 16	3,561 mAh
iPhone 16 Plus	4,674 mAh
iPhone 16 Pro	3,582 mAh
iPhone 16 Pro Max	4,685 mAh

Apple removed the SIM card tray in the U.S. starting with the iPhone 14 series, but it has simply put a piece of plastic where the tray used to be inside those devices. As a result, all iPhone 14 through iPhone 16 models sold in the U.S. have the same battery capacities as the equivalent models sold in other countries.

It was previously rumored that Apple plans to eliminate the SIM card tray from iPhones in more countries beyond the U.S. this year, but it might continue to exist in some countries, due to limited eSIM availability or other factors. For example, some iPhone 17 models might still have a SIM card slot in China, due to local regulations.

Notably, the iPhone 17 Air is the model that is most expected to lack a physical SIM card slot in many countries, due to its ultra-thin design with limited internal space.

A few takeaways based on these alleged capacities:

• It looks like the smaller iPhone 17 Pro will be receiving a significant boost in battery life, with a nearly 19% increase in capacity over the iPhone 16 Pro.


• As rumored, the iPhone 17 Pro Max would become the first iPhone model to cross the 5,000 mAh battery capacity mark. With a 5,088 mAh battery, the device would have a around an 8% larger battery compared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.


• Another rumor that appears to be accurate is the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air having around a 3,000 mAh battery capacity, which is on the lower side for an iPhone. However, the device will benefit from Apple's power-efficient C1 modem for cellular connectivity, and Apple reportedly plans to release an iPhone 17 Air battery case.

Given that Apple is now required to show an energy label on its iPhone product pages in the EU, official mAh battery capacities might be published later this week.

As always, you can only directly compare mAh values when the batteries have the same voltage, with Wh a preferred unit of measurement. iPhone batteries typically do have the same voltage, allowing for mAh comparisons.
This article, "All iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Battery Capacities Allegedly Leaked" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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A private account on X with a proven track record today shared alleged details about upcoming Apple Watch and iPad Pro models.


Here are the alleged devices that the account mentioned:

• Apple Watch Series 11 with a chip based on the same architecture as the S9 and S10 chips in previous Apple Watch models


• Apple Watch Ultra 3 with a chip based on the same architecture as the S9 and S10 chips


• Apple Watch SE 3 with a chip based on the same architecture as the S9 and S10 chips


• Four new iPad Pro configurations with the M5 chip

All three of the Apple Watch models listed above are expected to be unveiled during Apple's so-called "Awe Dropping" event on Tuesday, September 9, while iPad Pro models with the M5 chip will likely be announced in October.

All of these devices were already rumored, but this leak serves as even more evidence that an Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3 will be unveiled alongside the Apple Watch Series 11. Last year, the Apple Watch Series 10 was the only new model, although the Apple Watch Ultra 2 did receive a new black titanium option.

The current Apple Watch SE was released in 2022, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 launched in 2023, so those models have not always been updated annually.

As we already reported, based on information discovered by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris, all of the new Apple Watch models will likely be equipped with an S11 chip that is similar to the S9 and S10 chips in previous Apple Watch models. There is precedent for this, as the S6, S7, and S8 chips were all based on the same architecture.

Related Reading:

• Everything Rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11


• Apple Watch Ultra 3: Eight Reasons to Upgrade


• Apple Watch SE 3 Coming Soon: What to Expect

Stay tuned for in-depth coverage of Apple's announcements this week.
This article, "Apple Watch SE 3 and More Seemingly Confirmed by Last-Minute Leak" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple plans to release AirPods Pro 3 this year, according to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.


All signs point towards Apple unveiling the AirPods Pro 3 during its iPhone 17 event on Tuesday, September 9. However, Kuo did not provide a specific timeframe beyond the second half of 2025, which lines up with previous rumors.

Kuo did not mention any new features that are planned for the AirPods Pro 3. However, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently reported that the AirPods Pro 3 will likely have the same heart rate monitoring feature that Apple introduced on the Powerbeats Pro 2 earlier this year, along with a significantly smaller charging case.

When both Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds are placed in the ears, and heart rate monitoring is active, Apple says LED optical sensors pulse at over 100 times per second to measure heart rate via blood flow. The feature integrates with popular fitness apps to collect data during workouts and sync it to Apple's Health app on the iPhone.

The feature is based on the Apple Watch's heart rate sensing technology. If someone is wearing both Powerbeats Pro 2 and an Apple Watch, Apple says apps default to using Apple Watch heart rate data, and that will likely apply to the AirPods Pro 3 too.

Beyond heart rate monitoring, it is likely that the next AirPods Pro will feature improved sound quality, increased active noise cancellation, design changes, and more.

AirPods Pro 2 debuted at the iPhone 14 event in September 2022, and they were updated with a USB-C charging case and a few other tweaks in September 2023.

Interestingly, Kuo said that Apple plans to update the AirPods Pro again next year, with a "more significant" hardware upgrade in the form at least one tiny infrared camera. A leaker on Chinese platform Weibo subsequently claimed that these will be a higher-end version of the AirPods Pro 3, rather than AirPods Pro 4. That would make sense, given the long three-year gap between the first, second, and third AirPods Pro generations.

Kuo previously said AirPods with infrared cameras could be controlled with in-air gestures, and provide an enhanced spatial audio experience with Apple's Vision Pro headset.

"For example, when a user is watching a video with Vision Pro and wearing this new AirPods, if users turn their heads to look in a specific direction, the sound source in that direction can be emphasized to enhance the spatial audio/computing experience," he said.
This article, "Kuo: AirPods Pro 3 Coming Soon, But Bigger Upgrade Arriving Next Year" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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