'Slower than iPhone 11': Complaints rise over iPhone 17 cellular lag issues

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'Slower than iPhone 11': Complaints rise over iPhone 17 cellular lag issues

Published: 11 Nov. 2025, 19:19 Updated: 11 Nov. 2025, 20:29

PARK EUN-JEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

A customer looks at an iPhone 17 model on display at the Apple Store in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, on Sept. 19. [NEWS1]

A growing number of Korean users are reporting cellular connectivity issues with the iPhone 17, raising concerns over a potential hardware or software defect.

The symptoms include slow internet speeds and lagging mobile response times. The problem has also been spotted by Taiwanese and Japanese users, according to complaints posted on Reddit.

Since October, more than 2,000 posts have raised the issue on Asamo, one of Korea’s largest online forums for Apple users, which boasts over 2.4 million members. The posts range from user-led analyses of the problem and order cancellations for the iPhone 17 to attempts to pressure Apple into a response — one that many describe as tepid at best.

Members of an Apple user forum post complaints about the iPhone 17’s cellular connectivity issues. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Many of them uploaded screen captures of a ping test, a network diagnostic tool used to measure how quickly a device can send a signal to a server and receive a response, to prove cellular connection instability.

One member of the community uploaded videos claiming that the iPhone 11 has faster response times than the iPhone 17.

A few users even floated the idea of a class-action suit, although no official moves have been verified.

One silver lining came with the rollout of iOS 26.2 beta, which some users say has alleviated the latency issue.

Apple Korea was not able to comment by press time on requests seeking its response to the issue and the potential causes behind it.

Some tech YouTubers have begun analyzing the issue, suggesting that the problem likely lies not with the modem hardware, but with Apple’s software.

“I cautiously suspect the issue may lie in the modem’s software settings,” said ITSub, a YouTuber with 2.78 million subscribers. “The iPhone 17 uses Qualcomm’s X80 5G modem — the same chip found in the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Galaxy Z Fold 7 — yet those devices don’t seem to have this problem. It could be that Apple has configured the power-saving mode too aggressively in an effort to maximize battery life.”

Customers line up outside the Apple Store in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, on Sept. 19 to purchase Apple’s newly released iPhone 17. [NEWS1]

Another tech-focused YouTuber Techmong shared a similar view.
“I believe it is a battery optimization issue,” he said in a video uploaded on Nov. 4. “Assume that the program I am running is the high-spec game PUBG: Battlegrounds, so the phone would switch into active mode and is ready to work hard, keeping the ping stable. But if it is idle and then given a simple task briefly sending data to a Google server two or three times per second, the modem would go into power-saving mode and has to wake up again — which is when the ping spikes.”

To compare performance, the reporter — a Galaxy S25 Ultra user — ran a brief test with an iPhone 17 Pro in a cellular-only setting, as both devices use the same modem class.

The iPhone 17 showed slightly slower response times in several instances, although performance was generally comparable. But at no point was the Galaxy device slower, despite the fact that it was released nine months ago and the iPhone 17 two months ago.

Many users agreed on the forum that the speed is not severe in everyday use, but when doing time-sensitive functions like ticketing, the perceived underperformance could be more critical.
“I bought a new phone, the iPhone 17, after five years just to get better at ticketing, but it’s even slower than the 12. Totally bombed it... seriously,” read a comment filed on Tuesday.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [[email protected]]