Sprint Denies Widespread Issues with Slow iPhone Data Speeds

Since the iPhone 4S debuted on Sprint on Friday, a number of the carrier's customers have been complaining of slow data speeds. While the issues are not universal for iPhone users on Sprint, they do seem to be affecting a substantial number of customers.

sprint logo
PCMag.com now reports that Sprint has issued a statement on the issue, characterizing the complaints as a "small number of reports" that the carrier is looking into.

"As always, Sprint is carefully monitoring the performance of the 3G network. We are looking into a small number of reports of slow data speeds when using the iPhone 4S, however there are also reports showing that Sprint’s network is the fastest, such as the Gizmodo report that came out earlier today. Speed tests represent a moment in time and are subject to many variables including weather, time of day, device, and proximity to a tower. Sprint will continue to monitor the feedback we are getting from our customers and will investigate and resolve any issues that may arise," the company said in a statement.

As the report notes, it is unclear exactly what Gizmodo report Sprint is referring to as supporting its case, as the site's informal speed test survey is indeed showing dramatically slower average data speeds for Sprint compared to AT&T and Verizon.

PCMag.com also notes that Sprint has already been measured to have the slowest real-world 3G network speeds of the three iPhone carriers in the United States, and thus the iPhone itself may not be having a significant effect on the carrier's network. And with some customers perhaps being new to Sprint with the iPhone, they may have been unaware of the carrier's network speeds.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Tuesday April 1, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs. Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while...
iOS 18

Apple Seeds First Beta of iOS 18.5 to Developers

Wednesday April 2, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming just two days after Apple released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. We don't yet know what Apple is introducing in the iOS 18.5...

Top Rated Comments

Tiger8 Avatar
176 months ago
Guys, give them a chance. I am personally giving them a chance until my 14 days are about to run out. I used Sprint before and they were excellent, unless something changed, they should get over it.

BTW, remember it is mostly those with horrible speeds that come to MR or Sprint community to post, happy customers are unlikely to post.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WannaGoMac Avatar
176 months ago
I'd rather have a sub-par internet performance for unlimited monthly than to have blazing fast internet that's only good for 2GB.
That pretty much sums up my feelings as well.

Insanely fast speeds are no good if you have a data cap.
Uh you realize that sub-par means you won't ever reach 2gb anyway... Not a great argument you made there.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fuchal Avatar
176 months ago
My Sprint was slow as balls on Friday when I received it, but since Saturday it's been perfectly fine.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jebbe Avatar
176 months ago
I was getting absolutely impressive 3G speeds last night. (100KB/s down 50KB/s up) On launch day, they were garbage.

I'm wondering if they fixed it and are denying anything was ever wrong in the first place?

How are those impressive? Those are horrible 3G speeds, unless that's the norm for Sprint.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jasontll Avatar
176 months ago
I am with Sprint now and I hate it every time I saw the ad how they were great about the unlimited data plan and they said ATT and VZN charge you more after 2GB and TMobile slows you down after 2GB, yet they were the only fast and unlimited... In reality, they were slow from day 1 till the end....:(:(
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dr McKay Avatar
176 months ago
What did people expect?

"Why, yes of course our Mobile Internet is dog-slow" - Sprint CEO
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)