Our iPhone 5 was delivered at 2:52pm PST (Sept 21). So we rushed to get these benchmark results to you.
Geekbench 2 runs two processor tests (integer and floating point) and two memory tests. Below is the overall rating. HIGHER number is faster. RED bar indicates fastest smartphone in this test.
SunSpider Javascript benchmark tests the Javascript "engine" in your smartphone. It's launched from a website using your smartphone's browser app. LOWER number is faster. RED bar indicates fastest smartphone in this test.
Linpack Benchmark measures how fast a smartphone solves a dense N by N system of linear equations Ax = b, which is a common task in engineering. The solution is obtained by Gaussian elimination with partial pivoting, with 2/3áN3 + 2áN2 floating point operations. The result is reported in millions of floating point operations per second or Mflops. HIGHER number is faster. RED bar indicates fastest smartphone in this test.
GLBenchmark 2.5 is a performance testing utility. We focused on two offscreen graphics tests to make it fair since the devices tested have different screen resolutions. The first test is a game animation run at 1080p with complex textures. HIGHER number is faster. RED bar indicates fastest smartphone in frames-per-second (FPS).
The Egypt Classic offscreen test is also at 1080p but with less complex textures. HIGHER number is faster. RED bar indicates fastest smartphone in frames-per-second (FPS).
GRAPH LEGEND
Galaxy S III = Samsung SCH-1535 Galaxy S III (Android 4.0, Snapdragon S4 @ 1.5GHz, 2G RAM, 16GB flash storage, slot for flash card)
iPad 3 = 2012 New iPad (iOS 6; Apple 5X @ 1GHZ, 1G RAM, 64G flash storage)
iPhone 5 = Apple iPhone 5 (iOS 6; Apple A6 @ 1GHz, 1G RAM, 64G flash storage)
iPhone 4S = Apple iPhone 4S (iOS 6; Apple A5 @ 800MHz, 512M RAM, 64G flash storage)
iPhone 4 = Apple iPhone 4 (iOS 6; Apple A4 @ 800MHz, 512M RAM, 32G flash storage)
INSIGHTS
The iPhone 5 was the clear winner in all five tests. Apple claims it is twice as fast as the iPhone 4S. That's definitely true. In the case of Linpack, it is four times as fast!
In addition, the iPhone 5 is 4 times to 28 times as fast as the iPhone 4, depending on the test.
The iPad 3 was close to the iPhone 5 in the GLBenchmark graphics tests but was closer to the iPhone 4S on the three processor tests.
The Galaxy S III we tested was the SCH-1535 model sold by Verizon Wireless USA. According to the creators of GLBenchmark, the GT19300 model runs the Egypt Classic benchmark faster than the iPhone 4S (59 FPS best score) but it's still slower than the iPad 3 and iPhone 5.
HOW FAST IS WIFI?
We have a 50Mbps rated cable internet connection in our lab. Downstream is an Airport Extreme Base Station. Using SpeedTest.net and selecting the Seattle Towerstream server, at 4AM PST on Sept 22nd, we got:
iPhone 5 = 40Mbps download, 23Mbps upload
iPhone 4S = 32Mbps download, 22Mbps upload
iPad 3 = 28Mbps download, 22Mbps upload
Retina MacBook Pro = 54Mbps download, 16Mbps upload
HOW FAST IS 4G LTE?
Our iPhone 5 is on AT&T contract. Our city was recently added to the 4G LTE support list. We did some brief testing. We saw as high as 35Mbps downloads and 14Mbps uploads. Impressive and at least twice as fast as the fastest Verizon 4G LTE speeds we've seen on an iPad 3.
RELATED LINKS
Anandtech's "iPhone 5 Performance Preview" includes some interesting benchmarks and technical info
Apple's comparison of the iPhone 5 to the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
The Apple iPhone 5 specifications
