> The component at the root of the performance gap is the modem, a tiny chip buried deep inside a phone’s innards that turns wireless signals into data and voice. The iPhone 7 is the first Apple phone for several years to have versions with different modems. Verizon users get an iPhone 7 with Qualcomm’s latest X12 modem -- capable of downloading data at up to 600 megabits per second. AT&T customers get a handset with an Intel modem that tops out at 450 megabits per second.
This is the key paragraph, and it's a good chunk down in the article. The 3rd paragraph is also misleading- if the title of the article is about the AT&T iphone being slower than the Verizon iphone, why would you first talk about some features being disabled on the Verizon baseband? Worse, this off-topic mention actually came before the primary focus of the article.
Also, the difference in basebands has been known since launch day, this isn't news.