5G Drains iPhone 12 Battery 20% Faster Than 4G in Benchmark

[aka777]

Weren't some folks saying the other day that it will have no impact?

As someone who has actually owned and used a 5G device since December 2019, it's not that big of a deal in real world usage. So everyone can relax and get back to looking at screen tinge or other OCD stuff like that again.

 

[aka777]

I have noticed similar battery drain on any worse signal as far back as I can remember.
my 11 pro max right now will drain significantly faster if I go out to the deer lease that has little to no signal to latch on to.
‘it has done this even back to my Samsung flip phone, palm treo, on and on.
I had zero expectation anything at all on that front would change.

Technically, 5G offers better coverage at the cell edges. But this is all dependent on the version of 5G implemented by a carrier. Tmobile is the only carrier that has deployed the real 5G-SA, but only in select markets. And on top of that, I don't believe that the iphone 12 has feature that enabled yet.

 

[mmomega]

Technically, 5G offers better coverage at the cell edges. But this is all dependent on the version of 5G implemented by a carrier. Tmobile is the only carrier that has deployed the real 5G-SA, but only in select markets. And on top of that, I don't believe that the iphone 12 has feature that enabled yet.

Yeah, just personal experience with my phones over the last 20 years or so when I have 2 drastically different scenarios. Day to day living in a city with visible cell towers every other mile and out in the woods on the ragged edge of any service, every phone model showed drastically different battery life based on the particular cell signal it was trying to connect to.
And on a portable hotspot as well, I have att but also have a Verizon hotspot so when I travel, hopefully I have one or the other available. When the devices are further from any signal in general the battery life plummets.

 

[CarlJ]

5G is not needed today. Just good coverage of the latest LTE standards is sufficient. The most optimal option for the next few years.

This. If I got one of these iPhones 12, I’d probably turn off 5G. Because 4G is plenty fast, until they get the tech more fully deployed, and the modems/radios more optimized and energy efficient.

 

[az431]

So the battery drains faster on 5G and the network is barely developed worldwide. Apple’s response - let’s put smaller batteries in this year and then make 5G a major selling factor, backing it up by cellular carriers incentives. To top it up, let’s release iOS 14 with a bug preventing 5G from working on dual-SIM iPhones. Somewhat of a bumpy 5G start?

I'm pretty certain that Apple's reasoning to reduce battery size does not resemble that ridiculous and sarcastic statement in any way, shape, or form.

It probably had more to do with the fact that there is less room since the phones now have to accommodate two cellular chipsets and discrete antennas for not only 4G, but two 5G bands.

But hey don't let logic stand in your way.

 

[aka777]

Yeah, just personal experience with my phones over the last 20 years or so when I have 2 drastically different scenarios. Day to day living in a city with visible cell towers every other mile and out in the woods on the ragged edge of any service, every phone model showed drastically different battery life based on the particular cell signal it was trying to connect to.
And on a portable hotspot as well, I have att but also have a Verizon hotspot so when I travel, hopefully I have one or the other available. When the devices are further from any signal in general the battery life plummets.

Oh yeah for sure. The power output of your phone increases or decreases based on actual coverage. If you have ever had one of those mobile carrier mini-extenders at your place, you'd notice that you battery life improves dramatically, as the phone powers down to the bare minimum.

The only phones I owned where this wasn't an issue was Analogue and CDMA. Heck, I had a cdma handset from LG that had 25+ days of standby.

In terms of 5G, any carrier with low-band 5G deployments, like Tmobile, has the upper hand here with 5G. Whereas, anyone on Verizon using mmWave will see their battery reduced significantly.

 

[az431]

Based on these battery stats, and the fact that 5G is quite new/not as widespread (with the added caveat that we’re barely leaving our homes and WiFi these days), I can see a lot of iPhone X and behind users probably not upgrading. The iPhone 12 has worse battery life than the iPhone 11 when comparing 4G directly. This doesn’t exude a lot of confidence, and the fanboys on here can spin it all they want, but battery life seems to have decreased.

given what I’ve said above, I for one will still be upgrading as I’m going for the 12 mini (and coming from an ancient SE).

Every year people repeat this same tired and baseless diatribe, and every year they are proven wrong.

 

[aka777]

It probably had more to do with the fact that there is less room since the phones now have to accommodate two cellular chipsets and discrete antennas for not only 4G, but two 5G bands.

But hey don't let logic stand in your way.

Two cellular chipsets, for what? Both 4G and 5G signals are handled via the one Qualcomm modem.

 

[jntdroid]

Every article about 5G needs to specify which 5G we're talking about. I know it's safe to assume we're talking low-band here, but there's also mid-band rolling out, and then the obviously sparse ultra-wideband...

 

[ani4ani]

This. If I got one of these iPhones 12, I’d probably turn off 5G. Because 4G is plenty fast, until they get the tech more fully deployed, and the modems/radios more optimi and energy efficient.

So say, in a couple of years, when 5G is more widespread and you now want to switch on and use 5G, your battery will be b*****d and you won’t be able to use it.

 

[patrickbarnes]

This is something that can be improved drastically via a software/baseband update so... it’s not much of a deal breaker rn.

There’s only so much testing they can do internally before they release the device to the world and start getting telemetry to know what to optimize.

The dual SIM thing is more of an issue for me and even that is just a baseband thing.

 

[CarlJ]

So say, in a couple of years, when 5G is more widespread and you now want to switch on and use 5G, your battery will be b*****d and you won’t be able to use it.

I’m saying if I bought a phone in the iPhone 12 family, I would expect to not use it on 5G (maybe switch it on once in a while for some special case). I still haven’t hit a point where I really needed a faster download than the 50+mbps I get on LTE. I might expect to use 5G on an iPhone 14 (or thereabouts).

 

[FlyingTexan]

I remember everyone complaining how they demanded 5G on the 11. I’ll probably never use it on the 12 mini. Still don’t see why my HD streaming LTE signal needs more.

After the first reviews for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro emerged yesterday, a new report by Tom's Guide reveals the extent of battery life reductions when using 5G.

The report outlines a test wherein the iPhone surfs the web continuously at 150 nits of screen brightness, launching a new site every 30 seconds until the battery drains. Interestingly, the test was run on an iPhone 12 and 12 Pro both over 4G and 5G.

Using 5G, the iPhone 12 lasted just eight hours and 25 minutes, while the iPhone 12 Pro lasted nine hours and six minutes. When using 4G, the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro perform better enduring for ten hours and 23 minutes and 11 hours and 24 minutes, respectively. This means that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro's battery life drains around 20 percent faster when using 5G in this artificial benchmark.

The same test on the iPhone 11 in 2019 yielded a result of 11 hours and 16 minutes over 4G, and the iPhone 11 Pro achieved ten hours and 24 minutes.

Tom's Guide reports that this falls short of the battery life of 5G Android phones under the same test:


The battery capacities across the iPhone 12 lineup are believed to have been reduced this year, and while it was known that 5G would likely drain battery life, the extent of which was unknown.

The battery results may have been behind Apple's move to include a "Smart Data mode" with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, which selectively turns off 5G at times when it may not be needed. For example, when streaming music with the screen turned off, Smart Data mode reportedly turns off 5G and favors 4G instead.

However, users can go further and manually turn off 5G to boost battery life on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. In settings, users can choose from "5G On," "5G Auto," which seems to be Apple's Smart Data mode, and "LTE."

Article Link: 5G Drains iPhone 12 Battery 20% Faster Than 4G in Benchmark

 

[Voyageur]

A) Of course the tech is going to be more expensive - initially. It's still being developed and infrastructured ← nor really a word but you know what I mean. There's no practical way for it to be not much more expensive. Over time, just like with the previous tech, the expense will lessen.

I don’t remember that the iPhone became more expensive due to the support of fast LTE

B) It's new tech. It has to iterated. How it affects battery real world battery life can only be assessed in the real world. As it matures the affect on battery life will be less of an issue. We have to start somewhere. No tech comes out of the gate perfect.

This is where you yourself come to the conclusion that you are paying a significant part of the cost (for the 5G module) for unprocessed and raw technology.

Where we agree is 5G isn't of practical use for most non-Asian consumers right now. From Apple's business standpoint, the need is greater imo.

So I said above and said that you are judging from other points of view, including marketing. The package bundle has become smaller, without headphones and a charger, but we pay the same money and this is because of the new expensive module, the cost of which Apple is trying to compensate. Let's say it makes sense, but for what? What is the practical use of this module at the moment? It is questionable and not everyone can use this technology. The Asian market should not be weighed in here as an argument. They have their own rules and their own characteristics, and as an average user, I should not care about their requirements and Apple's marketing success.

But in practice, the fact remains - the appearance of 5G in your iPhone will not change absolutely anything in the direction of benefit, unless you bother with regular downloading of large files.

P.S
This whole situation is at odds with Apple's philosophy, when it introduces not always new, but well and stably working technologies. I don’t remember frankly raw and poorly working innovations except software.

 

[kalafalas]

Does the 12 pro have a larger battery? I was mentally prepping for a worse battery than my 11 pro but it’s looking like it’ll be even better (with 5G disabled, which I’m planning on doing) despite the smaller size?

 

[macsound1]

Super excited for my iPhone 12 Mini. Going to switch 5G off immediately after I do my first speed test.

 

[Tmakedon]

no one is going to visit a site every 30 seconds for 9 hours straight

more than enough battery it looks like

More excuses but in every day use this phone will be weak in the stamina dept. That's a crappy score and APPLE touted 5g as it just got real and most people will turn it off lol.

 

[teknishn]

I couldn't care less about 5G for my situation. I'm in Phoenix where ATT has the uber enhanced LTE (5Ge as they stupidly call it), and as I sit here in my home office with WiFi disabled to test, I am pulling 270mb/s down on Speedtest. How much more speed do people really need on a mobile device? If 5G is truly going to roast my battery and make the phone hot as some have reported, I'll be turning it off for sure.

 

[fbr$]

Dude, you keep misrepresenting what the test actually showed. Go back and pay attention to the details when reading the actual test.

The test shows that when the phone was set to load a new website every 30 seconds, the phone using 5G used 20-25% more power than the phone using 4G. The phones were not downloading for the entire 30 seconds, so the difference is not a "per second" difference.

Wow, I think you're right!

Problem is in the beginning he says "Here's how the Tom's Guide battery test works. It surfs the web continuously..."

One thing that happens for one second, than stops for 29 seconds, then goes all over again, for me is not "continuous".

His misuse of the word "continuously" led me to misunderstanding!

 

[SemperMac]

Yup ... and, again, who the hell needs 5G, really!?!

 

[ani4ani]

I'm pretty certain that Apple's reasoning to reduce battery size does not resemble that ridiculous and sarcastic statement in any way, shape, or form.

It probably had more to do with the fact that there is less room since the phones now have to accommodate two cellular chipsets and discrete antennas for not only 4G, but two 5G bands.

But hey don't let logic stand in your way.

well lets not forget the remainder of the logic that every other manuafcaturer has the same "kit" to fit in and they always seems to do it with a much larger battery, SD card readers and the like?

 

[fncd]

Weren't some folks saying the other day that it will have no impact?

As someone who has actually owned and used a 5G device since December 2019, it's not that big of a deal in real world usage. So everyone can relax and get back to looking at screen tinge or other OCD stuff like that again.

This. I've used multiple 5G devices on T-Mobile (OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren, OnePlus 8, S20, S20 FE), and while all of those offer a larger battery than the iPhone 12/Pro I'm not concerned at all with my pre-order. Just give the phone a chance and see how it works day to day. Besides, Apple and nearly everyone else offers 14 days to return it if you're not happy.

 

[Psychicbob]

Well, as it stands, there is no way I’m buying any 12 or 12 Pro until the honest, real world reviews and tests are available. It doesn’t look good though. I wouldn’t want to buy a 12/Pro if I’m just going to switch off 5G. You’re paying a chunk of money for functionality that you are going to switch off immediately. I really don’t get that logic.
Also, it’s risky thinking that this could be config/software fixed later on. Where’s that iPhone 13 Macrumors page again?

 

[QCassidy352]

Well, as it stands, there is no way I’m buying any 12 or 12 Pro until the honest, real world reviews and tests are available. It doesn’t look good though. I wouldn’t want to buy a 12/Pro if I’m just going to switch off 5G. You’re paying a chunk of money for functionality that you are going to switch off immediately. I really don’t get that logic.
Also, it’s risky thinking that this could be config/software fixed later on. Where’s that iPhone 13 Macrumors page again?

Depends on what you have now. I'm on an iPhone 7 and would have bought this generation whether or not it had 5G, just because my phone is 3.5 years old and very laggy on iOS 14. If you have an 11 (or even a XS or Xr) and were upgrading for 5G, that's different.

Anyway, I think these numbers are fine. Still a long longer battery life than what I'm using now. So again, it depends on your frame of reference.

 

[BrightCanon]

On TomsGuide video review they mentioned that the tests were done on T-Mobiles 5g network for those asking.

TomsGuide Youtube