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iPhone 11 Pro Outlasts iPhone 12 and 12 Pro in Extensive Battery Life Test

I tend to browse the internet on my phone more than play games, so the important test for me is the Tom's Guide browsing test.
www.tomsguide.com

iPhone 12 battery life results: All four models compared

See the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max battery life results
www.tomsguide.com www.tomsguide.com

Under the same conditions (4G), the iPhone 12 Pro lasts an hour longer than the 11 Pro. That's a win. That's excellent, in fact, and extremely desirable.

Switching to 5G yields different, predictable results. A 5G modem utilizing a 5G signal will, of course, use more battery than a 4G signal. The expectation was that these new 5G phones would be able to match previously optimized LTE modems was an unreasonable expectation.

I'm keeping 5G disabled 99% of the time to preserve battery life. I have no need for 5G. Based on some anecdotal tests using 4G, my 12 Pro will have better battery life than the already impressive iPhone 11 Pro. This, again, is a win and am hopeful that the 12 Pro is a 4G battery champ.
 
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Great video, so thanks for posting. As a 37-year Apple product consumer, I'm growing tired of the number of compromises I have to accept to stay in the Apple fan club. At some point, the pride of ownership loses its luster. I have rethought my technology preferences in the past couple of years, and apples no longer that new shiny sexy looking thing'.

Just yesterday, I was one click away from the 'confirming payment' button for the sage green Pixel 5. Clearly, it's no match for any of the new iPhones, but for someone who likes to upgrade often, combined with Google Assistant and it's knowledge base, I was soOoo close. In any event, I placed my purchase plans on hold until after some of the reviews come out on the new pro max.
 
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Let me tell you all how I really feel... fsck Apple and fsck the iPhone 12. Charging more for a phone with no charger, no EarPods, smaller battery, no 120hz promotion and instead add a feature that hardly anyone will use yet charge more and anyone that does use it will have their batteries obliterated, MagSafe slow charging, warm screen (yellow tint), no improvement in FaceID, same size notch. Anything else I’ve forgotten?

Worst iPhone ever. Will not be upgrading from the 11 Pro Max. Useless greedy Apple.

/end rant
 
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I7guy said:
use call
Click to expand...

*use case


I7guy said:
The phone has to enough battery life to last me through a day, for me only.
Click to expand...

Good for you. On the flip side, there will be many others who are disappointed the battery life is worse.

I7guy said:
Why don't the critics see that?
Click to expand...

Why would the critics care for your specific use case? The criticism in this thread revolves around Apple releasing a product (with all the usual marketing rubbish about this years iPhone being “The best iPhone yet”) with worse battery life compared to its predecessor. This won’t be an issue for some, but others it will be especially given the cost of the phone...
 
_Refurbished_ said:
I tend to browse the internet on my phone more than play games, so the important test for me is the Tom's Guide browsing test.
www.tomsguide.com

iPhone 12 battery life results: All four models compared

See the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max battery life results
www.tomsguide.com www.tomsguide.com

Under the same conditions (4G), the iPhone 12 Pro lasts an hour longer than the 11 Pro. That's a win. That's excellent, in fact, and extremely desirable.

Switching to 5G yields different, predictable results. A 5G modem utilizing a 5G signal will, of course, use more battery than a 4G signal. The expectation was that these new 5G phones would be able to match previously optimized LTE modems was an unreasonable expectation.

I'm keeping 5G disabled 99% of the time to preserve battery life. I have no need for 5G. Based on some anecdotal tests using 4G, my 12 Pro will have better battery life than the already impressive iPhone 11 Pro. This, again, is a win and am hopeful that the 12 Pro is a 4G battery champ.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, very interesting article. It confirms, for me at least, why Apple didn’t include a 120hz refresh rate. It looks as though they had to choose between 5G and Promotion. Both together would have severely compromised battery.
 
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Last year, every review and many users here said the battery life of the iPhone 11 was phenomenal so if the iPhone 12 Pro is better when it comes to battery life than the 11, I don’t mind if it doesn’t beat the 11 Pro. Looks like a non-issue unless you’re upgrading from an iPhone 11 Pro. If you’re upgrading from an 11 or even better, a X like myself, the improvement in battery life will be huge. It looks like even the 12 mini would be an improvement over my X, although not nearly as much as the 12 Pro.
 
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827538 said:
That's a 15% drop in battery life, not great. I feel like we got what the carriers wanted - 5G and not what consumers actually wanted - 120Hz display.
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And where's you're proof of all these customers that ACTUALLY wanted a 120Hz display and not 5G. I just love how people here speak for everyone else when they are shouting about their own personal needs and wants.
 
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Looney01 said:
I’m starting to really dislike Apple as a company. I won’t move to Android though. But I’ll keep my 11 Pro Max until Apple really comes to the party. As I see it, the iPhone 12 is pathetic.
Click to expand...
I'm sure Apple doesn't give a hoot about how you feel about them. Do what you gotta do. It's just a phone. Apple will get along just fine with you.
 
saber32au said:
...Good for you. On the flip side, there will be many others who are disappointed the battery life is worse.
Click to expand...
This is with every iphone release. There are always some who have battery life issues.

Why would the critics care for your specific use case? The criticism in this thread revolves around Apple releasing a product (with all the usual marketing rubbish about this years iPhone being “The best iPhone yet”) with worse battery life compared to its predecessor. This won’t be an issue for some, but others it will be especially given the cost of the phone...
Click to expand...
While I would have liked to have seen equivalent battery life to the iPhone 11, the point is probably for many the battery life will be fine, for many it won’t. Just grousing due to some tests is not real world.
 
These tests must be wrong because Apple’s Kaiann Drance explicitly states, “We're able to make a bunch of software optimizations throughout the entire system to make battery life even better...”

Granted, she didn’t specify exactly what the battery life is better than, but, you know... it’s “even better” than that. So... yeah. Tests bad.
 
Looney01 said:
Let me tell you all how I really feel... fsck Apple and fsck the iPhone 12. Charging more for a phone with no charger, no EarPods, smaller battery, no 120hz promotion and instead add a feature that hardly anyone will use yet charge more and anyone that does use it will have their batteries obliterated, MagSafe slow charging, warm screen (yellow tint), no improvement in FaceID, same size notch. Anything else I’ve forgotten?

Worst iPhone ever. Will not be upgrading from the 11 Pro Max. Useless greedy Apple.

/end rant
Click to expand...
For somebody who bought the most expensive iPhone offered a year (or less) ago, you seem to very easily do a 180. You apparently seriously considered getting an iPhone 12, ie, upgrading after only a year. Yet a phone that is in almost all aspects better (or at least equal) than what you bought last year, is the 'worst iPhone ever'? So, the 11 Pro Max is thus by definition worse than the 'worst iPhone ever'?
 
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dannyyankou said:
That’s what I’m guessing. It’s a nice update for people going from the 11 to the 12. But I’ve seen people who went from the 11 Pro Max to the 12 Pro and I think lots of them will change their minds in a couple days, lol
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Well, those people should know better. They were probably tired of the larger size, but they weren’t ready to make peace with the limitations of a smaller battery. For those of us who never owned a Plus or Max sized iPhone, we’re good with battery life, at least most of us. Then again, the 12 Pro has better battery life than the battery life the XS Max had. Think about that.
 
az431 said:
Except Apple does not advertise anywhere that battery life is "the same."

In fact, their comparison page shows that for some tasks such as video playback it is indeed shorter.
Click to expand...
12 vs 11
12 Pro vs 11 Pro
12 Pro Max vs 11 Pro Max

They more or less do except for 2 small discrepancies between the 11/12 and 11 Pro/12 Pro models. I just find the 12 Pro's battery life disappointing. It's not even close to 94.4% of the 11 Pro's life, which is what Apple's figures would have you believe.
 
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What happened to Apple's 10hr promise?

Also, I appreciate this guy staying for 7-8 hours just to do this experiment for us.
 
This test is really telling.
Year after Year, people hope that we will finally have a battery that lasts days without charging (Don't get me started with the Watch).
And to see, a premium price tag on the iPhone 12, and fail to show much improvement (this article shows NO improvement), is just pathetic. Come on apple. Less time on camera pixels, more time on a BATTERY THAT LASTS! Some of us don't want to have to buy battery cases every year........
 
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Macintosh101 said:
Thanks for the link, very interesting article. It confirms, for me at least, why Apple didn’t include a 120hz refresh rate. It looks as though they had to choose between 5G and Promotion. Both together would have severely compromised battery.
Click to expand...
I have a feeling next year’s modem will be more refined for battery drain, which should give Apple the ability to include 120hz. I agree, it wasn’t included this year due to the massive hit both would have. Probably a good decision, even though other companies are itching to become “first”.
 
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