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iPhone 12 5G Settings: How to Save Data and Battery
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Point taken re different carriers for 12 & 12 Pro but I was strictly comparing the iPhone 12 Pro on 4G vs the iPhone 11 Pro (also on 4G obviously) to try and get some hints about how battery life might compare if I bought a 12 Pro and kept it locked to 4G vs my current 11 Pro.
I'm having trouble seeing exactly what carriers were used for the 11 Pro and 12 Pro 4G tests. In the 12 Pro review they talk about " In our testing over T-Mobile’s network..." so although I can't see it explicitly stated anywhere I would assume that they used T-Mobile not only for the 5G test but also when they locked it to 4G for the 12 Pro 4G test. As for what carrier they used for the 11 Pro test, or even if they retested or simply took the result from a year ago, I can't see any info there.
Ultimately though, as you point out "battery life on 4g on the 12/pro is way better than on the iPhone 11 Pro" to the extent that I hope couldn't be swallowed up by issues with the testing methodology so I still remain optimistic enough to go ahead with my originally planned 12 Pro Max purchase which I will keep locked to 4G. I can always return it in the 14 day return window if it disappoints.
Anyone know if you can select data mode to 3G-only? Yes I know how that sounds, but at work I barely use my phone and the ability to switch to 3G is battery saver over constant LTE (or even 5G).
You don't pay in battery life. I am obsessed with battery life, it's pretty much the only thing I want more of from future iPhones (OK, maybe a bit more optical zoom too), and from my purely selfish perspective (sorry 5G users, just saying it like it is for me) I'm delighted to see 5G putting an additional strain on battery life because what it means is that, in order to compensate for the extra drag that 5G puts on battery life, Apple will need to try and find power savings everywhere that they can in the rest of the phone just to stand still in terms of battery life for 5G users. If however I turn off 5G and remove its drag on my battery all those efficiencies Apple implemented to simply maintain battery life for 5G users will end up giving me extended battery life. The tests on the 12 Pro in 4G mode vs the 11 Pro, assuming there are no gross errors in the testing methodology, would seem to support exactly that benefit being seen by 4G 12 Pro users already.
Needing to cope with the extra battery drain from 5G probably also sets a floor on how much Apple feels able to reduce the capacities of the batteries in future phones for fear of not being able to delivery adequate/competitive battery life for their users who do have 5G enabled.
And then there are rumours that I think are pretty solid that next year Apple will move to the 5nm Qualcomm X60 modem which is said to be much more power efficient. That also implements the 4G capability I think so does that mean that my 4G will get more efficient as well if/when Apple moves to the X60? If yes then thank you again 5G world.
I'll just keep my phones locked to 4G until I feel a compelling need to do otherwise and reap the benefits of all the extra efficiencies elsewhere in the phone.
wt a great map I peticulary lovethe choice of colours, i whis eople making illustrations that only need to colors woutl use 2 with goid cotrast, red and blue are good choices or just but a caption nder each map imdivating which carriers coverage was is ploted
And herein lies the issue of 5G current state. Battery is compromised and carrier caps. I have the top tier ATT plan and they still will throttle me over 50 gb a month and limit my hotspot.
My LTE is plenty fast for mobile and my use cases. I get 150mbps in my area which is faster than my home coaxial connection that handles multiple people streaming 4K movies and Xbox downloads.
5G will take a couple of years to get “real” similar to how each step in throughput in the past.
My LTE is plenty fast for mobile and my use cases. I get 150mbps in my area which is faster than my home coaxial connection that handles multiple people streaming 4K movies and Xbox downloads.
5G will take a couple of years to get “real” similar to how each step in throughput in the past.
Did you verify that 5G is available in your area? And are they charging MORE for it?
I had the same problem with my AT&T line, I had to call them they registered my IMEI on the network and when the tech told me he would call me back in 6 mina when my iPhone is back up and 5G registered.
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A big part of the day. Outside of the house 5G permanently showed up in the display, inside mostly LTE.
AT&T does not have full 5G where we are and TMobile barely has 4G/LTE unless you stand in the backyard. Can't see upgrading buying a new phone for 5G when IMHO there's no need for it allot of money to have to concern yourself about battery drain and what ever other issues come later on.
3. ??? = 3. Users happy to keep it locked to 4G probably get increased battery life vs last year, better optical zoom, faster Lidar-assisted auto-focus and other low-light camera improvements, maybe preferable form factor for those that do like the squarer design, higher performance SoC (although like the 4G/5G debate some might think that previous years' models had more than adequate performance).
There's probably other stuff, I just wrote all that I care about and also added the SoC performance because it was the another change vs last year's models that I could think of although I am in the "performance was good enough already" camp so don't care about it myself.
I can't disagree with the "4. Profit!" final point though!
So, have these new phones dropped support for 3G entirely? Only my XS I can choose between 3G and LTE.
The question I have is does 5G only burn battery life when actively using it? So if 5G is "On" but I am at my house on Wifi battery life won't be impacted?
This question originates from the fact that your phone can be sitting locked on standby mode but if you're in a low cell service area and the phone is constantly searching for service the battery life is impacted dramatically.
This question originates from the fact that your phone can be sitting locked on standby mode but if you're in a low cell service area and the phone is constantly searching for service the battery life is impacted dramatically.
This is an old map. Verizon launched nationwide 5G like T-Mobile did... I have 5G here in SC now. That map above is just 5G UW...
It did happen to me before. Have to go to AT&T to get correct SIM card that looks like white card that designed for 5G. If you see orange card, it’s for LTE only. Good luck.