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Regarding LTE and the 2012 iPhone's battery life...

mrat93

mrat93

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Dec 30, 2006
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On Apple's tech specs page for the new iPad, they say that it can surf the web for 9 hours on cellular data network, and 10 hours on WiFi. They do not specify WHICH cellular data network they are talking about, 3G or 4G/LTE.

Assuming that "cellular data network" means any network, does that mean that they are using 4G/LTE antennas that use as much battery power as 3G, thus making battery life a non-issue for the next iPhone with 4G/LTE?

According to The Verge's review, they got 8 hours and 15 minutes on Verizon's LTE.
 
mrat93 said:
On Apple's tech specs page for the new iPad, they say that it can surf the web for 9 hours on cellular data network, and 10 hours on WiFi. They do not specify WHICH cellular data network they are talking about, 3G or 4G/LTE.

Assuming that "cellular data network" means any network, does that mean that they are using 4G/LTE antennas that use as much battery power as 3G, thus making battery life a non-issue for the next iPhone with 4G/LTE?

According to The Verge's review, they got 8 hours and 15 minutes on Verizon's LTE.
Click to expand...

They mean 4G when saying 9 hours of cell time. I think they said that in the announcement
 
I'd say that's pretty damn good - but the iPad is now mostly battery, which means if they include LTE in the next iPhone, that will have to be mostly battery as well - which may translate to a slightly larger device ... 4" screen anyone?
 
r.j.s said:
I'd say that's pretty damn good - but the iPad is now mostly battery, which means if they include LTE in the next iPhone, that will have to be mostly battery as well - which may translate to a slightly larger device ... 4" screen anyone?
Click to expand...

Most of the battery drain on the iPad 3 is the retina display and the backlight. They had to double the number of LEDs in the backlight to make it bright enough. Next is the quad-core graphics processor and RAM needed to power it.

Odds are, they could add LTE to a future iPhone with a modest battery increase. I expect the next iPhone to be the same size with slightly larger battery, with efficiencies in the A6 processor offsetting some of the battery drain.
 
SuperRob said:
Most of the battery drain on the iPad 3 is the retina display and the backlight. They had to double the number of LEDs in the backlight to make it bright enough. Next is the quad-core graphics processor and RAM needed to power it.

Odds are, they could add LTE to a future iPhone with a modest battery increase. I expect the next iPhone to be the same size with slightly larger battery, with efficiencies in the A6 processor offsetting some of the battery drain.
Click to expand...

Yes, but look at all the current battery life complaints - adding LTE, unless it uses LESS power than the current 3G radio will mean there has to be a bigger battery.
 
Screen brightness is always the battery killer, regardless of what device we're talking about. LTE antennae will only get more efficient, along with processors and other components. I doubt we'll see a bigger screen on an iPhone for separate reasons, but adding LTE probably won't be as much of a difference in battery consumption as everyone is expecting by the time it's actually released.
 
r.j.s said:
Yes, but look at all the current battery life complaints - adding LTE, unless it uses LESS power than the current 3G radio will mean there has to be a bigger battery.
Click to expand...

Which is why I said that with a more efficient A6 processor, they could add LTE to the iPhone 5 with a modest battery increase. They nearly doubled the size of the battery in the iPad with a marginal increase in thickness and weight. I'd say increasing the battery 25% would be enough to cover the LTE overhead without making the next iPhone thicker.
 
SuperRob said:
Which is why I said that with a more efficient A6 processor, they could add LTE to the iPhone 5 with a modest battery increase. They nearly doubled the size of the battery in the iPad with a marginal increase in thickness and weight. I'd say increasing the battery 25% would be enough to cover the LTE overhead without making the next iPhone thicker.
Click to expand...

If the goal is to merely maintain ... I imagine Apple would like to tout 9 hours LTE on the iPhone as well.
 
r.j.s said:
Yes, but look at all the current battery life complaints - adding LTE, unless it uses LESS power than the current 3G radio will mean there has to be a bigger battery.
Click to expand...

The iPhone 5 will almost certainly have a new design, and it'll be built to accommodate all these things. Corning's Gorilla Glass 2, for instance, would let Apple make the device thinner, so they could either fit more battery into roughly the same size, or more likely, they'll do what they've done with the iPad 3 and make it marginally thicker to compensate.

Bear in mind, also, that the iPad 3 reflects LTE technology as it exists now. I don't know when exactly Apple would want to lock in the form factor and specifications of the iPhone 5, but if you take it as a given that they'll announce it in September, that gives them several months to figure this out, assuming they haven't already, and I'm sure they're most of the way there. Most, if not all Android phones with LTE, even the 4" ones, have notoriously bad battery life. There were a few articles recently saying the Galaxy Nexus's GPS navigation caused it to lose battery faster that it could be charged! I'm not saying that issue hasn't been fixed — I'm sure it has — but Apple would rather shut the company down and go home than ship a product like that.

I'm actually pretty excited. It used to be that specifications on Apple products lagged their competitors, but the experience was so much better that we put up with it. Now we're looking at a 10" tablet with 9 or 10 hours of battery life on LTE at a time when few, if any, competing tablet makers can even ship a Wi-Fi only tablet without laggy scrolling or a decent selection of third party apps. I've got faith that they can pull it off, basically. :D
 
It will probably just take longer to charge your iPhone which is fine because it's usually done overnight.
 
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