Perhaps an unnecessary battery killer. I have one bar of 4G or 5 bars of 3G. 4G and having to boost the antenna power due to low signal will consume more battery compared to 3G. Wouldn't it make sense that if I was on WiFi, my iPhone should drop down to 3G?
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Why Does My iPhone Prefer 4G Over 3G When On WiFi?
- Thread starter kolax
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It's not so much the bars that cause excessive battery usage. What drains the battery is a phone constantly searching for a 4G signal that is too weak to hold on to.
One bar of 4G is fine as long as it remains stable. Constantly seeing 3G and 4G and bouncing back and fourth will cause the battery drain.
Additionally: If you're connected to Wifi, then the 4G connection isn't being used for data, and so the power usage from transmitting on 4G will be minimal.
Of course if you're worried about it, you should be able to turn LTE off completely in settings.