on my iphone when im out of coverage it constantly looks for signal and drains the battery buy a lot . im wondering how much more battery loss you get from the cellular model to just wifi only. anyone have experiance with this ?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad will my ipad air suffer battery if i go cell model?
- Thread starter isephmusic
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
When you're going into an area with poor to no coverage (such as in a deep basement or in an area with poor reception), put the phone into Airplane Mode. That will shut off all wireless capabilities (Bluetooth, Wifi, and cellular). Bluetooth and Wifi can be manually re-enabled while in Airplane Mode. Your phone won't waste energy trying to find a cellular signal, which will prevent the battery drain that you notice. As of iOS 7, Airplane Mode can easily be toggled on and off from the control panel (swipe up from the bottom of the screen).
The best I could find was an article that seemed to look at the difference with the first generation iPads. The cellular version of the iPad had close to two hours less battery life than the wifi-only version. I would anticipate that the modern models fare better, but expect that the battery life will still be somewhat poorer on the cellular version as long as the cellular radio is active.
If it's a concern, I would just enable the cell data when you're actually out and about in areas that you don't get wi-fi.
Clint
I'm wondering about this also, can't you just turn off cellular data without having to use airplane mode (which also shuts off wifi)?
I believe during the presentation they stated that surfing while on wifi battery lasts 10 hours, and while surfing on cell it lasts 9 hours, so it wont be a huge difference. I figure that you also can turn off the cell signal as well and only use wifi. If you are using wifi it should not be searching for a cell signal, so i really do not think the battery will suffer from cell unless if you are directly using data over cell.
Yes, you can toggle cellular data on/off in settings. I always keep mine turned off unless I am leaving my house. With cellular data turned off, battery life should be the same as a wifi model in similar conditions. If you leave cellular data turned on even while connected via wifi, I think your battery life will take a small hit as the iPad is always showing cellular signal strength (just like an iPhone on wifi).
I only have a wifi iPad, so my comments are based on iPhone operation:
After you go into airplane mode, you can turn wifi back on.
Another concern I'd have about cell searching using up battery, is that the GPS chip operation requires cellular to be turned on. So, if you want to use GPS where there's no cell service, you can't avoid draining your battery. Can anyone with an LTE iPad confirm or deny this?
On an iPad, there is a separate toggle for cellular data, no need to do the circuitous routine with Airplane mode.
As for GPS, I believe it works even when cellular data is turned off, but it's hard to confirm. When I'm in the range of wifi networks, I can't tell if location services is using GPS or wifi to get my location, and when I don't have wifi connection, I have cellular data turned on, otherwise knowing my location is pretty useless, as knowing just latitude and longitude coordinates mean nothing to me.
In any case, I doubt location services affect battery that much -- even if it reduces battery life from 10 hours to 9, I honestly find it hard to rack up that much use without having to stop and put it down, at which point I just charge while I'm not using it.
I assume if you keep cell and wifi on, the iPad will default to any wifi connection available and just go to cell on its own when no wifi is available?
Yup, that's how it works. I just keep my cellular data turned on all the time. I hardly ever turn it off, unless I'm trying to connect to a wifi signal that's weak, and want to ensure that I don't get inadvertently switched to cellular when the connection gets lost.
can't you just toggle off "cellular data" without putting it on airplane mode like the iPhone?
Yes, you can. My apologies; my advice was said out of habit from international travel, when I want to disable more than just the cellular data. Airplane mode is not the only way to disable the cellular connection.
There are all sorts of off-line map options that would still work.
Your point about the ability to just turn off cell data makes me think that the GPS receiver could still be operational. I wish the iPhone had such separation between cell radio and GPS. It really burns through battery when you need mapping where there's no cell service.
Turning off cellular data does not disable the iPad's GPS chip. But unless you have maps pre-saved to the iPad (like with the Navigon app, etc), there will be no map data... unless you also happen to have a wifi signal in the middle of nowhere.
Yep, that's what I meant by off-line map options. There's a whole host of 'em, including ones for hiking trails (based on USGS), etc.
Thanks for the confirmation on autonomous GPS chip operation!