Tests show iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro batteries last two hours less under 5G
Under continuous 5G usage, both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro lose around two hours of battery life compared to 4G -- and that's significantly more than with 5G Android phones.
Apple's new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini
New testing of the only available iPhone 12 models -- the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro -- show that 5G usage significantly reduces the length of time their batteries can run without recharging.
According to Tom's Guide, new testing shows that the iPhone 12 lasts 10 hours and 23 minutes under 4G usage, but only 8 hours and 25 minutes with 5G. Similarly, the iPhone 12 Pro tested using solely 4G managed 11 hours and 24 minutes, but with 5G was 9 hours and 6 minutes.
That's a difference of 118 minutes for the iPhone 12, and 139 for the iPhone 12 Pro. Tom's Guide testing was of continuous usage under either 4G or 5G, and real-world use will be significantly less non-stop. Outside of testing, the iPhone 12 range works to save battery power by stepping back from 5G to 4G LTE at times.
Nonetheless, losing around two hours battery life by using 5G is considerable. It also compares poorly to 5G Android phones.
Tom's Guide did not replicate the same conditions with Android phones, it didn't run their batteries down on 4G and separately on 5G. Instead it more tested the impact of choosing faster screen refresh rates.
However, as a broad example, the testing's figures still show Apple lagging behind. The Google Pixel 5 (at 60Hz) lasted 9 hours and 56 minutes on 5G. That's 91 minutes more than the iPhone 12, and 50 minutes more than the iPhone 12 Pro.
Apple's new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini
New testing of the only available iPhone 12 models -- the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro -- show that 5G usage significantly reduces the length of time their batteries can run without recharging.
According to Tom's Guide, new testing shows that the iPhone 12 lasts 10 hours and 23 minutes under 4G usage, but only 8 hours and 25 minutes with 5G. Similarly, the iPhone 12 Pro tested using solely 4G managed 11 hours and 24 minutes, but with 5G was 9 hours and 6 minutes.
That's a difference of 118 minutes for the iPhone 12, and 139 for the iPhone 12 Pro. Tom's Guide testing was of continuous usage under either 4G or 5G, and real-world use will be significantly less non-stop. Outside of testing, the iPhone 12 range works to save battery power by stepping back from 5G to 4G LTE at times.
Nonetheless, losing around two hours battery life by using 5G is considerable. It also compares poorly to 5G Android phones.
Tom's Guide did not replicate the same conditions with Android phones, it didn't run their batteries down on 4G and separately on 5G. Instead it more tested the impact of choosing faster screen refresh rates.
However, as a broad example, the testing's figures still show Apple lagging behind. The Google Pixel 5 (at 60Hz) lasted 9 hours and 56 minutes on 5G. That's 91 minutes more than the iPhone 12, and 50 minutes more than the iPhone 12 Pro.
Comments
Learn about 5G options
The default settings for 5G on iPhone are optimized for battery life and data usage based on your data plan. You can customize these options for when to use 5G and how much data to use in some apps.
Find these options by going to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options. If you're using Dual SIM, go to Settings > Cellular and choose the number whose options you want to change....”
While it appears the sky is falling, no one is going continuous 5G in 2020, 2021, or maybe even 2022. I’d be interested in seeing Tom’s Guide do a complete real world test.
I still think rushing to include 5G was pointless, and driven by android manufacturers who always need to include as many features as possible if they wanna ship more than four units.
Sure, future-proofing is all well and good, but 5G won’t be of any real interest for another year or two, and 4G is still more than enough for normal people.
Anyway, I am buying the 12 mini for its size, not 5G. I get around 195 Mbps around here (south Brisbane) on LTE anyway.
20% speed across the line, 5G for those who care, MagSafe for x2 charging, faster aperture for better low-light, ProRAW mode, Dolby Vision video for 60x more color, Night Mode on all lenses, Pro has LiDAR, Pro Max has larger sensor and purported 87% increase in low-light, new OIS, 4x tougher screen, etc etc... in short, get real.
THE IPHONE 12 IS FANTASTIC
"you can easily see the improvement year over year with the 1× main lens going from ƒ/1.8 to ƒ/1.6 on both phones"
https://daringfireball.net/2020/10/the_iphone_12_and_iphone_12_pro
Does 5G work that way? I'm under the impression that if you aren't in a 5G network, you won't lose battery life, because the battery cost is from using it, not not-using it.
Here's what Gruber explained:
As for testing 5G’s potentially deleterious effect on battery life: that’s beyond the scope of this review, alas. But I will point out that iOS 14.1 has three separate options in Settings → Cellular → Cellular Data Options → Voice & Data:
Apple’s description: “5G On uses 5G whenever it is available, even when it may reduce battery life. 5G Auto uses 5G only when it will not significantly reduce battery life.” 5G Auto is the default, and that’s where I left it all week. Overall daily battery life seemed about what I’d expect while using these devices pretty extensively.
I often turn off bluetooth and wi-fi when I'm not using them too; no sense in power going to waste.
Long term this is another reason Apple will want to make its own 5G modem. They can integrate and optimize it far better than a discrete 3rd party chip.
What makes zero sense - turning off a feature that isn't useful or needed and takes extra battery life? Or how everyone is pushing for 5G when there's no real use for it? Or maybe just your comment?
You are, of course, completely right. A couple months ago PC Mag did a comparison of 5G coverage and speeds. The bottom line is speeds were marginally better and sometimes actually slower than LTE speeds, coverage was widely variable and latency was not different enough to matter. Of note, LTE speeds in Canada were actually better than 5G speeds in the U.S. And not one person on this site has been able to give a real life example of a use that requires 5G in a smartphone.
Someday 5G may be important, but certainly not today and probably not for at least 1-2 years. I know I'll get jumped on for this statement, but we were having the exact same discussion a year ago and the zealots were all touting how fast 5G was being rolled out. Well, here we are a year later and virtually nothing has changed. For now, if you need a new phone, go ahead and get an iPhone 12, but don't rush out and get one just for 5G.