5G Drains iPhone 12 Battery 20% Faster Than 4G in Benchmark

After the first reviews for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro emerged yesterday, a new report by Tom's Guide reveals the extent of battery life reductions when using 5G.

iphone 12 5g

The report outlines a test wherein the iPhone surfs the web continuously at 150 nits of screen brightness, launching a new site every 30 seconds until the battery drains. Interestingly, the test was run on an ‌iPhone‌ 12 and 12 Pro both over 4G and 5G.

Using 5G, the ‌iPhone‌ 12 lasted just eight hours and 25 minutes, while the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro lasted nine hours and six minutes. When using 4G, the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and 12 Pro perform better enduring for ten hours and 23 minutes and 11 hours and 24 minutes, respectively. This means that the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro's battery life drains around 20 percent faster when using 5G in this artificial benchmark.

The same test on the ‌iPhone‌ 11 in 2019 yielded a result of 11 hours and 16 minutes over 4G, and the ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro achieved ten hours and 24 minutes.

Tom's Guide reports that this falls short of the battery life of 5G Android phones under the same test:

Compared to the Android competition, Apple's new phones are a step behind those devices on our best phone battery life list, especially over 5G networks.

The battery capacities across the ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineup are believed to have been reduced this year, and while it was known that 5G would likely drain battery life, the extent of which was unknown.

The battery results may have been behind Apple's move to include a "Smart Data mode" with the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro, which selectively turns off 5G at times when it may not be needed. For example, when streaming music with the screen turned off, Smart Data mode reportedly turns off 5G and favors 4G instead.

However, users can go further and manually turn off 5G to boost battery life on the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro. In settings, users can choose from "5G On," "5G Auto," which seems to be Apple's Smart Data mode, and "LTE."

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

10 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Thursday October 31, 2024 9:42 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well. ...
M4 Pro on Blue

M4 Pro Chip Benchmark Results Reveal an Extremely Impressive Performance Feat

Thursday October 31, 2024 7:06 pm PDT by
The first Geekbench 6 benchmark results for the M4 Pro chip surfaced today. Impressively, the results that are available so far show that the highest-end M4 Pro chip is faster than the highest-end M2 Ultra chip in terms of peak multi-core CPU performance. Here is a comparison of the results: Mac mini with M4 Pro (14-core CPU): 22,094 multi-core score (average of 11 results) Mac Studio...
Apple iPhone SE 4 5G Modem 1

iPhone SE 4 First to Get Apple-Designed 5G Modem, iPhone 17 Pro to Add Custom Wi-Fi 7 Chip

Friday November 1, 2024 4:04 am PDT by
The iPhone SE 4 that's set to come out early next year is expected to debut Apple's first in-house 5G modem, according to Jeff Pu, an analyst who covers companies within Apple's supply chain. In a research note this week with Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities, Pu said Apple is expected to roll out its custom-made 5G modem starting with the next-generation...
best early black friday deals

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals

Friday November 1, 2024 8:21 am PDT by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 29 in 2024. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment,...
M3 Pro Max vs M4 Pro Max Feature

Here's How Much Faster M4 Pro/Max Are for Graphics vs. M3 Pro/Max

Friday November 1, 2024 8:04 am PDT by
Apple's new M4 Pro and M4 Max chips are impressively fast in terms of CPU performance, topping the M2 Ultra, but what about graphics performance? The first Geekbench 6 results for GPU performance are now available for the M4 Pro and M4 Max, and the Metal scores reveal some impressive year-over-year gains. Based on the Metal scores that are available so far, the M4 Pro and M4 Max are up to...
imac video apple feature

What to Expect From Apple This November

Friday November 1, 2024 9:40 am PDT by
After a busy October in which Apple announced new Macs and Apple Intelligence launched, the calendar has now turned to November. Below, we outline what to expect from Apple this month as the slower-but-still-busy holiday season approaches. After seeding the first betas of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 with additional Apple Intelligence features last month, Apple will likely...
pixelmator

Apple Acquires Photo Editing App Maker Pixelmator

Friday November 1, 2024 8:41 am PDT by
Apple has reached an agreement to acquire Pixelmator, the company behind popular photo and image editing apps Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator for iOS, and Photomator. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval, according to an announcement made by the Pixelmator team on Friday. Based in Vilnius, Lithuania, Pixelmator has developed a suite of well-regarded creative tools that compete with...

Top Rated Comments

Voyageur Avatar
53 months ago
5G is not needed today. Just good coverage of the latest LTE standards is sufficient. The most optimal option for the next few years.
Score: 46 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Caliber26 Avatar
53 months ago
I predict this information will leave some of you more pressed than a panini.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ruka.snow Avatar
53 months ago
I'll care in 2025/2030 when 5G is a thing.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hunapu Avatar
53 months ago
I want 5g, so I can turn it off to save battery...
Next year I'm gonna turn off 120Hz to save even more battery
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IsaacM Avatar
53 months ago
They really made some CHOICES when designing this phone. Less battery capacity with their first 5G phone that is known to consume more battery? A choice.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
farewelwilliams Avatar
53 months ago
no one is going to visit a site every 30 seconds for 9 hours straight

more than enough battery it looks like
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)