That being said, in our regular Wi-Fi web browser test, we’re seeing very good results for both the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro. Unfortunately the models I have for review here are European and mmWave isn’t an option, and I also don’t yet have any sub-6GHz 5G coverage in my area yet, and as such, I can’t really comment much on the cellular battery life of the new phones. IPhones in the US are the only models which also feature mmWave connectivity, as the rest of the world “only” gets sub-6GHz variants. Last year, Apple had purchased Intel’s modem division for $1B, but it’s likely we’ll have to wait a bit more to see the vertical integration of that acquisition. This generation, Apple made the move back to using Qualcomm modems as Intel seemingly wasn’t able to supply them with a satisfactory 5G option. Apple does have a huge SoC efficiency advantage, but that only goes so far to bridge the battery capacity deficiency for the new iPhones.Īnother controversial aspect is the 5G connectivity of the new devices.
It’s extremely unusual to see battery capacities regress like this, particularly in a time where the Android competition routinely use +4000mAh batteries. The new iPhone 12 and 12 Pro come with a very conservative 2815mAh unit, which is less than the 11 Pro’s 3046mAh or the 11’s 3110mAh capacity. This is due to a couple of reasons, but primarily due to the fact that Apple has reduced the actual capacities of the batteries this generation.
If you think it's normal then you're perfectly entitled to that opinion, but then there is little you can contribute in this topic I'm afraid.Battery life of the new iPhone 12 series has been quite controversial. That is not 'me too', that is just a normal observation. If the discharge rate continues to be 'normal' then there is a clear indication that enabling the second SIM caused abnormal behaviour. I'm currently testing to see what actually caused the difference in discharging by disabling low data mode on the first eSIM. Note: both are made on my iPhone12Pro, the bottom one differs in 1) no second 5G SIM (in 4G mode only) enabled and 2) low data mode mode enabled on the first primary eSIM. On the bottom you will see a 'normal' discharge curve, where you can clearly see it's not a straight line down the hill but is depending on usage etc. Any engineer can tell you this is abnormal behaviour. Please check both curves, on the top you can see a drain, regardless of any handset usage during day OR night AND despite low-power mode.
I feel no point in debating that, as this is just a simple scientific observation that I already cross-referenced with a known-to-be-good situation both both the iPhone11 and the iPhone12 under normal conditions. That is simply not true, I'm an engineer working in the mobile telecom industry and the discharge rate currently seen on my iPhone12 is a faulty curve. If anyone can share their idle battery with either 12 or 12 Pro I'd really appreciate it. I check the battery report, and it's not showing any real culprit, just a rapid decline for no clear reason. Not to an useable level or anything world ending, but I guess its sort of suspicious. No matter what I try, it seems to be going down oddly quick. First instinct was to disable Mobile data to see if it was a 5G thing, but I actually don't see any real difference from doing that (which makes sense as I've been on Wifi 98% of the time since I got it). However I'm noticing that the iPhone 12 Pro is draining when idle with almost no background activity at a rate of 4% which is much faster than my previous iPhone 11 Pro, and to be honest a faster idle drain than I can actually remember from a new iPhone. The iPhone 12 Pro is advertised as having a smaller battery than the iPhone 11 Pro so I expected to have slightly reduced battery life (which is fine as 11 Pro was excellent). Trying to work out if I have a defective unit I need to send back or if there's a wider issue here.