Apple reduced the size of the batteries in the iPhone 12 models, and while this alone wouldn’t be a problem due to the superior power efficiency of the A14 Bionic processor, new 5G radios are causing the battery life Jenga tower to come crashing down.
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This isn’t shocking; it’s a problem we saw during the initial transition to 4G ten years ago and a problem Android phones have contended with as they moved to 5G over the last couple of years. The answer for most Android manufacturers has been to simply throw in larger batteries, but Apple chose not to go that route. Before you dismiss this as possibly a minor drop in battery life, based on the testing of our sister site Tom’s Guide, it can cost you two hours or more. The iPhone 12 Pro saw a 2 hour and 18-minute drop when using 5G (9:06) vs. 4G (11:24) and the iPhone 12 saw a 1 hour and 58-minute drop on 5G (8:25) vs. 4G (10:23). The good news is that there is a simple solution to this problem. You just need to change a single setting on your iPhone 12 to turn off 5G. While Apple needed to add the feature from a marketing perspective, the simple truth is that, for most users, 5G isn’t very useful today. However, having an extra two hours or more of battery life is definitely going to have a serious impact on your day-to-day usage.
How to turn off 5G on your iPhone 12
Settings may vary slightly depending on your carrier, but if you follow these steps, you should be able to find the appropriate options to switch to LTE-only on your iPhone 12.
Open SettingsNavigate to Cellular or Cellular DataSelect Cellular Data OptionsTap on Voice & Data and select LTE
