iPhone 12 teardown confirms bad news for the battery

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

We're a day away from the Oct. 23 release of the iPhone 12, though reviews and test results for Apple's new phone are already appearing on the internet. And while the iPhone 12 is getting favorable notes, there'south 1 area that's come in for criticism — including from Tom's Guide. The iPhone 12'southward battery life doesn't quite measure out upward.

Our iPhone 12 battery test results points the finger at 5G, which sucks upward a lot of power. But there could be another issue, as well, as spotted in a recent teardown video of the iPhone 12.

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That video, posted by Hic Tech shows off all the iPhone 12 internal parts for everyone to run across before they tin even pick up a new telephone. While the entirety of the teardown is certainly informative enough, what's really intriguing is the smaller battery in the unit of measurement - smaller fifty-fifty than what was in the iPhone 11.

The battery isn't significantly smaller, just at that place's a noticeable plenty difference. Past teardowns have suggested that the iPhone 11 has a iii,110 mAh battery. Apple doesn't officially denote battery sizes, only rumors take suggested the iPhone 12 has a 2,815 mAh or 2,775 mAh ability pack. Either size would be a drop-off from what kept the iPhone eleven powered up.

It'southward to exist expected that the iPhone 12'due south internals take been downsized. It's a smaller unit, overall. The new telephone stands at 5.8 10 ii.8 10 0.29 inches, compared to v.nine x 3 x 0.33 inches for the iPhone 11. In that teardown video, you can run into how a lot of the internal parts have been downsized, allowing for the more slender profile.

Battery life looks similar it's one of the casualties, though. We test phone batteries by having the device surf the web over cellular connectivity with the screen gear up at 150 nits of effulgence until the phone runs out of power. There are other ways to measure battery life, only this gives u.s.a. a way to compare the longevity of different phones.

The iPhone 12'due south time on the test is below average for smartphones at eight hours and 25 minutes. Partly, that'south due to 5G, because when we switched off the power to connect to a 5G network, the iPhone 12'south fourth dimension on that test improved to 10 hours and 23 minutes.

Still, 5G only explains so much. The iPhone 11, with its larger battery and no 5G connection to argue with, held out for 11 minutes and sixteen seconds, which remains ane of the all-time phone bombardment life results we've seen.

That kind of intel is what makes the iPhone 12 teardown such an intriguing prospect. If the lesser battery life isn't something that bothers y'all, you may find that the iPhone 12 suits your needs rather nicely.

Brittany Vincent has been roofing video games and tech for over 13 years for publications including Tom'southward Guide, MTV, Rolling Stone, CNN, Popular Science, Playboy, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, and more. She'southward also appeared every bit a panelist at video game conventions like PAX East and PAX West and has coordinated social media for companies similar CNET. When she'southward not writing or gaming, she's looking for the next great visual novel in the vein of Saya no Uta. Yous can follow her on Twitter @MolotovCupcake.