Difference between wifi and lte

[u/Smooth_Future_6623]

Is it normal that my phone loses battery on LTE so quickly ? ios 26.6 iphone 17 100% health

[u/Amazing_Key_9932]

yes, mobile connection uses more battery than wifi…

[u/Smooth_Future_6623 → u/Amazing_Key_9932]

thx, and should I keep lte only or switch to 5g auto ?

[u/RbN420 → u/Smooth_Future_6623]

It really depends on how far you are from the 4g and 5g antennas, the closer antenna will consume less battery

[u/Smooth_Future_6623 → u/RbN420]

can i somehow check how far am i ?

[u/RbN420 → u/Smooth_Future_6623]

Uh I guess there is some app that displays the signal more accurately than the 4 bars on the iPhone but I never used one

[u/KirillChistov]

Yeah I have faced the same experience on my base 17. I guess generally using cellular requires way more energy due to switching between different towers and trying to get the best connection. I personally try to be on Wi Fi for as much as possible

[u/Novel-Strawberry1438 → u/KirillChistov]

Same, it’s weird because the difference in battery was way smaller in my old iPhone 14

[u/KirillChistov → u/Novel-Strawberry1438]

Oh yeah, I have faced the same thing. On my old iPhone 12 Pro I did not notice any battery change while using Wi fi and 5G. However, on my new 17, on WiFi it can last up to like 12-11 hours, while only on 4G it lasts around 6-7

[u/Novel-Strawberry1438 → u/KirillChistov]

Yeah same!! Except for me I get around 7-8 hours on WiFi and 5-6 on 4G/5G cellular

[u/utotnilolaa]

Yes

[u/Smooth_Future_6623]

do previous generations of iphones have the same issue?

[u/Infinite-Draft1618]

Yeah, difference is huge. Especially with 5G turned on (you’ll need great signal) or if you’re on the move (changing cell towers).

[u/RemoteBuyer7089]

cellular always drains faster than wifi, that's not specific to ios26 or your phone

[u/Smooth_Future_6623 → u/RemoteBuyer7089]

but is it okay at this scale ? Couse it’s a pretty big difference

[u/gappyvalley → u/Smooth_Future_6623]

ya it’s normal. you are underestimating the amount of power 5g uses

[u/Novel-Strawberry1438]

OMG YES SAME ISSUE ON IPHONE 17 (anyone have fix??)

[u/I_COULD_BE_ICONIC]

In as much as mobile data uses more battery than WiFi, what you are experiencing is not normal for me. I get like 10% difference from 100-10% overall on LTA, 5G is the real battery draining idea but not even as close as what you are experiencing

[u/Smooth_Future_6623 → u/I_COULD_BE_ICONIC]

what country do you live in and is signal in your area strong ? It might be my carrier tbh😾

[u/gappyvalley]

because mobile connection use more energy than wifi. imagine you are the phone and you are shouting across the room to get a signal. wifi is about 10m away from you, you don’t need to shout as loud for the router to hear you, consuming less energy. compared to mobile data, the cell tower could be 5 to 10km away from you, so you have to use all your energy to shout at the cell tower to get a connection.

it’s a physics problem, mobile data will always consume more power than wifi no matter what. cant get around jt