iPhone: How to change your 5G settings for better battery life or faster speeds

In 2022, 5G cellular coverage dramatically increased across all carriers and is compatible with the iPhone 12, 13, 14, and SE 3. To provide consumers with a balance between network speed and battery life, Autilizeslises a “5G Auto” setting as the default. However, you may also change the settings manually to tailor them to your own needs at any given time. Here’s how to activate or deactivate 5G on an iPhone.

Depending on where you reside and your carrier, you’ll experience different levels of 5G performance with your iPhone. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all provide nationaservicesrvice in the US. Top speeds can exceed 1,000 Mbps (1 Gbps), although most people won’t see those levels on regular basis.

Despite this, the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max have far better cellular speeds:

• Compared to the iPhone 13 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S22, the iPhone 14 Pro provides 50% quicker download speeds.

There are several variations of 5G. The fastest speeds are provided by mmWave, which has a rather short range, and Sub-6Ghz 5G, which has a longer range but rates that are more comparable to 4G LTE. Additionally, mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G are only supported by the iPhone 12, 13, and 14.

We have a comprehensive guide if you’re thinking about moving carriers to get better 5G coverage:

• Is it worthwhile to move between Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T as the best phone carriers?

The fact that 5G requires more battery than LTE is a drawback. When using 4G LTE instead of 5G, the iPhone has been proven to last up to 2.5 hours longer in some testing.

What is Smart Data mode?

To balance 5G data speed and battery life, the iPhone 12 small, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, or iPhone 12 Pro Max automatically switches to Smart Data mode. Apple claims that “depending on your data plan,” the Smart Data mode is automatically activated.

In other words, Smart Data mode will be initiated automatically if your cellular data plan shows that you have an active 5G connection and are ututilizingitless data. Conversely, if your cellular plan doesn’t have a 5G service allocated to it, Smart Data mode won’t be activated automatically.

Fortunately, you can quickly alter the settings for your iPhone’s 5G use.

Optimize 5G for speed

To manually manage 5G to optimizer speed, follow these instructions:

• Open the Settings app on your iPhone with 5G.
• From the root list, choose “Cellular.”
• Select “Cellular Data Options” by touching it.
• Toggle “Voice & Data.”
• To constantly experience 5G speeds at the sacrifice of battery life, choose the “5G On” option.

Now, whenever 5G networking is available, the phone will use it. This option uses 5G “whenever it’s available, even though it may impair battery life,” according to the feature’s description.

You must switch this setting to “5G Auto” to have the phone automatically switch back to 4G when 5G speeds don’t offer a substantially improved experience (this activates Smart Data mode).

Optimize 5G for battery life

To manually control 5G to optimize for battery life, follow these instructions:

• Open the Settings app on your iPhone with 5G.
• From the root list, choose “Cellular.”
• Select “Cellular Data Options” by touching it.
• Toggle “Voice & Data.”
• To entirely turn off 5G and preserve battery life at the price of speed, select “LTE.”

Instead of using the 5G network, your iPhone will connect to the 4G network provided by your carrier. Unless you manually change the option back to “5G On” or “5G Auto,” the device won’t utilize 5G.

Turn 5G on/off: what’s this icon?

No matter if you activate 5G manually or utilize the 5G Auto/Smart Data mode, Apple offers four distinct symbols in the iPhone status bar to indicate the type of 5G service you’re utilizing (sub-6Ghz, mmWave, etc.).

For mmWave and other high-frequency 5G connections, Verizon utilizes 5G UW, AT&T uses 5G+, and T-Mobile refers to it as 5G UC (ultra capacity). You’re on the lesser spectrum if you see the plain “5G” in your status bar (greater range and coverage, slower speeds comparatively).

Note that only sub-6GHz services are supported with the iPhone SE 3 and not mmWave 5G. Both mmWave and sub-6GHz are supported by the iPhone 12, 13, and 14.