With the launch of the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple adopted the Always-On display (AOD) feature for the first time on an iPhone. Prior to this release, AOD was limited to newer Apple Watch models. In typical Apple fashion, the feature arrived late but not without an innovative spin. You see, most Android phone manufacturers have been offering a basic AOD that usually shows the time, date, weather, notifications, and other similarly-relevant information. The iPhone maker went ahead and integrated the wallpaper into the AOD as well. Expectedly, users have expressed mixed feelings about this execution, with some disabling it, while others embrace it. Though, one common enigma across both groups has been the battery life. Does the constantly-visible wallpaper drain a lot of juice? A fresh experiment clears up this concern once and for all.
With the release of iOS 16.2, Apple started allowing iPhone 14 Pro owners to customize the Always-On display. This change enables users to hide the wallpaper and/or notifications when in AOD mode. PhoneBuff has gone ahead and visualized the iPhone 14 Pro Max's battery drain with AOD completely disabled, enabled without the wallpaper, and enabled with the wallpaper. To do so, they left the phone idle for 24 hours in a well-lit room.
- With the AOD disabled, the battery level remained at 100% after the 24 hours elapsed.
- Meanwhile, with AOD enabled and the wallpaper disabled, the battery dropped to 84% 24 hours later. That's an average of 0.66% battery drain per hour.
- Lastly, with the AOD and wallpaper enabled, the battery percentage fell to 80% within the same time period. That's an average of 0.83% battery drain per hour.
As these results reflect, enabling the wallpaper when in AOD mode doesn't drain a significantly higher battery percentage. It's also worth mentioning that your iPhone disables the AOD when it's in your pocket, you're asleep or away from it, in addition to other AI-predicted conditions. So the actual drain caused by the AOD per 24 hours is actually lower, since, unlike PhoneBuff's test, it isn't on at all times. For reference, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra with AOD on dropped to 84% after 24 hours. That's identical to the battery drain on the iPhone 14 Pro Max with AOD enabled without the wallpaper.
Personally, when I disabled the AOD wallpaper, I felt like I was getting a significantly longer battery life. But now that I've viewed the results of this experiment, I'm realizing that it could've been a placebo effect. Nonetheless, I've left it disabled since, in my opinion, the time, date, and weather are sufficient. While the AOD wallpaper adds character and personality to the phone when the screen is off, it also acts as a distraction, especially when you're streaming media and the player is visible on the Lock Screen. That's not to mention that viewing the notifications becomes slightly more challenging, due to the colors of all on-screen elements being dimmer/duller.
-
- Brand
- Apple
- SoC
- Apple A16 Bionic
- Display
- 6.1-inch OLED, 120Hz, HDR 10
- RAM
- 6GB
- Storage
- 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
- Ports
- Lightning
The iPhone 14 Pro brings a new front design, upgraded cameras, and all-powerful Apple silicon for 2022's premium Apple phone.
-
- Brand
- Apple
- SoC
- A16 Bionic
- Display
- 6.7-inch OLED, 120 Hz, Dolby Vision HDR
- RAM
- 6GB
- Storage
- 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
- Battery
- 4,323mAh
The iPhone 14 Pro Max is Apple's biggest and best 2022 smartphone. In typical Apple fashion, it is both a powerhouse and an endurance beast, offering the A16 Bionic chip, a 6.7-inch display, and the Dynamic Island.
Do you have the wallpaper enabled or disabled for the AOD on your iPhone? Let us know in the comments section below.
Source: PhoneBuff