The smartphones from Apple's new iPhone 12 series are the first from the American company to support fifth generation (5G) communications networks, but using this feature will actually cost you in terms of battery life, according to tests conducted by the Tom's Guide review site (Tom's Guide), which compared the battery performance of iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro while using mobile phone networks of 5G and 4G.

The results of the tests will not please Apple's supporters. While the iPhone 12 continued to work for 10 hours and 23 minutes on the 4G network, it lasted for only 8 hours and 25 minutes on the 5G network, which represents a decrease of about 20%.

The performance of the iPhone 12 Pro was also similar, as its battery lasted 11 hours and 24 minutes on the 4G company, but only 9 hours and 6 minutes on the 5G network.

The Toms Guide test consists of continuously browsing the web on the phone at a brightness level of 150 nits on the phone screen, and opening a new website every 30 seconds until the battery power reaches zero.

Toms Guide put other devices to the same test.

For example, the performance of Apple's iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro was similar to the performance of the two latest models on the 4G network, where the battery of the most expensive phone lasted 11 hours and 16 minutes, and the second phone 10 hours and 24 minutes, respectively.

The previous numbers are not particularly surprising given that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro battery specifications are almost similar to the older model, and in fact the iPhone 12 Pro performed better than expected, but only when using the 4G network.

However, the Tom's Guide also put some Android phones to the same test, and the numbers were much better than what Apple phones got.

For example, the battery of the Google Pixel 5 phone continued to function almost the same period in the 5G and 4G networks, at 9 hours and 56 minutes for the 5G network, and 9 hours and 29 minutes for the 4G network.

The operation of 5G did not affect the performance of the battery of the OnePlus 8T much either.

On the other hand, the performance of the Samsung Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20 Plus was worse with the operation of the 5G network, but it remained slightly better than the battery performance of the iPhone phones.

Many iPhone 12 reviewers have noted the 5G network draining their battery, and the Tom's Guide test provides further evidence that the problem is real.

But the question is: Can Apple do something about it by updating the phone software?