Apple Watch Series 5 and later feature the Always-On display to always display the time, along with your watch face or the most recent active app. For the first time in 2022, the company expanded that tech to its high-end iPhone 14 Pro models to always display time with wallpaper or black background. On iOS 16.2, Apple allowed users to turn off the display completely.
YouTuber @PhoneBuff tested the Always On display’s battery drain on iPhone 14 Pro Max with wallpaper turned on and off and the results show a significantly low drop in power even after hours of usage.
Always On display on iPhone 14 Pro Max caused a 2% battery drop in 8 hours
For the test, YouTuber used three iPhone 4 Pro Max with Always On display enabled with wallpaper, Always On display with text, and display off. All three iPhones were factory reset with no apps and iCloud sign-in and the AirPlane mode enabled to ensure that he was only testing the Always On display’s battery drain.
He ran four tests on the smartphone with calibrated lights with up to 1000 LUX, up to 24 hours, and against its competing smartphone Samsung S22 Ultra. Here are the battery drains results:
- Always On Display in 150 LUX lighting which is equivalent to indoor lighting for 8 hours:
- Wallpaper – 100% to 98%, a 2% drop in battery
- Text – from 100% to 98%, a 2% drop in battery
- Display off – stayed at 100%
- Always On Display in 1000 LUX similar to conditions on an overcast day for 8 hours:
- Wallpaper – from 100% to 97%, a 3% drop in battery
- Text – from 100% to 98%, a 2% drop in battery
- Display off – stayed at 100%
- Always On Display in 1000 LUX similar to conditions on an overcast day for 24 hours
- Wallpaper – from 100% to 80%, a 20% drop in battery
- Text – from 100% to 84%, a 16% drop in battery
- Display off – stayed at 100%
- Always On Display with Text only in 1000 LUX lighting conditions for 24 hours:
- iPhone 14 Pro Max – from 100% to 84%, a 16% drop in battery
- S22 Ultra – from 100% to 84%, a 16% drop in battery
iPhone 14 Pro Max battery drain is impressively low when Always On Display (AOD) with wallpaper turned on or off because iOS 16 optimized the feature to preserve power like AOD adjusting the brightness even with auto-brightness disabled and AOD turns off when iPhone is lying face down, in users’ pocket, sleep focus is one and other conditions.
However, the YouTuber claims that the Battery drain will likely be higher on the iPhone 14 Pro.
