iPhone 12 '5G' indicator denotes best available connection

Credit: Apple

Apple has reportedly tweaked the network status bar indicator on iPhone 12 models to depict the best available speed and not necessarily the currently used connection.

That's according to a small tidbit concerning 5G support in a review of the Apple handset by The Verge. More specifically, the tweaked network indicators only apply to 5G-equipped Apple devices like the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro.

It appears that the icon behavior is a byproduct of the new "Smart Data mode" that Apple has added to iPhone 12, The Verge's Dieter Bohn notes. In a bid to save battery life, the mode drops the handset to LTE speeds unless iOS decides 5G connectivity is warranted.

"What's weird is that when the iPhone is limiting you to LTE speeds, it will still display the 5G icon in the status bar. It's now an indicator of the best speed available to you, not the actual type of connection that's actively in use," Bohn writes.

Similarly, it's not clear which situations will get 5G to kick in when Smart Data mode is enabled. Users can toggle the feature off in Settings, however. Bohn notes that he left the feature on and "honestly never really felt like [he] was being throttled."

As far as how 5G actually performed on the iPhone 12, the review notes that "it performs as well or better than 5G Android phones." Bohn adds that devices do heat up when 5G is in use, and battery life can take a hit if it's overused.

This isn't the first time that a status indicator has proven to be misleading on an iPhone. In 2019, AT&T displayed — and continues to display — a "5G E" indicator on devices that only support an upgraded version of 4G LTE.

It also isn't the first time that Apple has changed how the user-facing cell status indicators behave. Back in iOS 2010, Apple made changes that did away with an overly optimistic view of current connection strength.

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24 Comments

mknelson

said about 3 years ago

I don't know if I'd call that misleading.

Much of the time you aren't going to make use of full speed anyhow - it's so dependent on the speed of the server you're connecting to, traffic on the server, the traffic on the network in between, etc.

mobird

said about 3 years ago

I saw on a Verizon iPhone ad that showed the network indicator as 5G UWB, and the voice-over was talking about 5G Ultra Wide Band. What would that indicate? I wonder what Apple thinks about Verizon using the Ultra Wide Band moniker for a 5G feature?

yuck9

said about 3 years ago

Good thing it can be turned on and off. Apple needs to quit being users nanny.

Gaby

said about 3 years ago

Perhaps to better indicate whether you’re actually using a 5G connection or if it’s just available they could add (5G) in brackets as demonstrated if it’s theoretically available and without brackets when actively in use? Seems a simple way to denote the difference. Also it seems obvious to me that 5G is only going to need to be in use for very high data so video streaming, 4K YouTube perhaps, certain online gaming etc. It seems good that its a set and forget type option I mean if I’m on YouTube I can’t imagine being distracted by the worry of “am I getting the best connection” if what you’re doing is running as it should why concern yourself with the details. It will also be interesting to see if people get away with much more basic 5G plans if the phone reverts to 4G/LTE when possible.

bageljoey

said about 3 years ago

yuck9 said:

Good thing it can be turned on and off. Apple needs to quit being users nanny.

“ Bohn notes that he left the feature on and "honestly never really felt like [he] was being throttled."”
” devices do heat up when 5G is in use, and battery life can take a hit if it's overused. ”

So, if it doesn’t affect the user experience, saves battery life and keeps the phone from heating up when the iPhone drops down to LTE while you are reading email or doing some sort of low data operation, you’re gonna be mad that Apple is being a nanny?

I mean, one of the things that has kept Apple on the top of the heap for so long is that they care about the user experience. If you don’t care about the user experience and want to control every thing yourself just because, then you probably should be on an Android...

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