Live data from Hacker News

Video streaming battery life improved from 12h (12 Pro Max) to 25h (13 Pro Max)

apple.com

41–50 of 136 posts

Re: Video streaming battery life improved from 12h (12 Pro Max) to 25h (13 Pro Max)

#41
post #4

There is a big difference between the local video playback and the streamed video playback on the older model. The new model seems to bring the two in line. iPhone 12 Pro Max Video Playback: 20 iPhone 12 Pro Max Video Playback (streamed): 12 iPhone 13 Pro Max Video Playback: 28 iPhone 13 Pro Max Video Playback (streamed): 25 As far as I know, the new models are slightly thicker and have a higher capacity battery whic…

They highlighted dynamic refresh rate on screen. So screen can run at 30FPS (half of normal speed) if you are streaming 30FPS content (which many folks do). Or even 24FPS (which now won't need to be converted - nice!).

Re: Video streaming battery life improved from 12h (12 Pro Max) to 25h (13 Pro Max)

#43

I’m sorry but who watches video on a 6 inch phone today?

Me on an airplane! Spent maybe 12 hours on my phone last weekend flying across the country and back. Some planes still don’t have chargers so this will be awesome

Re: Video streaming battery life improved from 12h (12 Pro Max) to 25h (13 Pro Max)

#45
post #26
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe. 5G still uses more power than 4G over long duration, if both are enough for streaming. 5G power usage benefits come when you download something, and it simply takes less time.

Can’t you achieve the same results then by pretending that one long stream is just a bunch of independent chunks and download them separately in bursts? No need to trickle it the entire time.

Afaik that's how video streaming works. You can text it in YouTube and look at buffer length for example.

Re: Video streaming battery life improved from 12h (12 Pro Max) to 25h (13 Pro Max)

#46
post #4

There is a big difference between the local video playback and the streamed video playback on the older model. The new model seems to bring the two in line. iPhone 12 Pro Max Video Playback: 20 iPhone 12 Pro Max Video Playback (streamed): 12 iPhone 13 Pro Max Video Playback: 28 iPhone 13 Pro Max Video Playback (streamed): 25 As far as I know, the new models are slightly thicker and have a higher capacity battery whic…

The variable refresh rate is what enables the huge battery life improvement. The iPhone 12 has to update its screen 60 times per second, even though movies are shot at 24 frames per second. That means it's showing you the same frame 2 or 3 times, but initiating an entire redraw operation to do so. The new screen can just leave the image up for 1/24th of a second and then draw the next frame.

the numbers shown compare video, streamed, versus video downloaded. this is specifically an improvement on video streaming. i don't see where this theory that variable refresh rate would make a difference would come from.

there may be variable refresh rate differences! i just don't think that's what this comparison is highlighting.

Re: Video streaming battery life improved from 12h (12 Pro Max) to 25h (13 Pro Max)

#47

In general, I moved from Android to iPhone a couple of years ago and must say the battery on iPhone lasts so long compared to my old Android phone that there's no comparison really. Apple's work on iPhone battery management is impressive!

I don't want to question wether Apple's work on battery management is better than Google's, but want to outline the meta of such statements. In general, I don't think it's good to compare a new bought device with the device you are replacing, since the old device is probably a couple of years old. So the specs of the old one must be worse than the specs of the new one. Another example would be Tesla buyers who are replacing their old car and comparing the new car to their old.

Re: Video streaming battery life improved from 12h (12 Pro Max) to 25h (13 Pro Max)

#48
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was surprised to see some of my younger relatives using Youtube as their free music streaming service. You can find almost any song, with static images in the video. They listen with their phone in their pocket, while streaming regular YouTube. One of them had an android phone that let you disable the touchscreen with a switch, along with some way to turn off the screen. I have to admit I do the same sometimes with…

I seem to remember that Youtube also has "keep playing audio when you turn the screen off" as a premium feature for their subscription?

Yeah, or just download YouTube Vanced and have this feature + downloading

Re: Video streaming battery life improved from 12h (12 Pro Max) to 25h (13 Pro Max)

#49
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was surprised to see some of my younger relatives using Youtube as their free music streaming service. You can find almost any song, with static images in the video. They listen with their phone in their pocket, while streaming regular YouTube. One of them had an android phone that let you disable the touchscreen with a switch, along with some way to turn off the screen. I have to admit I do the same sometimes with…

I seem to remember that Youtube also has "keep playing audio when you turn the screen off" as a premium feature for their subscription?

They sure do.

For anyone interested, NewPipe and Youtube Vanced are solid alternatives that allow you turn the screen off during playback without a monthly charge.

Re: Video streaming battery life improved from 12h (12 Pro Max) to 25h (13 Pro Max)

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a big difference between under-clocking phones with older batteries to prevent random shutoff, and what you're claiming.

And this is exactly where I feel HN had really gone downhill. The quality of the comments keeps decreasing. There’s plenty of technical information out there on the underclocking to prevent reboot issue, and years ago I would have expected this audience to be well versed in it before commenting. All good things just come to an end, I suppose. The question is where to go instead?

I find that https://lobste.rs has similar technical stories I enjoy.

Their account/comment system (a tree of trust based who invited whom to the site) does a good job of limiting drive-by negativity and other unpleasantries.

I don't have an account there yet due to being shy and not knowing many techy persons IRL I might get an invite from. (If anyone wants to invite me I'd appreciate it)

Post reply on HN