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

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

#71
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…

I think it is about half due to variable refresh rate and less than half due to hardware efficiency improvements, and maybe 10% due to a larger battery. The 12 and 12 Pro got 11 hours of streaming playback, the 13 gets 15 hours with it's larger battery and more efficient hardware, while the 13 Pro gets 20 hours with it's variable refresh rate. It appears that the battery on the 13 and 13 Pro are close in size since t…

> So all in all, looks like variable refresh will be a potentially very impressive feature, both for smoother UI and better battery life.

And I think coming soon to macOS Monterey too. If we thought the M1 MBPs had impressive battery life at launch...

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

#72
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…

I think it is about half due to variable refresh rate and less than half due to hardware efficiency improvements, and maybe 10% due to a larger battery. The 12 and 12 Pro got 11 hours of streaming playback, the 13 gets 15 hours with it's larger battery and more efficient hardware, while the 13 Pro gets 20 hours with it's variable refresh rate. It appears that the battery on the 13 and 13 Pro are close in size since t…

We can roughly calculate the expected improvement based on “non-streaming” factors (8h extra/28h*25h=7.14h of expected improvements that include things like screen refresh rate, decoding and better battery) so therefore 25h new streaming video, minus 12h previous streaming battery, minus 7h expected improvement leaves about 5 hours of streaming performance improvements (WiFi/Network/bug fixes/???). Seems like a lot.

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

#73
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…

1/4 of a millimeter increased thickness isn't exactly a ton of space for battery expansion. Comes to a bit less than 3.1 cm^3 (less due to corners which are "safe for kids").

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

#74
post #69
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: my objection is incorrect. We’re in fact saying the same thing. I misread a previous post :/ Not if the broadcast is (eg) HLS[0], so I think the proper answer is: “it depends.” [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Live_Streaming?wprov=sfti...

I am surprised to see someone saying HLS wouldn't work this way. I'm not up to speed on the latest in HLS, but when I used it circa ten years ago, HLS worked by providing parts of a stream as individual video files, so I'd expect this is more true for HLS than a single-file-as-a-stream, not less. Videos were divided into fixed-length files, e.g. 10 seconds each. The playlist file saying what video files to use could…

If you're watching a live stream, there won't be all that many seconds you can buffer.

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

#75
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 re…

I had a similar experience and what it seems like is that Apple devices have pretty amazing standby time as compared to most android devices I have used. This has probably gotten better over the years but when I got my first iPhone it seemed like the battery didn't budge at all if it was in standby, such as leaving it unplugged overnight. I never had the experience with an android device.

> when I got my first iPhone it seemed like the battery didn't budge at all if it was in standby, such as leaving it unplugged overnight

Apple has very stringent limits on how long apps can run in the background, while Android is more lenient. That is great for battery life and privacy, but not giving the user a way to whitelist apps from these optimizations means apps like SyncThing (which only exists for Android) or WhatsApp Web are harder to develop.

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

#76
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 re…

This is a little presumptuous or possibly a misunderstanding of the parent's comment mentioning "old Android phone". It's entirely possible that the person did a lateral generational phone switch, but you've assumed that they upgraded to a newer phone. I love older generation phones because they're so cheap and your car comparison is perfect because buying a phone new IMO is one of the worst financial decisions you c…

Talking about how expensive the phones have become lately, the max out specs on new iPhone 13 Pro Max costs $1,600 and if you add taxes it would be $1,760!

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

#77
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 re…

This is a little presumptuous or possibly a misunderstanding of the parent's comment mentioning "old Android phone". It's entirely possible that the person did a lateral generational phone switch, but you've assumed that they upgraded to a newer phone. I love older generation phones because they're so cheap and your car comparison is perfect because buying a phone new IMO is one of the worst financial decisions you c…

It's not really an imaginary price. Many people rely on their phones more than anything else they own, and many are willing to pay more to have the latest advancements on that frequently used device. The price difference is nominally much smaller than say a new car vs a used one, and arguably offers more of an improvement to their lifestyles.

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

#78
post #69
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: my objection is incorrect. We’re in fact saying the same thing. I misread a previous post :/ Not if the broadcast is (eg) HLS[0], so I think the proper answer is: “it depends.” [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Live_Streaming?wprov=sfti...

I am surprised to see someone saying HLS wouldn't work this way. I'm not up to speed on the latest in HLS, but when I used it circa ten years ago, HLS worked by providing parts of a stream as individual video files, so I'd expect this is more true for HLS than a single-file-as-a-stream, not less. Videos were divided into fixed-length files, e.g. 10 seconds each. The playlist file saying what video files to use could…

Indeed you’re right (and this was my understanding too) - I misread what a previous commenter was intending. I thought they were saying most broadcasts are 1-piece blobs, thus good for 5G bursting. My experience w HLS is indeed some small-number-of-seconds frames at a time. I guess I’m not sure here whether 5G is more battery-efficient or not. “Fast-enough” is all that’s required, so I guess it’s just the calculus of energy/bytes and how long the radio can sleep between segments. Seems very circumstantial to me…

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

#79
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> i don't see where this theory that variable refresh rate would make a difference would come from

People are comparing between the 13 and 13 Pro which get the same battery life for audio playback. There are very few other stated differences between them.

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