Apple keeps breaking 5G band compatibility records with each new iPhone edition, making them truly global devices. There are plenty of reasons to reach for your Voice and Data setting to turn 5G on the iPhone off, though, like battery life gains, but that's not the only reason you'd want to disable 5G on iPhones.
How to turn off 5G on iPhone
Whether you want to turn off 5G on the iPhone 15, iPhone 14, or iPhone 13 and below, Apple provides a specific 5G setting to switch off the latest mobile phone network connectivity option that can bring cellular data to your iPhone the fastest, at least in theory.
In order to turn off 5G on iPhones, a Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Voice & Data switch is provided. You can disable 5G on the iPhone by choosing LTE, switch 5G On at all times, or keep the default 5G Auto mode that lets the iPhone pick for you.
How do I disable 5G on an iPhone?
1. Go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options;
2. Choose the Voice & Data option; 3. Tap on the LTE option to switch off the default 5G Auto and make your iPhone roam with 4G connectivity only;
Tap on LTE to turn off the default iPhone 5G Auto connectivity mode
Starting with the iPhone 12 series, all iPhones support 5G cellular connectivity with various top speeds. These range from up to 7.5 Gbps with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X60 5G modem in the iPhone 13, to the 10 Gbps of theoretical iPhone 14 or iPhone 15 Pro Max 5G download speeds with the X70 modem.
How to check if 5G is off on my iPhone?
Go to the iPhone's Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options and see if the checkmark shows LTE, then 5G on the iPhone is off. You can also look at the signal bars at the top of the iPhone's screen and check if they show any sort of 5G icon, or simply 4G/LTE connectivity in an area where your carrier should have a 5G network, which would indicate 5G is off.
In addition, if the Low Power Mode on your iPhone is on, 5G network connectivity is disabled for battery life-saving reasons on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 series, and only on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 it can come on during video streaming or while doing large downloads. On those phones, a 5G Standalone connection to core 5G infrastructure will be disabled in Low Power Mode as well.
Should I turn off 5G on my iPhone? 5G vs 4G LTE
The sheer fact that Low Power Mode disables 5G on the iPhone discloses that the constant pinging of your carrier's 5G network by the iPhone's cellular modem requires quite a lot of power. According to Ookla's tests, a 5G cellular connection would drain your iPhone's battery faster than remaining on 4G LTE connectivity:
5G vs 4G LTE battery life test
A real-life 5G vs LTE battery life test with the iPhone 13 also confirms those chipset findings, as the iPhone's battery took a bigger hit while doing the same actions with 5G connectivity.
iPhone 13 battery life test on 5G
5G vs 5G+ vs 5G UW vs 5G UC icons in the iPhone status bar
While one can immediately tell if their iPhone's 5G is disabled by looking at the status bar and seeing a 4G LTE icon, Apple is also providing a few visual cues on the iPhone to tell you what 5G network mode you are connected to. Here's how to tell when your iPhone is using T-Mobile, Verizon or AT&T's various 5G networks:
5G status bar icon: your carrier’s 5G network is available, and your iPhone can connect to the Internet over that network.
5G+ (AT&T), 5G UW (Verizon), or 5G UC (T-Mobile): your carrier’s faster 5G network is available, and your iPhone can connect over that network.
4G or LTE icon: our carrier’s 4G UMTS (GSM) or LTE network is available, and your iPhone can connect to the Internet over that network.
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iPhone 5G mode carrier icons of Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile
Here, 5G+ stands for AT&T's mid- or high-band 5G network coverage that provides wider coverage over 220 million people, as all as the fastest download speeds in 50+ major cities 80 big venues like stadiums or concert halls, as well as airports nationwide.
On iPhones connected to the T-Mobile network, the 5G UC icon stands for "Ultra Capacity," which is a term that T-Mobile uses to describe a part of its 5G network that uses mid- to high-band (mmWave) 5G frequencies for faster downloads or high-quality video streaming and gaming.
If you are just seeing 5G on a T-Mobile network, this is simply what it calls Extended Range 5G on the low bands which provides widest coverage, but its speeds are often slower than that of Verizon's 4G LTE network even.
The 5G UW icon on the iPhone is reserved for Verizon's Ultra Wideband mmWave 5G network, which provides the fastest available 5G speeds, mainly in cities and around big venues or airports, or denotes connection to its mid-band C-spectrum that provides farther 5G network reach.
What's the difference between 5G On and 5G Auto on iPhone?
In the Voice & Date iPhone 5G settings menu, there is a third option besides 5G Auto and LTE which forces the iPhone to connect to the 4G network. The 5G On iPhone mode goes into the other extreme, and forces your iPhone to only connect to 5G networks in case your plan gets you unlimited data there, like some older carrier plans do.
How to choose iPhone 5G Smart Data settings
Even if you choose to keep your iPhone in the default 5G Auto mode, Apple's Smart Data Mode in Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Data Mode has been specifically crafted for the 5G era.
Pick the iPhone 5G data mode setting most suitable for your carrier plan
Apple knows that you only need to be on 5G speeds when streaming or downloading something, so it provided an extra setting to manage 5G data consumption on the iPhone:
Allow more data on 5G: the heavy 5G hitter that lets you FaceTime or stream in HD, game, download OTA iOS updates, or do fast iCloud backups.
Standard: here you keep the automatic updates feature, but lose FaceTime and video streaming quality.
Low Data Mode: automatic updates and background tasks are put on pause to save your precious data allotments.
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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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