There is no single battery-drain figure that applies to every iPhone. In a two-week observation on an iPhone 17 running iOS 27 Beta 3, Macworld measured average battery discharge of 4.27% per hour with Always-On Display (AOD) enabled and 3.75% per hour with it disabled. That difference was not statistically significant in the test. An older iPhone 14 Pro test found about 0.8% per hour with the wallpaper visible and 0.6% per hour with it hidden. These are battery-percentage changes from different tests, not measurements of electrical power in watts.
What the available tests found
| Test | Phone and conditions | Reported battery change | What the result means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Macworld, 2026 | One iPhone 17 running iOS 27 Beta 3; AOD on for one week and off for the next. Battery readings were sampled every 15 minutes over two weeks; charging periods were excluded. | Average discharge: 4.27% per hour with AOD on and 3.75% per hour with it off. Between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.: 5.88% and 5.37% per hour, respectively. | The article reported p = 0.3011, above its 0.05 significance threshold. It found no statistically significant difference in this single-phone observation. Macworld’s test and methodology. |
| PhoneBuff, reported by MacRumors in 2023 | iPhone 14 Pro; compared wallpaper visible with wallpaper disabled in a different test setup. | About 0.8% per hour with wallpaper enabled and 0.6% per hour with wallpaper disabled. | This older result suggests wallpaper presentation can affect drain in that setup, but it is not directly comparable to the iPhone 17 observation. MacRumors’ report on the PhoneBuff test. |
Macworld’s author, Halyna Kubiv, concluded that enabling or disabling AOD had “no significant effect on battery life.” That conclusion applies to her two-week iPhone 17 observation; it is not a guarantee for every iPhone, setup, or pattern of use.
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Neither test directly measured screen-specific electrical power. Battery percentages describe how quickly the phone’s reported charge level changed; they cannot be reliably converted into watts or watt-hours across models without additional battery-energy data.
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AOD’s cost depends in part on whether the display is actually visible. Macworld notes that it can switch off in Sleep mode, when the iPhone is face down, when a paired Apple Watch is not nearby, or when CarPlay is active. Behavior can vary by model and software, so a day with AOD enabled in Settings may include periods when the screen is not showing an always-on view. Macworld’s AOD discussion.
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Other battery use can obscure the display’s contribution. Apple says battery life varies by use and settings. Its battery guidance identifies background activity, weak or absent mobile coverage, notifications, and work that continues after a software update as factors that can affect runtime. Apple’s battery-use guidance.
Apple’s published battery-test information does not provide a standalone AOD drain rate. For audio playback tests of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple says the tests used AOD while the display was not visible; playback time decreases when the display is visible compared with the phone face down or in a pocket or bag. This establishes a cost under those test conditions, but not a universal percentage per hour. iPhone 14 Pro technical specifications and battery-test notes.
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How to check whether AOD matters on your iPhone
- Compare similar days. Keep AOD on for several days, then off for several days. Try to keep your usual apps, screen use, location, and time of day reasonably similar. This is a personal comparison, not a controlled measurement.
- Check the battery activity view. Open Settings > Battery and review daily usage and app or system activity. Apple’s chart compares the current day with the previous seven days, but it does not isolate AOD’s electrical draw. Apple explains the Battery settings views.
- Note when the display was visible. Record whether the phone was face down, in Sleep mode, near a paired Apple Watch, or connected to CarPlay. Those circumstances can change how often AOD is actually active.
- Account for competing causes. Note poor cellular coverage, unusual notifications or background activity, temperature, and charging periods. If battery life changed just after an iOS update, Apple recommends waiting a few days before judging because update-related background work may continue.
- Look for a repeatable pattern. A consistent difference across comparable days is more useful for your decision than a one-day percentage change, but it still will not tell you the display’s wattage.
Should you turn Always-On Display off to save battery?
If you prefer longer time between charges and do not use the always-visible information, turning AOD off is a reasonable setting to try. If you find the glanceable screen useful, the available evidence does not show that switching it off will produce a fixed or reliably large saving on your particular iPhone. The Macworld result showed only a small difference in its measured averages and no statistically significant effect; the older PhoneBuff figures came from a different model and comparison.
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Best Value
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