A few minutes in Settings can change that.
Every new device arrives as a kind of compromise — configured for the average user, which means configured for no one in particular. In late 2020, as millions unboxed the iPhone 12, Apple's factory defaults quietly worked against them: hunting for 5G signals that didn't exist, lighting up bedrooms with midnight notifications, hiding messages behind privacy screens meant to protect but often frustrating. The act of truly owning a tool, it turns out, begins not at unboxing but at the moment one decides to configure it on one's own terms.
- Out of the box, the iPhone 12's default settings prioritize Apple's assumptions over the user's actual life — draining battery, disrupting sleep, and obscuring information.
- 5G, enabled by default, becomes a liability in areas with poor coverage, as the phone burns energy searching for a signal it may never find.
- Notifications arrive without filter or schedule, and HDR video — the camera's showpiece feature — renders poorly on most social platforms, turning a strength into a quiet embarrassment.
- A focused ten-minute pass through Settings — toggling 5G, scheduling Do Not Disturb, adjusting notification previews, enabling dark mode — begins to close the gap between the device as shipped and the device as needed.
- The phone is landing in a more useful place: quieter at night, longer-lasting through the day, and honest about what it shows on the lock screen.
You've just unboxed your iPhone 12 — sleek, fast, and already working against you. Apple's factory settings drain the battery, interrupt your sleep, and hide information you actually want to see. A few deliberate changes fix that.
Begin with 5G. The iPhone 12 was Apple's first to support it, but if coverage is thin in your area, the phone wastes energy searching for a signal that isn't there. Switching to LTE in Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Voice & Data solves this immediately. If 5G is available where you live, Apple's Smart Data feature manages the switching automatically — but you can still fine-tune data usage modes to match your plan.
Next, protect your sleep. Do Not Disturb ships disabled, meaning every notification arrives with sound, day or night. Scheduling it through Settings takes seconds and ensures your alerts wait until morning. Emergency exceptions — specific contacts or repeated calls — can still break through.
The lock screen, by default, hides message contents behind Face ID as a privacy measure. If you'd rather see who texted and what they said, change Show Previews to Always. And if you've been missing calls since upgrading to iOS 14, it's because incoming calls now appear as small banners rather than full-screen alerts — a single setting under Settings > Phone restores the old behavior.
Dark mode and manual brightness control both extend battery life, especially on the iPhone 12's OLED display, where black pixels draw no power. Meanwhile, the camera's Dolby Vision HDR video — stunning on supported devices — looks washed out when uploaded directly to Instagram or Facebook. Either disable HDR recording or use the Photos app to share, which handles the conversion automatically.
Finally, iOS 14's App Library lets you strip the home screen down to only what you use. And a few minutes in Settings > Privacy reveals how many apps quietly retained permissions you granted during setup — location, camera, microphone — that most of them don't need.
Ten minutes of deliberate configuration transforms the iPhone 12 from a device built around Apple's assumptions into one that actually fits your life.
You've just unboxed your new iPhone 12. It's sleek, it's fast, and it's ready to go. But before you settle in, Apple's factory settings are working against you—draining your battery, waking you at night with notifications, hiding information you want to see. A few minutes in Settings can change that.
Start with 5G. Apple's iPhone 12 lineup was the company's first to support the technology, and the phones ship with it enabled by default. There's a catch: if you live in an area where 5G coverage is sparse or nonexistent, your phone will spend energy hunting for a signal that isn't there, and your battery will suffer for it. The fix is straightforward. Open Settings, navigate to Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Voice & Data, and select LTE. Your phone will stick to the older, more reliable 4G network. You can always flip it back on later when your carrier's 5G network reaches you. If you do have solid 5G coverage, Apple includes a Smart Data feature that automatically switches between 4G and 5G based on what you're doing—a battery-conscious design choice. But you can also fine-tune how much data your phone uses on 5G connections by going to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Data Mode, where you'll find three options: Allow More Data on 5G (which enables high-quality video calls and HD streaming), Standard, and Low Data Mode. Check what your carrier defaults to and adjust if needed.
Next, silence the night. Do Not Disturb comes disabled out of the box, which means your iPhone will beep and ping all night long—notifications from work emails, social media, anything. Light sleepers suffer. Turning on Do Not Disturb is one of the most immediately useful changes you can make. Go to Settings and enable it on a schedule, or turn it on manually whenever you want. Your notifications will still be waiting in the morning, but your phone won't make a sound. If you're worried about emergencies, you can configure Do Not Disturb to allow calls from specific contacts or to ring if the same number calls twice in a row.
Apple's default notification behavior on the lock screen also works against you. With Face ID, your iPhone hides the contents of alerts until you unlock it—a privacy feature, but one that can make you miss important information. You'll see "Messages" instead of who texted you and what they said. If that bothers you, go to Settings > Notifications > Show Previews and select Always. You can also change how incoming calls appear. iOS 14 switched from full-screen call alerts to small notifications at the top of the screen, which means you might miss calls entirely. To restore the old full-screen behavior, go to Settings > Phone > Incoming Calls and tap Full Screen.
Battery life improves with two simple moves: dark mode and disabling auto-brightness. Dark mode converts white backgrounds to black, and on iPhones with OLED screens, black pixels use less power than white ones. Enable it at Settings > Display & Brightness > Dark. For brightness, go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and turn off Auto-Brightness. Your phone will stop automatically adjusting the screen based on ambient light, giving you full control. You can adjust brightness manually through Control Center whenever you need to.
The iPhone 12's camera now records HDR video with Dolby Vision—brighter, more colorful, more detailed. The problem: most apps don't support it yet. Upload an HDR video to Facebook or Instagram directly from the app, and it will look washed out and lose its punch. You have options. Turn off HDR video entirely at Settings > Camera > Record Video, or leave it on and use the Photos app to upload instead—it will automatically convert to standard dynamic range. If you send the video to another iPhone user, Apple will detect whether their device supports HDR and convert it if needed.
Take control of your home screen. iOS 14 introduced the App Library, which acts like an app drawer, letting you remove apps from your home screen without deleting them. If you want a minimal look, go to Settings > Home Screen and select App Library Only so new apps don't clutter your main screen. Conversely, if you prefer everything on your home screen, select Add to Home Screen.
Finally, customize Control Center and privacy settings. Control Center—accessed by swiping down from the top-right corner on Face ID iPhones—is your quick-access hub for flashlight, timers, airplane mode, and more. Go to Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls to add or remove features. For privacy, spend a few minutes reviewing Settings > Privacy to see what permissions you've granted to each app. You probably approved everything during setup just to get going, but now's the time to lock things down. Disable location access for apps that don't need it, restrict camera and microphone permissions, and review what each app can see.
These changes take maybe ten minutes total. The payoff is a phone that respects your sleep, shows you what you need to see, lasts longer on a charge, and works the way you actually want it to work—not the way Apple's defaults assume you do.
Notable Quotes
Apple's default settings aren't always the best to help you get the most out of your iPhone.— CNET
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Apple ship with 5G turned on if it drains the battery?
Because 5G is a selling point. The iPhone 12 was the first iPhone to support it, and Apple wants people to experience it. But the reality is that 5G networks are still rolling out unevenly. If you're in a place where coverage is spotty, your phone spends energy searching for a signal that mostly isn't there. It's a mismatch between marketing and actual use.
The notification stuff seems like it should be the default. Why hide what a text message says?
Privacy. Apple's reasoning is that anyone who picks up your phone can see your lock screen. If your messages are hidden until you unlock it with Face ID, strangers can't read your texts. It's a real concern. But it creates this weird situation where you might miss important information because you think a notification is just another ping about likes or comments.
Dark mode saves battery? That seems like a small thing.
It depends on your screen. Older iPhones with LCD screens don't save much. But the iPhone 12 uses OLED, where each pixel produces its own light. Black pixels are literally off. Over a day of use, it adds up—maybe 10 to 15 percent more battery life if you're using dark mode all the time.
What's the deal with the HDR video problem?
It's a compatibility issue. The iPhone 12 can record video that's objectively better—more detail, better colors. But the apps most people use to share video—Facebook, Instagram—don't know how to handle it yet. So you upload something beautiful and it comes out looking blown out and weird. Apple's solution is to let you convert it on the fly, but most people don't know that's an option.
So these are all things Apple should have set up differently?
Not necessarily. Some of these are genuine privacy choices that make sense. Others are just Apple's best guess about what most people want. But most people never dig into settings. They just live with the defaults. Spending ten minutes here means your phone actually works for you instead of against you.