How long does 10 GB last on an iPhone?
Even if you do not consider the monthly fees or upfront costs you are paying, the most important part of having a phone is regular access to enough high-speed data.
Mobile data is an important part of your phone plan, but its costs can easily get out of hand if you do not manage it carefully – even seemingly large amounts like 10 GB.
The answer to the time this data lasts varies on your usage. As a general rule, 10 GB of data should last for a week when you are using it for general web browsing, and a maximum of 10 hours if using it for streaming medium-quality videos and multimedia content.
Table of Contents
What phone activities can affect the rate of data usage?
Web browsing
The data amounts you use when surfing the internet depend on the websites you use. The main rule to know is an image-heavy website will use more bandwidth than a text-only page. Conducting a mixed test shows an average of 60 MB used in one hour of browsing, making 10 GB last for about 170 hours.
FaceTime
This app is among the most popular Apple apps for video calling, mainly because it is pre-installed in all iPhones. Fortunately, it does not cause major strain on your phone data, only using 85 MB per hour of call time.
When relying on the official app, the average data usage is 80 MB per hour if you are surfing, which is unsurprising considering it is photo-heavy. Watching videos increases the use to 160 MB per hour.
If your aim is reducing bandwidth consumption, remove the auto-play option for its videos under the Settings menu.
Snapchat
Similar to Facebook, Snapchat uses an average of 160 MB per hour, while receiving or sending a single Snap uses 1 MB.
Among the biggest surprises when looking into bandwidth consumption is Instagram. Spending five minutes alone takes out 60 MB of data, and per hour is 720 MB.
YouTube
Using a 4G or 3G cellular network to access YouTube should not give access to quality options, which is an advantage when you want to limit your data use.
Netflix
This will depend on the quality of your connection. The high setting uses 1 GB per hour, medium 500 MB, and low is 250 MB. The good thing is you can save content to your phone when you are on a Wi-Fi network and view it offline.
Stan
Similar to Netflix, Stan has 3 quality settings on the app. The high setting uses about 3 GB per hour, the medium is 1.1 GB, and the low is 570 MB.
Music streaming
This is dependent on the specific streaming app you use; though it is rare to use beyond 144 MB on average (applies when you stream songs at 320kps). For Spotify, you can reduce the quality to 160kps (uses 72 MB), or 96kps (43 MB per hour).
In the case of Apple Music, the only quality is 256kps, making its usage 155 MB per hour. Lossless streaming platforms like Tidal use 640 MB, while Google Play Music uses your connection strength as a basis for the quality.
Online radio/podcasts
Podcasts use 1 MB per minute on average, though the quality can make them heavier or lighter.
Gaming
This is generally light, with the minimum being 3 MB per hour, except when playing very heavy games.
Downloading apps
This will depend on the cellular connection and size of the app. Even though some apps are smaller, most require high bandwidth amounts – so it is better to do so over a Wi-Fi network.
How long does 10 GB last on an iPhone on average?
Your internet activity |
Average Data usage per hour |
How long 10 GB lasts |
Accessing a web page |
60 MB |
170 hours |
Spotify |
150 MB |
66 hours |
Apple Music |
155 MB |
64 hours |
Tidal |
640 MB |
15 hours |
Stan |
Depends on the quality setting you use. The low quality uses 570 MB, Medium quality uses 1.1 GB, and High quality uses 3 GB |
17 hours (if using low quality), 9 hours (if using medium quality), 3 hours (if using high quality) |
Netflix |
Depends on the setting you watch videos in. The low quality uses 250 MB, medium quality uses 500 MB, high quality uses 1 GB |
40 hours (if using low quality), 20 hours (if using medium quality), 10 hours (if using high quality) |
Skype video calls and FaceTime |
85 MB per hour |
118 hours |
Facebook |
80 MB per hour (general browsing), 160 MB per hour (playing videos) |
125 hours (general), 62 hours (playing videos) |
Snapchat |
160 MB |
62 hours |
Instagram |
720 MB |
13 hours |
Listening to radio or podcasts |
60 MB |
167 hours |
Gaming |
3 MB |
3,000 hours |
Conclusion
In figuring out the length of time a data bandwidth lasts, you should consider your requirements to avoid overspending on excess data you do not need or choosing insufficient amounts.
FAQs
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What activities use the most of 10 GB data?
The most common culprit is video and audio streaming, especially for video content (such as Netflix and YouTube).
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Is 10 GB of data sufficient for a month?
If you are using it for light web browsing, then it is enough to last a month.
