18 Tips to Make Your iPhone 15's Battery Last Longer

[BobLaBlaw]

TL;DR
Dumb down your shiny new $1,XXX iPhone to iPhone 6 standards.

In all seriousness, I'm about to return my iPhone 15 Pro MAX as it's more trouble than it's worth.

I still have my iPhone 11 Pro Max and side-by-side, they run the same speed, the screens are nearly identical. And I much prefer holding the 11 Pro Max in my hand over the bulkiness of the 15 Pro Max.

To me, the camera in the 15 Pro Max is only better at shooting at a distance. Otherwise, my close up family photos and general photography look identical in comparison. Some better, some worse, but marginal at best between either. I took dozens of photos to test side-by-side and was not impressed with the 15 Pro Max.

The massive camera bump doesn't allow the phone to sit correctly on my stand up chargers. And all of my lighting cables and charges are, for the most part, are pointless now.

My battery drains faster than the 11 Pro Max too. I know it's software, but the phone keeps apps running in the background when they're not opened. My baby monitor camera app was active though NO app was opened at all. However, I could hear my son through my phone without the app open. And the battery drained lightning quick!

Video stalls all of the time on website and social media content.

Calls fail or simply don't connect too.

That's my rant, and I'm curious if anyone else has these same issues or sentiment. Luckily, I haven't traded in my 11 Pro Max yet.

For similar reasons I just got a 15 Plus.
For great pictures, I'll get my dSLR with a larger sensor. (that has lasted me through the years)

 

[boswald]

Honestly, I didn’t even know Scheduled Summary existed before this article, so I actually enabled a “draining” feature.

 

[LV426]

“it's all about finding what works for you, what you don't need, and where you can compromise to extend battery life.”

Not quite as snappy as “It just works”!

 

[ikramerica]

Hate to see this kind of post that it always implies it’s the users’ problems for making the phone’s battery life sucks. “It is users” problem for not knowing to tips to save battery”.

Imagine there is a post saying “turn off your car’s AC and entertainment system, so your car can go further”. Sounds ridiculous right?

So true. When instead of saving weight vs the 14 they could have made the phone slightly thicker with a much larger battery in the process.

 

[tasa]

With every new operating system release and new iPhone, there are complaints about issues with battery life, and this year is no exception. There are often periods of rapid battery drain following an update or release due to behind-the-scenes syncing, but sometimes problems can persist longer.

Battery life problems can be caused by new features Apple has implemented, bugs that need to be fixed, or simply an uptick in usage after an update. Whatever the cause, we've rounded up some suggestions on how you can maximize your iPhone's battery life in situations where every last minute is important.

Note that there aren't many suggestions that don't disable key features on the iPhone, so you need to balance battery drain with the feature set that you want enabled, turning things off and on as needed when better battery life is required. Not all of these tips are specific to iOS 17 and the iPhone 15 models, but these steps will absolutely help preserve battery on your new device.

1. Turn Off Live Activities

Live Activities let apps keep an ongoing notification on the Lock Screen or Dynamic Island, and in iOS 17, Live Activities are used more than ever before. Combined with the Always-On display of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro models, Live Activities can noticeably drain the battery.

Live Activities can be disabled by following these steps:

1. Open up the Settings app.
2. Go to Face ID & Passcode.
3. Enter your passcode to unlock the iPhone.
4. Scroll down and toggle off Live Activities.

This will prevent Live Activities from showing up on the Lock Screen, but you'll want to take this one step further. In the individual app sections in the Settings app, you can disable Live Activities on an app-by-app basis, or avoid using Live Activities features within apps.

You can't fully disable the Dynamic Island, but you can swipe left on any running animation to dismiss it.

2. Delete Lock Screen and Home Screen Widgets

In iOS 17, Apple further improved widgets, introducing interactivity. Widgets can now be used right on the Lock Screen, so you can do things like control smart home products or check off Reminders without opening an app.

If you're not using a particular widget often, it might be best to remove it to preserve battery life, though it is worth exploring whether using a widget is less battery intensive than opening up an app.

On the Lock Screen specifically, you can use an option that doesn't have widgets, which makes it easy to switch over. Specific Lock Screens can be linked to a Focus mode, so you can even set up something that removes widgets and nixes unimportant notifications.

For details on adding widgets, removing widgets, and creating Lock Screens, we have a dedicated Lock Screen guide and a guide on interactive widgets.

Turn Off Live Voicemail

Live Voicemail is a feature that lets you get a real-time readout of a voicemail that someone is leaving so you can answer the phone if it's something important. Since Live Voicemail shows up right on the Lock Screen, it's not doing your battery any favors.

If you want to disable it, you can do so by going to Settings > Phone > Live Voicemail and toggling it off.

4. Turn Off Proximity AirDrop Sharing

When you hold two iPhones running iOS 17 together, or an iPhone running iOS 17 and an Apple Watch running watchOS 10.1, the iPhone initiates a proximity-based AirDrop or contact transfer protocol. If you're continually triggering this, it can drain battery, so if you've got your iPhone near another iPhone and the AirDrop interface keeps popping up, you might want to turn it off.

To do so, go to Settings > General > AirDrop and toggle off "Bringing Devices Together."

5. Take Advantage of Offline Maps

In iOS 17, you can download Apple Maps for offline usage. It's useful for when you don't have a cellular connection, but it's also good to use even if you do. If you're traveling in an area where you have a somewhat spotty connection, downloading a map for that spot and then turning off cellular will preserve your battery life without impacting your ability to get around.

We have a dedicated how-to that walks you through downloading a map for offline usage, but it's as simple as searching for a location in Maps, tapping the download button, and then selecting the area of the map to download.

6. Disable Haptic Keyboard Feedback

Apple has a keyboard option that gives you haptic feedback when you tap the on-screen keys. It vibrates with each key tap for a more satisfying typing experience, but what you might not know is that it drains battery.

Apple said in a support document last year that keyboard haptics might affect battery life, so it's not something you want to use when you don't have battery to spare. It's not on by default, but if you've enabled it, you can turn it off by following these steps:

1. Open up the Settings app.
2. Tap on Sounds & Haptics.
3. Tap on Keyboard Feedback.
4. Toggle off Haptic.

7. Turn Off Always-On Display (iPhone 15 Pro)

As the name suggests, the Always-On display on the iPhone 15 Pro models leaves the time, your wallpaper, widgets, and Live Activities visible on the Lock Screen even when your iPhone is locked... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: 18 Tips to Make Your iPhone 15's Battery Last Longer

This article could have been summary by; throw away your iPhone in the trash can and buy a NOKIA 3310. What’s the point of turning off everything that makes a smartphone a smartphone. Apple should improve the expensive iPhone battery life period

 

[Urban Splash]

What a strange article….

 

[wanha]

MacRumors is for men what Cosmopolitan is for women:

Cosmopolitan: 18 Tips To Make Your Man Last Longer
MacRumors: 18 Tips to Make Your iPhone Battery Last Longer

Bottom line: everybody wants better performance

 

[klasma]

I see the point of the article but at the same time, I do not.

Sounds like Schrödinger's point.

 

[klasma]

Tune in for more top tips for how to save stuff by never using it next week.

Just think about how much money you could save by not buying an iPhone, and various other Apple products. Maybe MacRumors should do an article about that.

 

[klasma]

That suggestion to reduce the Fetch time for email can cause you grief. Already, we are plagued with "verification" schemes that send you an email code. Except the code arrives too late - after the verification page has timed out. Or, after waiting a long time, you push the Send Again button. Then in the next few seconds, the original code arrives but now it's invalid because you've requested a second.

You can always fetch on demand by pulling down in the Mail app, when you're expecting a verification code.

 

[klasma]

Apple cares about your privacy so much, they don't even keep records of previous indexing and has to reindex every iOS install, crazy.

This has nothing to do with privacy, since everything is encrypted with your personal keys. Either they don't backup and transmit those indexes to cut down on backup space and transfer time, or it's a format change from one iOS version to the next, so they need to be regenerated anyway.

 

[klasma]

So true. When instead of saving weight vs the 14 they could have made the phone slightly thicker with a much larger battery in the process.

They actually did make the phone slightly thicker, and the battery slightly higher-capacity.

 

[MARTINKERN]

The obvious tip is to create an automation that turns Low Power Mode on whenever Low Power Mode is turned off.

One of the first things I did, when I got my 15 pro.

 

[mgmiter]

Finally, the best option is turn off your iPhone and then your battery life should be the longest

 

[RickDEGH]

Basically, don’t use your phone.

 

[TallManNY]

I'm not finding the 15 Pro battery a problem. In fact, I'm using the 80% charge limit because I think that will help my battery life last better. I normally get a new battery in my phones at some point in their life cycle, but it will be nice if two years from now the original battery is still at something like 90%.

However, I will say that I notice the battery being used a bit faster at times than I expect. But since I have chargers at home and a charger at work at my desk, charging twice a day is trivial and something I'm used to. I might eventually turn off the Always On Display since I find that weird and hard to adapt to so far. I'm just used to closing my phone and expecting the screen to turn off. I wear a watch (usually an Apple Watch) so having the time on my phone always displayed is useless for me. And I also get notifications on my Apple Watch (though I keep many notifications off or pushed into schedule summary).

 

[IIGS User]

I’ve had the 12, 13PM, 14PM, and now the 15PM. I’ve had no battery or overheating issues with any of these phones. Ever. I’ve never had to throttle any of the features or change the configurations to make these phones useable.

When I got the 10, I was still buying battery cases that added bulk and weight to my phone. I had the phone equivalent of “range anxiety” with these phones. Not anymore.

I suppose there will always be a cadre of people who have issues with any handset. And believe me, when I have an issue with something I’m the first to complain.

But I’ve had no problem with these phones. I have one friend who’s still trucking his iPhone 8 on the original battery. My wife is using her 11 on the factory battery and while it’s got its age related issues, it’s still clearly useable.

 

[alexandr]

The rest of us really should calm down. Or maybe we’re just not suitable to be users for the advanced hardware that Apple makes…advanced hardware that basically pampers the average user to the point of annoyance.

You know I’m right! 😉😄

Oh, I get it — the issues that the 15 has are actually signs of advancement. Gotcha. "Who writes this?!"

 

[andreagrandi]

I found out that if you keep the phone switched off, the battery lasts even longer

 

[ohthehorror]

Does anyone really believe or listen to suggestions from Macrumors?

 

[Chidoro]

Surprised that putting it in Dark Mode wasn’t suggested. This can be a larger impact than most of the other suggestions listed.

I even downloaded Noir to make Safari websites truly use blacked out backgrounds.

 

[Cristim74]

18 Tips on how to turn your iPhone 15 into an iPhone 6!

 

[Eldaerenth Faexidor]

Does anyone really believe or listen to suggestions from Macrumors?

Yes. I learned a lot of neat stuff about iOS in general from MR. Very grateful for that!✌️

 

[Eminemme]

Absolute ******** Macrumors!! Absolute BS!!!! - if you’re getting any financial help from Apple, I truly understand. But just for the sake of a few dollars, don’t ever tell us to switch off this and that !!! If you’re a trillion dollar company and you boast about the research effort you put in to, just make a phone that works ! Without switching off features !!! Bloody hell!!! Apple has already created damage ! Don’t do more.

 

[Eminemme]

Yes. I learned a lot of neat stuff about iOS in general from MR. Very grateful for that!✌️

They’re getting in the comfort zone of Apple. They always do this. Even a worst performing phone, they say - we didn’t have any issue as such… truly pathetic and honestly they get financial aid from someone BIG