iPhone SE (2016) Huge battery drain on SE on 12.1.2, can I leave it in low power mode all the time?

[trfc54]

Picked up a used SE in quite good condition, battery health at 96%, factory restarted it with nothing on it.

Updated to IOS 12.1.2 when it booted up, during the update the phone got really hot and when from like 76% to 62%, which may be expected. I was updating from 10.3.something.

After the update the thing runs buttery smooth, apps open nearly instantly but the battery is draining very quickly even while just opening whatsapp or simple scrolling through the settings menu.

I put the phone in low power mode and after doing that, I'm not noticing any performance dips and the battery is actually staying constant for significantly longer periods of time.

Is there any downside to leaving the thing in low power mode until apple fixes its ios12 battery issues? Assuming they aren't intentional with the aim of having me buy their new, overpriced stuff...

 

[se95dah]

Is there any downside to leaving the thing in low power mode until apple fixes its ios12 battery issues?

There’s not much of a downside, but I think your used iPhone SE might not have been in as good a condition as you think. My wife’s SE has great battery life on iOS 12. I don’t think there are issues with the OS - maybe get your phone checked out?

 

[trfc54]

There’s not much of a downside, but I think your used iPhone SE might not have been in as good a condition as you think. My wife’s SE has great battery life on iOS 12. I don’t think there are issues with the OS - maybe get your phone checked out?

Besides battery health I'm not sure what other metric to use to check, to my knowledge it wasn't refurbished, but just used.

On low power mode I was browsing, messaging, using it for like 30 minutes and it dropped only 1%.

 

[now i see it]

Low Power mode is good for the phone but slows it down a bit. It definitely doesn't hurt anything. It throttles the CPU speed down significantly along with other power saving schemes. It will allow the phone to run cooler, longer, but a little slower. Also Mail won't fetch automatically. Low power mode is good to use any time you aren't concerned with ultimate horsepower and want the battery to last as long as possible. Turning it on when the battery is at 100% charge is totally fine if you want to eek the most time out if the battery

 

[Significant1]

Have you checked what the battery statistics says about which apps are consuming most power.

 

[trfc54]

Yes, iMessages and viber. But this is literally just opening a message and replying, takes maybe 5 seconds.

 

[Significant1]

Yes, iMessages and viber. But this is literally just opening a message and replying, takes maybe 5 seconds.

Ok, you need start with them. It might be a hardware problem (maybe in the radio part), but you need to try some things to isolate it.
- does deactivate imessage and uninstall Viber fix the battery drainage
- does activate plane mode stop the drainage
- does turning off WiFi (in phone settings not just control center) stop the drainage
- does turning off LTE stop the drainage

Could be that restoring to factory settings or reupdate ios (don't know if that is possible) or even doing a DFU (https://www.imore.com/how-to-iphone-ipad-dfu-mode) might help.

 

[1rottenapple]

I wish there was a way to let low power mode on most of the time and increase screen shut off to time 1-2 min instead of 30 seconds

 

[trfc54]

Ok, you need start with them. It might be a hardware problem (maybe in the radio part), but you need to try some things to isolate it.
- does deactivate imessage and uninstall Viber fix the battery drainage
- does activate plane mode stop the drainage
- does turning off WiFi (in phone settings not just control center) stop the drainage
- does turning off LTE stop the drainage

Could be that restoring to factory settings or reupdate ios (don't know if that is possible) or even doing a DFU (https://www.imore.com/how-to-iphone-ipad-dfu-mode) might help.

I mean, the battery is draining even just with scrolling around the settings menu. I turned off wifi, data, bluetooth, location services, siri, background app refresh, doesn't seem to have any significant improvement...

There have been some other threads of people complaining about ios 12 on the 6s and the 7 (even the X), but I wasn't really expecting it to go down % values right before my eyes with minimal usage.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I would do a restore and setup as new using iTunes and see if that straightens it out. If not, the battery might need replacement. If you have an iMac you can use coconut battery to see better information on your battery’s health. iOS native battery app is still not a good indicator as it’s not very accurate and is basically still needs improvement.

 

[iOZZY]

My original SE exhibited the same after upgrading to iOS 12 and eventually the phone would die at 10% left. The phone was only 8 months old. Apple replaced it no problem and the replacement phone is fine.

 

[trfc54]

My original SE exhibited the same after upgrading to iOS 12 and eventually the phone would die at 10% left. The phone was only 8 months old. Apple replaced it no problem and the replacement phone is fine.

You mean just paying for the $50 battery replacement, or getting the whole thing replaced under warranty?

Since I got the phone used, I checked the serial number and the warranty has already expired.

 

[kazmac]

I keep my phone (formerly 7+ and now 8+) in low power mode all the time. I think that extended my battery life until iOS12.

I also turn off screen time.

 

[FeliApple]

iOS 12's impact on battery life. There's nothing you can do. You shouldn't have updated, in my opinion.

 

[Significant1]

I mean, the battery is draining even just with scrolling around the settings menu. I turned off wifi, data, bluetooth, location services, siri, background app refresh, doesn't seem to have any significant improvement...

There have been some other threads of people complaining about ios 12 on the 6s and the 7 (even the X), but I wasn't really expecting it to go down % values right before my eyes with minimal usage.

I don't have problem on 6s (same hardware), it is smooth as never before, a lot better than 11. But IOS 12 main focus was also stability and optimization (especially on older hardware) over new features. It doesn't more drain battery faster than 11, though getting an Apple watch and acting as server for it, does impact its battery. My battery health is 89%.

 

[actcyclist]

I've noticed a significant drop in battery life on my SE since the 12.1.2 update. I now need to charge it twice a day instead of once.
My use is all music/podcasts and exactly as it was before the battery depleted. The battery health thing says its 98%.

I just get the feeling Apple pushed out one of its sneaky updates to make older iPhones perform worse. People used to say they didn't do such things, until Apple was caught out doing it.

 

[d123]

iOS 12's impact on battery life. There's nothing you can do. You shouldn't have updated, in my opinion.

Sorry, that’s nonsense, I’ve got an old SE that is on iOS 12, it has almost zero battery drain. If I leave the phone in standby mode without use (but active with a SIM card in, WiFi on, Bluetooth on) it can go 6-7 hours without even dropping 1%.

It does have an almost new battery in with health at 99%.

 

[FeliApple]

Sorry, that’s nonsense, I’ve got an old SE that is on iOS 12, it has almost zero battery drain. If I leave the phone in standby mode without use (but active with a SIM card in, WiFi on, Bluetooth on) it can go 6-7 hours without even dropping 1%.

It does have an almost new battery in with health at 99%.

Yes but this is dropping while using it, not while being on Standby. Maybe it shouldn't be this extreme, but comparing it with the initial iOS version, overall battery life in every case I have seen and read is about half.
There is no other solution than not updating. Everyone keeps saying that this is nonsense but the bulk of battery life results when updated are 4-6 hours. That's really poor compared to original versions.

 

[d123]

Yes but this is dropping while using it, not while being on Standby. Maybe it shouldn't be this extreme, but comparing it with the initial iOS version, overall battery life in every case I have seen and read is about half.
There is no other solution than not updating. Everyone keeps saying that this is nonsense but the bulk of battery life results when updated are 4-6 hours. That's really poor compared to original versions.

Then it’s not simple battery drain, it’s usage (or possibly an app causing drain).

If you were experiencing battery drain the phone would drain it’s battery even without any use.

 

[CTHarrryH]

I would check battery under settings and see what is using battery - also look to see if usage is background usage. I had an issue where even though background activity was turned off - some apps had it turned off (even though greyed out) and battery was reporting significant background activity from those apps. I had to turn background activity on - then turn individual ones off then turn the general off - that fixed my battery usage issues. Just 1 idea.

 

[FeliApple]

Then it’s not simple battery drain, it’s usage (or possibly an app causing drain).

If you were experiencing battery drain the phone would drain it’s battery even without any use.

Ok, same usage causes the battery percentage to drop faster. Different wording, but my point stands. New iOS versions make the iPhone drop quicker with the same usage compared to original iOS versions.

 

[d123]

Ok, same usage causes the battery percentage to drop faster. Different wording, but my point stands. New iOS versions make the iPhone drop quicker with the same usage compared to original iOS versions.

Sounds like you have a problem with the phone, I see no difference in battery usage with iOS 12.

What is the battery health of your SE?