iOS 16 Battery Drain Thread

[KhunJay]

Anyone facing battery drain after upgrading to iOS16 has nothing to lose
by giving DFU Reset a shot. I, too, was sceptical but desperate.

Im on iPhone X, 15 month old battery, was on iOS12 prior. Forced to update
to 16.2, to accommodate the Fitbit app... and that's when the battery drain started.
Would fall from 100% to 94% in first 5 minutes of using it in the morning
after unplugging from charger. Then down to 84% or so 10 minutes later.
Biggest battery hog seemed to be safari.

I am very reluctant to upgrade my iOS and OS in general. My laptop is still
on Mojave and I have no problems. Used a colleagues laptop with Ventura
and the entire DFU reset took no more than about 30 minutes in all.

Post DFU reset I was on 88%. After 5hrs plus of use with safari and watching some short
film clips, the battery is on 41%. Whatever DFU accomplished, it seems significant.
The phone feels more responsive (maybe its just bias).

This feels like a marked improvement to me.

Anyway, there is NO WAY I am upgrading this phone any further. 16.4 is the end of the road.

 

[ledzep1]

My battery seems slightly worse since 16.4 , iPhone 12 pro

I checked battery usage and mail has used 2hr 38mins in background, wtf!

I don’t even have the mail app set up, any ideas how to disable this app?

 

[elementalwingma]

My battery seems slightly worse since 16.4 , iPhone 12 pro

I checked battery usage and mail has used 2hr 38mins in background, wtf!

I don’t even have the mail app set up, any ideas how to disable this app?

I would try and give it a hard reset. That seemed to have fixed it as soon as I updated to 16.4 but who knows in another month it could randomly start up again.

 

[JulianL]

My battery seems slightly worse since 16.4 , iPhone 12 pro

I checked battery usage and mail has used 2hr 38mins in background, wtf!

I don’t even have the mail app set up, any ideas how to disable this app?

Same here, and I’ve seen it after at least a couple of 16.x updates on my 14 Pro Max. To add to my frustration, just like you, I have always maintained my phone as an email-free zone so have never set up an email account on any iPhone and on my 14 Pro Max I have literally never opened the Mail app (I leave it installed just in case I ever find an urgent unexpected need to get to my email). Despite this I have also experienced multiple hours of Mail background activity after an upgrade. And yes - wtf?! - my sentiments exactly!

One thing that has helped me clear it in the past thanks to a suggestion from someone on this forum is a network reset. You will need to re-enter WiFi passwords afterwards but at least for me I find that slightly less drastic than a full reset.

 

[xxray]

iOS 16 has given me the most unpredictable battery life I’ve ever experienced. I would say I average 7-8 hours of screen-on time (SOT) with my iPhone 14 Pro Max lately. It used to be around 10-12 hours when I first got it. But today, no change in my usage whatsoever, and I’ve only had 3 hours of SOT but my battery life is down to 36%. I don’t get it. I really miss iOS 15.

 

[xxray]

Anyone facing battery drain after upgrading to iOS16 has nothing to lose
by giving DFU Reset a shot. I, too, was sceptical but desperate.

Im on iPhone X, 15 month old battery, was on iOS12 prior. Forced to update
to 16.2, to accommodate the Fitbit app... and that's when the battery drain started.
Would fall from 100% to 94% in first 5 minutes of using it in the morning
after unplugging from charger. Then down to 84% or so 10 minutes later.
Biggest battery hog seemed to be safari.

I am very reluctant to upgrade my iOS and OS in general. My laptop is still
on Mojave and I have no problems. Used a colleagues laptop with Ventura
and the entire DFU reset took no more than about 30 minutes in all.

Post DFU reset I was on 88%. After 5hrs plus of use with safari and watching some short
film clips, the battery is on 41%. Whatever DFU accomplished, it seems significant.
The phone feels more responsive (maybe its just bias).

This feels like a marked improvement to me.

Anyway, there is NO WAY I am upgrading tis phone any further. 16.4 is the end of the road.

Im going to monitor further.

Did you restore from backup after the DFU reset?

 

[ledzep1]

Same here, and I’ve seen it after at least a couple of 16.x updates on my 14 Pro Max. To add to my frustration, just like you, I have always maintained my phone as an email-free zone so have never set up an email account on any iPhone and on my 14 Pro Max I have literally never opened the Mail app (I leave it installed just in case I ever find an urgent unexpected need to get to my email). Despite this I have also experienced multiple hours of Mail background activity after an upgrade. And yes - wtf?! - my sentiments exactly!

One thing that has helped me clear it in the past thanks to a suggestion from someone on this forum is a network reset. You will need to re-enter WiFi passwords afterwards but at least for me I find that slightly less drastic than a full reset.

Interesting, I will try the good old turn off and on first, and if that doesn’t fix it will try the network reset.

Thanks

 

[Corgirat]

Did you restore from backup after the DFU reset?

I struggle with location services and find my always running in the background all day. I recently DFU restored and didn’t use my backup. Set up as a new phone but battery hasn’t improved. iPhone 12 Pro Max.

 

[sw1tcher]

Should have read through this thread before upgrading to 16.4 from 15.7.1 last Wednesday. Battery drain is so bad I, for the first time, hate my iPhone and want to throw it out the window. Battery drains (at least) 2x faster than before.

I don't really use it much during the weekend. Fully charged it to 100% this past Sunday morning. 27 hours later, the battery's down to 40% when it would normally be no less than 70%.

Went through every part of Settings yesterday and turned off a some features (e.g. Live Activities, Live Wallpaper, haptic keyboard, etc.) and so far that seems to be helping. Battery is at 92% capacity.

Seems crazy that battery would go from 100% to 40% over 27 hour period with just 58 minutes of on screen time.

Good thing I tested out iOS 16 on the SE 2 first. Will keep the 13 on 15.7.1 for now.

If things don't get better, I'll try a hard reset.

 

[Corgirat]

Should have read through this thread before upgrading to 16.4 from 15.7.1 last Wednesday. Battery drain is so bad I, for the first time, hate my iPhone and want to throw it out the window. Battery drains (at least) 2x faster than before.

I don't really use it much during the weekend. Fully charged it to 100% this past Sunday morning. 27 hours later, the battery's down to 40% when it would normally be no less than 70%.

Went through every part of Settings yesterday and turned off a some features (e.g. Live Activities, Live Wallpaper, haptic keyboard, etc.) and so far that seems to be helping. Battery is at 92% capacity.

Seems crazy that battery would go from 100% to 40% over 27 hour period with just 58 minutes of on screen time.

Good thing I tested out iOS 16 on the SE 2 first. Will keep the 13 on 15.7.1 for now.

If things don't get better, I'll try a hard reset.


View attachment 2184350

Is your location services always on?

 

[sw1tcher]

Is your location services always on?

The only apps that have location services on (while using app) are: Find My, Google Maps, Apple Maps, Siri, Starbucks, and System Services. Everything else is set to Never. (I don't use Apple or Google Maps all that often and it certainly wasn't used over the weekend).

Under System Services I have HomeKit and Location-Based Suggestions off, and turned off Significant Locations right now. Wondering what else I can safely turn off...

Update: Decided to turn off Device Management, Location-Based Alerts, Motion Calibration & Distance, Networking & Wireless, and System Customization too. Let's see what battery life is like for the rest of the week.

 

[max2]

I’m very pleased with the battery life of my 14 Pro on iOS 16.4. Getting approximately 3 days between full charge cycles. I’m not a power user though and the phone is on optimized settings being in low power during idle times, sleep focus and disabled always on display. AOD in my experience consumes a lot of power. Battery health after about 6 months is still at 100 percent.

Same here!

 

[Corgirat]

The only apps that have location services on (while using app) are: Find My, Google Maps, Apple Maps, Siri, Starbucks, and System Services. Everything else is set to Never. (I don't use Apple or Google Maps all that often and it certainly wasn't used over the weekend).

Under System Services I have HomeKit and Location-Based Suggestions off, and turned off Significant Locations right now. Wondering what else I can safely turn off...

Update: Decided to turn off Device Management, Location-Based Alerts, Motion Calibration & Distance, Networking & Wireless, and System Customization too. Let's see what battery life is like for the rest of the wee

The only apps that have location services on (while using app) are: Find My, Google Maps, Apple Maps, Siri, Starbucks, and System Services. Everything else is set to Never. (I don't use Apple or Google Maps all that often and it certainly wasn't used over the weekend).

Under System Services I have HomeKit and Location-Based Suggestions off, and turned off Significant Locations right now. Wondering what else I can safely turn off...

Update: Decided to turn off Device Management, Location-Based Alerts, Motion Calibration & Distance, Networking & Wireless, and System Customization too. Let's see what battery life is like for the rest of the week.

looking forward to your update. I don’t turn off much except HomeKit and apple improvement stuff. I’ve always had mine this way so seeing all the purple arrows on is definitely something started happening with recent os update.

 

[KhunJay]

Did you restore from backup after the DFU reset?

Yes.

I keep Location Services on... but individually turn off all except a couple... and its only when I use the app.

 

[ValerieDurden]

Yes.

I keep Location Services on... but individually turn off all except a couple... and its only when I use the app.

Same!

 

[reppans]

Folks leaving their location services (and BT) ON should consider how the AirTag system really works.

 

[George Dawes]

I turned off all the widgets , which I never used

Dramatic improvement in battery life on my 13 max pro

Was c 40% after 3 days before , now 71 % !

 

[Corgirat]

Folks leaving their location services (and BT) ON should consider how the AirTag system really works.

I don’t have an air tag

 

[mac_head]

I turned off all the widgets , which I never used

Dramatic improvement in battery life on my 13 max pro

Was c 40% after 3 days before , now 71 % !

Did you turn off the widgets on your lockscreen only or also on the homescreen?

 

[sw1tcher]

looking forward to your update. I don’t turn off much except HomeKit and apple improvement stuff. I’ve always had mine this way so seeing all the purple arrows on is definitely something started happening with recent os update.

A little better. I tried to use the phone as much as I did between Sunday morning and Monday morning over the 24 hour period between Wednesday morning and Thursday morning.

I got 59% this morning vs 40% on Monday morning, and with a little more on screen time.

I wonder how much of the improvement had to do with the settings changes and how much was from switching to dark mode.

 

[xxray]

I wish I could run Low Power Mode but with ProMotion left on. Battery drain seems to be gone and my 14PM seems to last so much longer with LPM on.

 

[mac_head]

After a bit more time with 16.4 on my iPhone 14 Pro I came to the (personal) conclusion, that battery life is not generally bad, it’s just INCONSISTENT.

One day I use 75% of my battery and get about 5 hrs SOT, the other the I use the same amount of battery and get 7 1/2 hrs SOT (see screenshots attached).

Mail seems to be one of the reasons. For the last days, it’s running in the background A LOT. However, background app refresh is disabled and I closed the mail application…

If the battery life would be generally bad I could at least rely on my iPhone not performing that well, but this mess is just unacceptable and leaves me clueless.

 

[reppans]

I don’t have an air tag

Neither do I, but that doesn’t stop Apple from using YOUR phone and battery as a crowdsource beacon to support the AirTag System for other people.

 

[Corgirat]

Neither do I, but that doesn’t stop Apple from using YOUR phone and battery as a crowdsource beacon to support the AirTag System for other people.

I didn’t know that’s what’s happening… that’s not what I want my phone and battery to be used. That’s outrageous. Is it the “networking &wireless” in system services?

 

[JDJones92]

I wish they’d sort this battery drain out, it’s been a nightmare all the way through ios16. An iPhone 13 mini should be getting 5-6 hours of SoT without changing any settings but I’m barely getting 3-4 and I’ve done all the various ‘battery saving’ techniques: dark mode, reduced white point, no background refresh etc you name it, I’ve done it.
iOS 15 was great, wish I’d stayed on that 😮‍💨