iOS 16 Battery Drain Thread

[Populus]

No problem! I do believe the battery will get worse just updating to 16, because it incorporates machine learning features that Apple forces on everyone. And of course the phone’s battery health will matter too.

I’d say for now if it works fine with the iPad, might as keep it on 15. If apps and new use cases start to be an issue, you can always go to 16. And Apple will keep releasing iOS 16 updates for roughly 1-2 years

A couple more questions if you don’t mind, because I still have installing iOS 16.6.1 on my mind…

You said there are new Machine Learning features on iOS 16, but as far as I know, those aren’t available for the iPhone 8. Features such as that one that allows you to cut people from the background are not available on the iPhone 8. What iOS 16 ML features are available to the iPhone 8 that might drain battery?

Second question. When you have the Lock Screen, if you touch the wallpaper, it allows you to change it? Or does it require you to unlock (with Touch ID) the iPhone in order to enter the wallpaper screen? What I’m asking is if my mom could accidentally touch the Lock Screen and trigger this wallpaper selection screen… which she probably doesn’t know how to use.

As I said, having a bigger/bolder font for the clock would be better for her, but if she’s going to be constantly triggering the select wallpaper screen by just touching and holding on the Lock Screen, then maybe she’ll be better on iOS 15.7

Thank you.

 

[ios3]

A couple more questions if you don’t mind, because I still have installing iOS 16.6.1 on my mind…

You said there are new Machine Learning features on iOS 16, but as far as I know, those aren’t available for the iPhone 8. Features such as that one that allows you to cut people from the background are not available on the iPhone 8. What iOS 16 ML features are available to the iPhone 8 that might drain battery?

Second question. When you have the Lock Screen, if you touch the wallpaper, it allows you to change it? Or does it require you to unlock (with Touch ID) the iPhone in order to enter the wallpaper screen? What I’m asking is if my mom could accidentally touch the Lock Screen and trigger this wallpaper selection screen… which she probably doesn’t know how to use.

As I said, having a bigger/bolder font for the clock would be better for her, but if she’s going to be constantly triggering the select wallpaper screen by just touching and holding on the Lock Screen, then maybe she’ll be better on iOS 15.7

Thank you.

So things like photo processing, autocorrect, Siri intelligence, etc uses machine learning. Even though the iPhone 8 doesn’t get some of those iOS 16 headlined features, those other ML features have been updated and can be run on iPhone 8. However, those updated features will run more efficiently on newer phones of course, and your phone will take more time and energy to run.

There’s an iOS 16 battery drain thread on MacRumors, and many posts on Reddit regarding heat and battery issues on iOS 16. And many of which talk about these issues on newer phones, so I couldn’t imagine the 8 wouldn’t be affected. I know you want 16.6.1 for battery, but again there will still be more updates for 16 that may improve battery.

On my iPhone 13, the phone has to be unlocked before you can customize the wallpaper

 

[Reverend Benny]

Hello, dear forum

I’m not sure where to ask this, and provided that battery life is one of the main concerns, I thought asking here could be a good idea.

I have an iPhone 8 that is on 15.7 (wait, wait, it is not for me), and now that I’ve upgraded to an SE 3, which is at 16.6.1, my mom will be inheriting this iPhone 8. Her iPad 9 is now in iPadOS 16.6.1, and I thought that maybe, for her to have the smoothest experience between the two devices, (e.g. getting phone calls on the iPad without any issues, or deleting/editing messages from both devices), it could be interesting to update the iPhone 8 to iOS 16.6.1 (which apparently has better battery life than 16.7 and addressed a lot of security issues), having all devices on 16.6.1, including my SE 3 and my M2 iPad Pro.

Apple will probably stop signing iOS 16.6.1 today with the launch of Sonoma or the first iOS 17.1 betas so I’m a bit I’m a hurry.

My mom is probably only using the iPhone 8 for calls and taking pictures, no browsing and probably no other apps, so.. Should I update the iPhone 8 from 15.7 to 16.6.1 for her to have the smoothest experience on the ecosystem?

My guess is that she wont notice a big difference in battery life when it comes to making calls, and the bigger font on the Lock Screen will probably make her easier to read the time, but I’d like to read any other point of view.

Also, it is there an easy way to make “big buttons“ to make phone calls using Shortcuts? The best solution would’ve been having Assistive Access on her iPhone 8 but sadly, Apple made it exclusive to iOS 17 and, thus, the iPhone 8 won’t receive it.

I’m open to ideas, and suggestions about updating the iPhone 8, but if you -or any mod- thinks it is better to open a different thread, just let me know.

Thank you in advance.

Give your mum some love by installing 16.7 on the device, that is supported and will get security updates.
It looks like iOS 15 doesn't get any more updates and that iOS 16 will for at least another year.
Same goes for iPadOS.

 

[Populus]

Give your mum some love by installing 16.7 on the device, that is supported and will get security updates.
It looks like iOS 15 doesn't get any more updates and that iOS 16 will for at least another year.
Same goes for iPadOS.

Yeah but I was asking because people reported worse battery life, although I’m not sure that was addressed on subsequent updates after iOS 16.0.1

On the other hand, I’ve read that iPhone 8 is laggy on iOS 16 so… not sure about what to do.

 

[krvld]

I don‘t think I had such a great battery life even when my iP13 Mini was on iOS 15.7.1….
Yesterday I did downgraded from the terrible iOS 17.0.1 to 16.6.1 and this is the result:

89% battery health and on next Friday I have Genius Bar appointment to get my battery replaced by a new one out of warranty.
Such a great battery life I had on 15.7.1 with 100% battery health.

I agree that iOS 15 was way better, and even 16.2, 16.3 were good.
Both 16.5 and 16.5.1 ruined everything. 16.6 and 16.6.1 somewhat fixed it.

My 13 mini 94% Health on iOS 17.0.1 doesn't seem too far off from you.
I could've squeezed +1 hour SOT easily had I been more on WiFi that day.
Can't go back to 16.6.1 anymore because my Apple Watch is on Watch OS 10 which is only compatible with iOS 17 now...

 

[Reverend Benny]

Yeah but I was asking because people reported worse battery life, although I’m not sure that was addressed on subsequent updates after iOS 16.0.1

On the other hand, I’ve read that iPhone 8 is laggy on iOS 16 so… not sure about what to do.

Its so many things to consider when it comes to battery life.
Most make a quick judgements but if you have a look at proper tests you see that it doesn't have such a huge impact, some releases makes it slightly better, some worse.
It also depending on what apps you use, is one app not fully compatible with an update etc.

I had isssues with my 13 pro and complained a bit about iOS updates but it had to do with that I uninstalled the health app. Or maybe a combo. But it sorted itself out when reinstalling it.

iOS 16 isn't laggy on the iPhone 8.
Whats important these days is that you have an up to date OS, and i'm very pleased that Apple has started caring more about the users and actually fixing all these security flaws that's found.

Below a comparison between ios12 and iOS16 on a iphone8. And the difference is barely noticeable.
Keep in mind that the iOS 12 version in the test are using the old version of the apps released back then.

 

[GoofyCyborg]

I’m experiencing battery drain but only since installing 16.7. Took my phone off charge at 8am (was at 100%) and it’s now 09:06 and I’m already at 87%. Only used Safari to browse the web and another app to log calorie intake.

 

[Populus]

Its so many things to consider when it comes to battery life.
Most make a quick judgements but if you have a look at proper tests you see that it doesn't have such a huge impact, some releases makes it slightly better, some worse.
It also depending on what apps you use, is one app not fully compatible with an update etc.

I had isssues with my 13 pro and complained a bit about iOS updates but it had to do with that I uninstalled the health app. Or maybe a combo. But it sorted itself out when reinstalling it.

iOS 16 isn't laggy on the iPhone 8.
Whats important these days is that you have an up to date OS, and i'm very pleased that Apple has started caring more about the users and actually fixing all these security flaws that's found.

Below a comparison between ios12 and iOS16 on a iphone8. And the difference is barely noticeable.
Keep in mind that the iOS 12 version in the test are using the old version of the apps released back then.

Many thanks, Reverend, this was what I needed to pull the trigger. I’ll try to make a fresh install to prevent any kind of issues.

PS: why didn’t I find such video when I was searching YouTube for something like that?

 

[FeliApple]

A couple more questions if you don’t mind, because I still have installing iOS 16.6.1 on my mind…

You said there are new Machine Learning features on iOS 16, but as far as I know, those aren’t available for the iPhone 8. Features such as that one that allows you to cut people from the background are not available on the iPhone 8. What iOS 16 ML features are available to the iPhone 8 that might drain battery?

Second question. When you have the Lock Screen, if you touch the wallpaper, it allows you to change it? Or does it require you to unlock (with Touch ID) the iPhone in order to enter the wallpaper screen? What I’m asking is if my mom could accidentally touch the Lock Screen and trigger this wallpaper selection screen… which she probably doesn’t know how to use.

As I said, having a bigger/bolder font for the clock would be better for her, but if she’s going to be constantly triggering the select wallpaper screen by just touching and holding on the Lock Screen, then maybe she’ll be better on iOS 15.7

Thank you.

Just wanted to say that I’ve used a lot of iOS versions mixed up and there have been no compatibility issues. I’m using iOS 10, 12, 15, I’ve used iOS 9 concurrently too. No issues.

Of course you won’t have the new features, but for basic use? Just keep it on the earliest possible version. Forward calling, notes sync, iMessage, etc. They will all work on any combination of iOS version, unless you go to like iOS 5. It’ll be fine.

Worst case scenario is one key feature doesn’t work and you have to update it afterwards... but since the iPhone 8 is capped on iOS 16 there’s no rush. I’d keep it on iOS 15. Something critical breaks due to iOS incompatibility? Update it, iOS 17 isn’t coming to the iPhone 8 regardless, but I’d do it only when you actually know something critical isn’t working. If I had to bet, I’d bet for nothing happening.

 

[JDJones92]

I agree that iOS 15 was way better, and even 16.2, 16.3 were good.
Both 16.5 and 16.5.1 ruined everything. 16.6 and 16.6.1 somewhat fixed it.

My 13 mini 94% Health on iOS 17.0.1 doesn't seem too far off from you.
I could've squeezed +1 hour SOT easily had I been more on WiFi that day.
Can't go back to 16.6.1 anymore because my Apple Watch is on Watch OS 10 which is only compatible with iOS 17 now...

View attachment 2283415

This is crazy to me, I am on 91% health and get half your time. Are you using any widgets? focus modes? customisation stuff in general?

 

[Populus]

This is crazy to me, I am on 91% health and get half your time. Are you using any widgets? focus modes? customisation stuff in general?

Maybe any Lock Screen widget? Maybe some Meta apps? Just a few ideas…

 

[krvld]

This is crazy to me, I am on 91% health and get half your time. Are you using any widgets? focus modes? customisation stuff in general?

If I were to use my phone only on 5G\LTE being outside under the sun while listening to music and using GPS with Maps I'd have no more than 3 hours also. It really depends on the usage.

I generally keep everything clean and just to try minimise how much I use my phone when not at home. That type of Cellular\GPS\Bright Screen usage only Pro Max can handle.

To answer your question some widgets are present, nothing on the Lock Screen though. I should add than even the Weather Widget and App are set up to not use my location (I just choose a city I'm currently in).

I turn off everything I don't really need and I'm very conscious about it. I still use Background App Refresh but only for the apps I use daily. I don't want to compromise on the performance, but hey, it's a Mini phone for a reason

 

[Populus]

I’m gonna do it, guys, I’m going to update this iPhone 8 from 15.7 to 16.6.1, wish me luck. If I find stutters and lag, I’ll be honest and will report it here in order to let people know before they make my mistake.

But if the iPhone 8 works fine, I’ll let you know as well. Here on MacRumors and in other forums. This is for science, people deserve to know.

Also, I performed a battery test on iOS 15.7, a full discharge before the update, using Geekbench 4, here are the results:

(The iPhone is already overheating just by the thought of it)

 

[Populus]

As promised, I'm reporting back how iOS 16.6.1 runs on my old iPhone 8.

So far, I still cannot talk about battery life, as I just ended setting it up few hours ago. But I can talk about the performance. Surprise surprise... It is super snappy!! It still feels fast and responsive, just like iOS 15 or maybe even more. This little machine is one of the best iPhones I've ever owned, seriously.

Tomorrow I will do the battery drain test, and will report back, although I'm expecting a slightly worse battery life than on iOS 15. By the way, I've been disabling features that my mom is not gonna use, and that might help save some battery.

 

[FeliApple]

As promised, I'm reporting back how iOS 16.6.1 runs on my old iPhone 8.

So far, I still cannot talk about battery life, as I just ended setting it up few hours ago. But I can talk about the performance. Surprise surprise... It is super snappy!! It still feels fast and responsive, just like iOS 15 or maybe even more. This little machine is one of the best iPhones I've ever owned, seriously.

Tomorrow I will do the battery drain test, and will report back, although I'm expecting a slightly worse battery life than on iOS 15. By the way, I've been disabling features that my mom is not gonna use, and that might help save some battery.

Surprisingly, for a device that started on iOS 11, it has been quite resilient to updates, unlike pretty much every other iOS device.

A family member was forced to update their iPhone 8 from the originally installed iOS 12 to iOS 14. I tried it, and there was no difference. Battery life was what I expected from a 4.7-inch iPhone, and performance was flawless.

If performance is good on its final iOS version, unless battery life is catastrophically obliterated, then for the first time ever, Apple leaves an iPhone behind on a decent version...

Then again, the current trend is for performance to be fine and for battery life to be obliterated, so I’m still cautious.

 

[Populus]

I still haven’t performed the GeekBench 4 battery test on the iPhone 8 with iOS 16.6.1, and I cannot judge the efficiency because my mother uses it just for voice calls, messages and basic stuff such as light browsing.

However, I’ve been setting it up, playing with the wallpapers, finishing the configuration and even browsing the web, taking pictures and using the multitasking, and let me tell you, there’s zero lag. As I said previously, the performance of the iPhone 8 on iOS 16.6.1 is as good (or even better) as with iOS 15.7, so if the lag was what you were afraid of, in my experience a clean install of iOS 16.6.1 works pretty snappy.

However, I sense that with a similar workflow as I had with it on iOS 15.7, the battery life would be shorter. If you use GPS, it heats up (it already did on iOS 15 anyway), and if you start switching apps and browsing the web, it does heat up a bit, so I suspect that power consumption is higher on iOS 16, especially in the oldest devices like the iPhone 8.

However, in my opinion, if you can charge it during the day, or your usage is not very intense or doesn’t involve heavy resource apps, it is totally worth it.

Once I have the iPhone 8 at 100% again I’ll perform the GB4 battery test and share it here.

EDIT: Obviously, the performance of iOS 16.6.1 on my new iPhone SE 3 is flawless. I even use the GPS navigation, and it doesn’t heat up even a bit. Very happy with this device!!

 

[Reverend Benny]

I still haven’t performed the GeekBench 4 battery test on the iPhone 8 with iOS 16.6.1, and I cannot judge the efficiency because my mother uses it just for voice calls, messages and basic stuff such as light browsing.

However, I’ve been setting it up, playing with the wallpapers, finishing the configuration and even browsing the web, taking pictures and using the multitasking, and let me tell you, there’s zero lag. As I said previously, the performance of the iPhone 8 on iOS 16.6.1 is as good (or even better) as with iOS 15.7, so if the lag was what you were afraid of, in my experience a clean install of iOS 16.6.1 works pretty snappy.

However, I sense that with a similar workflow as I had with it on iOS 15.7, the battery life would be shorter. If you use GPS, it heats up (it already did on iOS 15 anyway), and if you start switching apps and browsing the web, it does heat up a bit, so I suspect that power consumption is higher on iOS 16, especially in the oldest devices like the iPhone 8.

However, in my opinion, if you can charge it during the day, or your usage is not very intense or doesn’t involve heavy resource apps, it is totally worth it.

Once I have the iPhone 8 at 100% again I’ll perform the GB4 battery test and share it here.

EDIT: Obviously, the performance of iOS 16.6.1 on my new iPhone SE 3 is flawless. I even use the GPS navigation, and it doesn’t heat up even a bit. Very happy with this device!!

Glad to hear and good report.

Push 16.7 on aswell now that you know iOS 16 didn't make the device laggy, it does fix some CVE's with fairly high score.
Also enable auto update on your mums device

https://www.reddit.com/r/k12cybersecurity/comments/16tn0uz

 

[Populus]

Glad to hear and good report.

Push 16.7 on aswell now that you know iOS 16 didn't make the device laggy, it does fix some CVE's with fairly high score.
Also enable auto update on your mums device

https://www.reddit.com/r/k12cybersecurity/comments/16tn0uz

I guess the macOS 12.7 update doesn’t have those patches, but updating Safari from 16.6.1 to Safari 17 would patch it.

However… and I’m sorry for the off-topic, maybe I’ll ask in the mac subforum, but I’m afraid to update to Safari 17 on Monterrey if all my devices are still on iOS 16, there might arise compatibility issues because, for instance, Safari 17 has the user profiles, and iOS 16 has just the tab groups.

 

[FeliApple]

I still haven’t performed the GeekBench 4 battery test on the iPhone 8 with iOS 16.6.1, and I cannot judge the efficiency because my mother uses it just for voice calls, messages and basic stuff such as light browsing.

What’s its SOT with this usage?

However, I’ve been setting it up, playing with the wallpapers, finishing the configuration and even browsing the web, taking pictures and using the multitasking, and let me tell you, there’s zero lag. As I said previously, the performance of the iPhone 8 on iOS 16.6.1 is as good (or even better) as with iOS 15.7, so if the lag was what you were afraid of, in my experience a clean install of iOS 16.6.1 works pretty snappy.

However, I sense that with a similar workflow as I had with it on iOS 15.7, the battery life would be shorter. If you use GPS, it heats up (it already did on iOS 15 anyway), and if you start switching apps and browsing the web, it does heat up a bit, so I suspect that power consumption is higher on iOS 16, especially in the oldest devices like the iPhone 8.

However, in my opinion, if you can charge it during the day, or your usage is not very intense or doesn’t involve heavy resource apps, it is totally worth it.

Once I have the iPhone 8 at 100% again I’ll perform the GB4 battery test and share it here.

EDIT: Obviously, the performance of iOS 16.6.1 on my new iPhone SE 3 is flawless. I even use the GPS navigation, and it doesn’t heat up even a bit. Very happy with this device!!

I reckon that with the A11 onwards we are seeing good performance even when significantly updated. The issue now is battery life. Which is... an improvement, I guess.

Pre-A11 devices suffered on everything, pre-A7 devices were obliterated in terms of performance.

Or maybe it’s just the iPhone 8, like I said earlier, but still, something positive at least.

 

[FeliApple]

Glad to hear and good report.

Push 16.7 on aswell now that you know iOS 16 didn't make the device laggy, it does fix some CVE's with fairly high score.
Also enable auto update on your mums device

https://www.reddit.com/r/k12cybersecurity/comments/16tn0uz

I’d never enable auto-update on somebody else’s device. Perhaps some of those small updates have an issue and if she can’t downgrade fast enough then she’d be affected needlessly.

 

[Populus]

Just to be clear, I’m not the type that updates every time there’s a new build available. I carefully study which is the latest, most stable and reliable version of a big release, and only then I update, always using an IPSW through my Mac, never OTA. Sometimes this happens earlier in the cycle (an x.3 or x.4 release), but lately I prefer to wait until the end of the cycle (iOS/macOS x.6 or x.7). It is almost a ritual that takes me two or three days, where I back-up everything, and then I restore my devices as new.

I know I’m exposing myself to some vulnerabilities by not being on the latest build, but I’m careful with what I install or what websites I visit. And I try to update my devices at least once per year.

 

[Reverend Benny]

Just to be clear, I’m not the type that updates every time there’s a new build available. I carefully study which is the latest, most stable and reliable version of a big release, and only then I update, always using an IPSW through my Mac, never OTA. Sometimes this happens earlier in the cycle (an x.3 or x.4 release), but lately I prefer to wait until the end of the cycle (iOS/macOS x.6 or x.7). It is almost a ritual that takes me two or three days, where I back-up everything, and then I restore my devices as new.

I know I’m exposing myself to some vulnerabilities by not being on the latest build, but I’m careful with what I install or what websites I visit. And I try to update my devices at least once per year.

Its nothing wrong with that as long as you are aware of what the vulnerabilities are, understand how they work and sometimes find a workaround.
I sometimes skip an update after having had a read on how it affects me and others, cuz what many forget is that you carry lots of information about others on your device.

Just google each CVE and have a read and make a judgement if it affects your or not.
And if it does and you still don't wanna update, see if there's a workaround. You might be able to turn certain functions off etc.
Example, if the security flaw found is on iMessage, just turn iMessage off. Same with Safari. Install another browser untill you have updated your device.

 

[Reverend Benny]

What’s its SOT with this usage?

I reckon that with the A11 onwards we are seeing good performance even when significantly updated. The issue now is battery life. Which is... an improvement, I guess.

Pre-A11 devices suffered on everything, pre-A7 devices were obliterated in terms of performance.

Or maybe it’s just the iPhone 8, like I said earlier, but still, something positive at least.

Test shows that pre A11 devices hasn't suffered much or nothing when running the latest OS (iOS 15.7) compared to iOS 14. Some results seem to be even better.

Quite impressive that Apple seem to be able to add functions and still improve how the old HW is utilized.

Edit:
Just realized that the above wasn't the latest version of iOS 15

The one below is.
A slight dip in battery performance is noted compared to 15.7.7

 

[FeliApple]

Test shows that pre A11 devices hasn't suffered much or nothing when running the latest OS (iOS 15.7) compared to iOS 14. Some results seem to be even better.

Quite impressive that Apple seem to be able to add functions and still improve how the old HW is utilized.

Edit:
Just realized that the above wasn't the latest version of iOS 15

The one below is.
A slight dip in battery performance is noted compared to 15.7.7

iOS 15 to 14 isn’t a comparison. It obliterated those devices when compared to iOS 9 and 10.

 

[Bako123]

Hi. I'm new here, so forgive me if I write something that doesn't belong here.
I have IP 13mini and iOS 16.6
I want to ask if there is any possibility to switch to iOS 16.0.3, since this system has the best battery score. I found out that apple no longer allows to officially downgrade to this lower system, so I want to ask if there is any official / unofficial way?
Thank you for supporting.