iOS 18 Battery Life Thread

[Carlsberg69]

I’ve had poor battery life since the day I bought the 16 Pro. The battery life hasn’t improved with updates like 18.0.1, 18.1, or the current 18.2 beta. It’s evident that this is a software issue. There’s no logical explanation for why the battery life in 18.0.1 is the same as in 18.2 beta. Apple clearly hasn’t resolved this problem yet.

Sad to hear that!

I updated mine 15 PM to 18.1 RC and it’s great, not worse not better I believe so far.

Over 3hrs SOT so far and still 70% battery life - disconnected from charger at around 8am - now it’s 4:42 pm

It’s just weird and hard to draw any useful conclusions how to navigate. In general I have had pretty acceptable battery life on my 16P, except just after installation/update of iOS for example. Right now I have 5:49 SOT with 71% battery left. I would say I’m a fairly heavy user in general and right now I have 98 apps installed. No special toggle off on stuff, basically just running as installed from start and go. Can’t understand how you @kirbysmartsdawg can get the terrible battery life situation you have, but of course fully believe you. It’s just mind boggling really.

Edit: I even have the limit set to 95%.

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

It’s just weird and hard to draw any useful conclusions how to navigate. In general I have had pretty acceptable battery life on my 16P, except just after installation/update of iOS for example. Right now I have 5:49 SOT with 71% battery left. I would say I’m a fairly heavy user in general and right now I have 98 apps installers. No special toggle off on stuff, basically just running as installed from start and go. Can’t understand how you @kirbysmartsdawg can get the terrible battery life situation you have, but of course fully believe you. It’s just mind boggling really.

Edit: I even have the limit set to 95%.

Right? My mind is blown! You get the battery life I was expecting when I got the phone. How can some 16 pros get amazing battery life, and others just be plain terrible?

 

[Carlsberg69]

Right? My mind is blown! You get the battery life I was expecting when I got the phone. How can some 16 pros get amazing battery life, and others just be plain terrible?

Yes it really is!! Do you think you got very unlucky and got a bad apple so to speak? Sorry I haven’t followed the whole thread. You think it’s worth to go to Apple Store and have a complete HW check done on it, if you have the possibility?

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

Yes it really is!! Do you think you got very unlucky and got a bad apple so to speak? Sorry I haven’t followed the whole thread. You think it’s worth to go to Apple Store and have a complete HW check done on it, if you have the possibility?

Several of us have tried almost everything, and I’ve been chatting with another user who had the same issue. He visited the Apple Store, and they thoroughly checked the phone’s hardware, assuring him that everything was in order. This has left me puzzled. If the problem lies in the software, why is it affecting some users while not others?

Edit: Sorry, I haven’t attempted to get a replacement yet. That was an error. I’ve been speaking with support, but they haven’t suggested a replacement. I was wondering if I could escalate the issue, but I doubt it. Even if I could, they might not have a replacement in stock.

 

[TexasAggie013]

It’s a puzzle, that’s for sure. My most recent test has been rather extreme. I restored my phone and set up as new. This time I haven’t installed a single third party app. The only thing I’ve downloaded from the App Store is the apple sports and numbers apps. It’s only been 22 hours but battery life is relatively unchanged from what it was on 18.1 RC. Starting to think there is something in my iCloud data (not the backup, but the other stuff like calendar, reminders, contacts, etc) that may be causing the issue. It seems to follow me no matter what I do.

 

[Carlsberg69]

Several of us have tried almost everything, and I’ve been chatting with another user who had the same issue. He visited the Apple Store, and they thoroughly checked the phone’s hardware, assuring him that everything was in order. This has left me puzzled. If the problem lies in the software, why is it affecting some users while not others? I’ve also attempted to get an AC replacement, but that hasn’t resolved the issue.

It’s a puzzle, that’s for sure. My most recent test has been rather extreme. I restored my phone and set up as new. This time I haven’t installed a single third party app. The only thing I’ve downloaded from the App Store is the apple sports and numbers apps. It’s only been 22 hours but battery life is relatively unchanged from what it was on 18.1 RC. Starting to think there is something in my iCloud data (not the backup, but the other stuff like calendar, reminders, contacts, etc) that may be causing the issue. It seems to follow me no matter what I do.

Ok wow, just insane in a way. Now I do understand the claims that it’s most likely SW related. It can still be a lot of parameters here. Like you said @TexasAggie013, iCloud legacy issues. The mind starts to speculate. Here where I am in Europe we don’t have the satellite sos thing, or we might have other operator settings in regards to 5G, etc… Really hope Apple sorts this out quickly.

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

It’s a puzzle, that’s for sure. My most recent test has been rather extreme. I restored my phone and set up as new. This time I haven’t installed a single third party app. The only thing I’ve downloaded from the App Store is the apple sports and numbers apps. It’s only been 22 hours but battery life is relatively unchanged from what it was on 18.1 RC. Starting to think there is something in my iCloud data (not the backup, but the other stuff like calendar, reminders, contacts, etc) that may be causing the issue. It seems to follow me no matter what I do.

Yep, but I am not sure how we would ever figure out what iCloud data is causing the issue. I am hoping Apple can pin point it, and send out an update that will fix it for the affected users.

I wondered this all along because my old 14 Pro suffered from the same problem. It all started with iOS 18.

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

Ok wow, just insane in a way. Now I do understand the claims that it’s most likely SW related. It can still be a lot of parameters here. Like you said @TexasAggie013, iCloud legacy issues. The mind starts to speculate. Here where I am in Europe we don’t have the satellite sos thing, or we might have other operator settings in regards to 5G, etc… Really hope Apple sorts this out quickly.

Yes, hopefully, Apple will release an update soon after 18.1 is fully released.

It’s been a frustrating journey for those of us affected. It seems like all the tricks never resolve the issue. It’s always the same.

 

[Benz63amg]

I’m glad you finally resolved your battery life issue.

Yesterday, I unplugged my phone at 100% at 6:30 am. However, when I went to bed at 11 pm, I only had 43% battery left after only 3 standby hours and 6.5 hours of screen time. I have no idea how the phone drains so quickly without so little screen usage.

How do you consider that bad battery life?

 

[Stiille]

How do you consider that bad battery life?

Yeah wondering too. Especially for the 16 Pro 6 1/2 hrs of SOT is quite good!

My 15 PM is now at 6 hrs SOT and at 54%!

 

[Benz63amg]

Yeah wondering too. Especially for the 16 Pro 6 1/2 hrs of SOT is quite good!

My 15 PM is now at 6 hrs SOT and at 54%!

I thought he was trolling there for a second which is why i figured i'd ask him directly instead of assume. He's here in the thread complaining about poor battery life yet he unplugged his iPhone at 6:30AM with 100% and ended his day at 11PM with 43% still left.. That's terrific battery life.

I also charge my iphone to 100% overnight and when i unplug it around 7AM I'm usually down to 30% by 3PM on my iPhone 15 Pro

 

[Stiille]

I thought he was trolling there for a second which is why i figured i'd ask him directly instead of assume. He's here in the thread complaining about poor battery life yet he unplugged his iPhone at 6:30AM with 100% and ended his day at 11PM with 43% still left.. That's terrific battery life.

I also charge my iphone to 100% overnight and when i unplug it around 7AM I'm usually down to 30% by 3PM on my iPhone 15 Pro

Or maybe confused idle time and SOT!?

I charge mine 15 PM overnight to 95% because otherwise it charges many hours to 100% - somehow the optimized battery charging does not work…

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

How do you consider that bad battery life?

If I had actively used my phone, it would have been dead by 5 p.m. or even earlier yesterday. Just three hours of screen-on time, and the phone had already lost nearly 60% of its battery—that’s terrible. Others are getting around five hours of screen-on time with only half the battery drain. The main issue here is standby drain. The phone shouldn’t consume so much battery while sitting idle.

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

Yeah wondering too. Especially for the 16 Pro 6 1/2 hrs of SOT is quite good!

My 15 PM is now at 6 hrs SOT and at 54%!

Look at the post again, I didn’t have 6 hours of SOT time, I had barely 3. I had over 6 out of screen idle time.

Edit: I missed typed in the OP. Mixed up SOT and screen idle.

 

[Stiille]

Look at the post again, I didn’t have 6 hours of SOT time, I had barely 3. I had over 6 out of screen idle time.

Edit: I missed typed in the OP. Mixed up SOT and screen idle.

That’s what I thought too.
Yeah 3hrs SOT is quite bad even for a 16 Pro! It got the most battery increase of all the 16 lineup!
There has to be something wrong!

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

That’s what I thought too.
Yeah 3hrs SOT is quite bad even for a 16 Pro! It got the most battery increase of all the 16 lineup!
There has to be something wrong!

Yeah, sorry I forgot to post the screenshot, but it’s really bad. I promise I haven’t been trolling at all. I wish I was, and this wasn’t a problem. It’s not fun at all.

I genuinely hope Apple can fix this issue.

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

I thought he was trolling there for a second which is why i figured i'd ask him directly instead of assume. He's here in the thread complaining about poor battery life yet he unplugged his iPhone at 6:30AM with 100% and ended his day at 11PM with 43% still left.. That's terrific battery life.

I also charge my iphone to 100% overnight and when i unplug it around 7AM I'm usually down to 30% by 3PM on my iPhone 15 Pro

I am not trolling anyone. Here is a picture. Same amount of battery use that [mention]Carlsberg69 [/mention]had, but 3 hours less SOT. Same iPhone 16 pro. There is something very wrong here. Carls says he runs his phone just like he always has, not turning off settings, but using the phone to its full potential.

There are some core iOS problems here. This isn’t a matter of settings.

 

[jazzzyJeff]

My son encounters the same issue. How could we calibrate?

Drain the phone completely with low power mode on when it hits 1%. Try not to use any battery intensive apps.
Once it shuts down leave it for another 10-15 mins. And then plug it in for about two hours (with 20W wired) untouched.
Use it till it hits 1% and charge it back up to 100% and another half hour. Should be good to go.

Personally I disable both cellular and location services when it hits 1% and close all the apps. I’d rather not have any surges and want it drained smoothly. And only turn it on when I unlock the phone after that 2 hrs.

 

[UpsideDownEclair]

This is by far the best battery life/energy efficiency I’ve ever gotten out of a phone. 😵‍💫 Yes I use it too much but that’s beside the point. 18.2 beta

 

[Stiille]

This is by far the best battery life/energy efficiency I’ve ever gotten out of a phone. 😵‍💫 Yes I use it too much but that’s beside the point. 18.2 beta

View attachment 2442801

Wow! Which iPhone? 16 PM?

 

[rob2bob]

I am not trolling anyone. Here is a picture. Same amount of battery use that [mention]Carlsberg69 [/mention]had, but 3 hours less SOT. Same iPhone 16 pro. There is something very wrong here. Carls says he runs his phone just like he always has, not turning off settings, but using the phone to its full potential.

There are some core iOS problems here. This isn’t a matter of settings.

Do you have an Apple Watch connected?

 

[Stiille]

Do you have an Apple Watch connected?

Even if he has, it’s horrible this battery life for a 16 Pro!

I have a watch connected on my 15 PM and still 5-8 hrs SOT

 

[ahmede]

I notice the most battery drain when connected to cellular , this even with the phone idle the battery tends to drain very fast compared to when using the phone immensely on WiFi only.

 

[rob2bob]

I notice the most battery drain when connected to cellular , this even with the phone idle the battery tends to drain very fast compared to when using the phone immensely on WiFi only.

Same here... my phone gets mildly warm once off wifi and on 4/5G

 

[JemTheWire]

My 15PM battery was charged to 100% for the first time in a while as I usually use the 80% limit. On occasion it decides to fully charge to 100% as it did here. No problem as that's what it's designed to do on occasion.

Went to bed with it sat at 99% @ 23:00. I have a shortcut that auto enabled Low Power mode, turns off mobile data and Bluetooth. Wi-Fi is still active.

Checked it this morning and battery is at 95% @ 07:30. I haven't even touch the phone during the night.

Battery health is at 100%.

4% in 8 1/2 hours without even being handled is poor in my estimation. FWIW I have running 18.0.1 since release so I think all the reindexing etc should have ceased by now.

I hope 18.1 is better for battery life.