iOS 18 Battery Life Thread

[goldmac2006]

If you are constantly using low power mode, none of you numbers truly count. That is not reality to run low power mode all the time.

I totally agree with that iPhone XR user’s decision to keep their phone on low power mode all the time. If you saw my post above, you know I even shared my own experience as an iPhone XR user for about two years. I understand how important it is to keep your iPhone powered up, but sometimes it’s just not possible.

What’s your opinion from the iPhone 16 Pro faring on battery life right now?

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

I totally agree with that iPhone XR user’s decision to keep their phone on low power mode all the time. If you saw my post above, you know I even shared my own experience as an iPhone XR user for about two years. I understand how important it is to keep your iPhone powered up, but sometimes it’s just not possible.

What’s your opinion from the iPhone 16 Pro faring on battery life right now?

That’s fine, but they are claiming 16+ hours of SOT. Then saying us getting less on brand new phones are not using the right settings. Sorry I am not running my 16 pro in low power mode all the time. That discounts all that has been said before.

For me it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. 18.2 battery got better, 18.3 was decent too. So far 18.3.1 hasn’t been great.

 

[goldmac2006]

That’s fine, but they are claiming 16+ hours of SOT. Then saying us getting less on brand new phones are not using the right settings. Sorry I am not running my 16 pro in low power mode all the time. That discounts all that has been said before.

For me it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. 18.2 battery got better, 18.3 was decent too. So far 18.3.1 hasn’t been great.

I’m going to provide a genuine counterargument here. All of you here, watch this Luke Miani video that demonstrates him purchasing a brand-new-in-box iPhone XS on the launch day of iOS 12 from eBay. He then compares it to his current iPhone XS, which he has upgraded to iOS 17.5 since launch day. As you can see in the video, the refresh rate is indeed better on the iPhone XS running iOS 12, especially for app launches. However, you can clearly observe that the battery life remains significantly different on the one running iOS 17. Feel free to watch the video and share your thoughts on it. The video is below. 👇

The new one in the retail box is the space gray one and the gold one is the one he had for a while.

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

I’m going to provide a genuine counterargument here. All of you here, watch this Luke Miani video that demonstrates him purchasing a brand-new-in-box iPhone XS on the launch day of iOS 12 from eBay. He then compares it to his current iPhone XS, which he has upgraded to iOS 17.5 since launch day. As you can see in the video, the refresh rate is indeed better on the iPhone XS running iOS 12, especially for app launches. However, you can clearly observe that the battery life remains significantly different on the one running iOS 17. Feel free to watch the video and share your thoughts on it. The video is below.

The new one in the retail box is the space gray one and the gold one is the one he had for a while.

What’s your counter argument?

 

[goldmac2006]

What’s your counter argument?

Hey, I can’t give away too much spoilers about the video to y’all who never watched it before. It’s similar to the iPhone XR user’s perspective, who says their iPhone is still as fast as the XS in the video, when it was new. Keeping it on iOS 12 without updating it at all by disabling OTA updates. So, I think it fits better in their explanation.

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

Hey, I can’t give away too much spoilers about the video to y’all who never watched it before. It’s similar to the iPhone XR user’s perspective, who says their iPhone is still as fast as the XS in the video, when it was new. Keeping it on iOS 12 without updating it at all by disabling OTA updates. So, I think it fits better in their explanation.

Yes but my point was about low power mode. That is not a way to claim better battery. On a pro that means reducing the screen refresh rate. It’s actually a worse experience than the non pros. Most of us it’s a last resort to use low power mode. So again knowing that low power mode is used all the time makes these claims bogus. At least to me.

 

[goldmac2006]

Yes but my point was about low power mode. That is not a way to claim better battery. On a pro that means reducing the screen refresh rate. It’s actually a worse experience than the non pros. Most of us it’s a last resort to use low power mode. So again knowing that low power mode is used all the time makes these claims bogus. At least to me.

I usually don’t use ULPM or ultra low power mode unless I’m in a real pinch. Like, if my laptop’s not with me, my MagSafe power bank dies, I forget my charging cables and adapter in the car or at home, and I don’t have anything to plug into. The only thing I turn on low power mode is just my Apple Watch if I’m doing battery endurance mode and I’m moving around a lot, like if I’m at work. And by the way, promotion gets ruined in screen refresh on our iPad Pros and iPhone 13 Pro and newer.

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

I usually don’t use ULPM or ultra low power mode unless I’m in a real pinch. Like, if my laptop’s not with me, my MagSafe power bank dies, I forget my charging cables and adapter in the car or at home, and I don’t have anything to plug into. The only thing I turn on low power mode is just my Apple Watch if I’m doing battery endurance mode and I’m moving around a lot, like if I’m at work. And by the way, promotion gets ruined in screen refresh on our iPad Pros and iPhone 13 Pro and newer.

Yeah that’s what I said the refresh rate is dropped mean no pro motion. Again clearly [mention]FeliApple [/mention] uses lower power mode all the time and that’s fine, but you can’t claim the amazing battery numbers running that.

 

[goldmac2006]

Yeah that’s what I said the refresh rate is dropped mean no pro motion. Again clearly [mention]FeliApple [/mention] uses lower power mode all the time and that’s fine, but you can’t claim the amazing battery numbers running that.

It’s only advantageous if you prioritize 24 hours of battery life and seek features beyond Apple’s advertised specifications. Apple Watch Ultra users are likely to appreciate extending their battery life in this manner based upon interviews with Apple Watch Ultra users around MR and with acquaintances and colleagues. However, it’s only practical if you don’t intend to carry any charger with you when you’re out and about, except during travel.

 

[fergus2019]

On my iPhone 11 on iOS 17.7.1 there was very little consumption! With the installation of 18.3 and then 18.3.1, the energy consumption is 10% of the battery per hour. And during the night it goes from 0% to 7% under the same conditions. iOS 18 is clearly very raw.

 

[mondaymorning]

On my iPhone 11 on iOS 17.7.1 there was very little consumption! With the installation of 18.3 and then 18.3.1, the energy consumption is 10% of the battery per hour. And during the night it goes from 0% to 7% under the same conditions. iOS 18 is clearly very raw.

Same behavior on 13PM/14.

 

[Blue Hawk]

Tonight I’ve had this problem the second time. Charging limit disabled, only optimized charging is enabled. It charges until %80 and waits. Later when it should charge it doesn’t. This is pretty annoying.

 

[HouseLannister]

Tonight I’ve had this problem the second time. Charging limit disabled, only optimized charging is enabled. It charges until %80 and waits. Later when it should charge it doesn’t. This is pretty annoying.

That’s how optimized charging is supposed to work. If you dont take it off the charger at the same time every day, turn that off. It’s learning from your behaviors, but it can get confused real fast if you have insomnia or need to work early one day or sleep in on weekends.

 

[FeliApple]

That’s fine, but they are claiming 16+ hours of SOT. Then saying us getting less on brand new phones are not using the right settings. Sorry I am not running my 16 pro in low power mode all the time. That discounts all that has been said before.

For me it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. 18.2 battery got better, 18.3 was decent too. So far 18.3.1 hasn’t been great.

I have no counter-arguments, because you’ve offered half a million qualms.

Low Power Mode doesn’t make that much of a difference, at least not when I tried it without on iOS 9 on my former 6s. I should get something similar without it, but sorry, I’m not trying it here. I have nothing to prove. A six-year-old iPhone with the original battery should not get twice the battery life as the current models rated for twice the battery life, especially considering you are also running original iOS versions.

But I’ll try the 16 and get back to you.

I’ll get the standard 16 soon, which should be obliterated by the Pro Max, and if I can get anything like this, then it’s settled. I’ll try that one (and it’ll be on iOS 18) without LPM and let you know.

 

[Reverend Benny]

I’m going to provide a genuine counterargument here. All of you here, watch this Luke Miani video that demonstrates him purchasing a brand-new-in-box iPhone XS on the launch day of iOS 12 from eBay. He then compares it to his current iPhone XS, which he has upgraded to iOS 17.5 since launch day. As you can see in the video, the refresh rate is indeed better on the iPhone XS running iOS 12, especially for app launches. However, you can clearly observe that the battery life remains significantly different on the one running iOS 17. Feel free to watch the video and share your thoughts on it. The video is below. 👇

The new one in the retail box is the space gray one and the gold one is the one he had for a while.

Good video, thanks or sharing.
I don't see where he states that the refresh rate is better on the iOS 12 phone tho. Sure, boot up time is a bit better on the brand spanking new phone (by secods) and some test point towards the older having higher performance numbers and some that the newer has better numbers.

Hard to compare two devices like that as there are so many tings to take into consideration, but would have been interesting to see a basic battery life comparison if he swapped out the battery for a new one on the "old" phone.
Would be even more intereseting to see an updated comparison with iOS 18 on the "old" devices too.

 

[FeliApple]

Good video, thanks or sharing.
I don't see where he states that the refresh rate is better on the iOS 12 phone tho. Sure, boot up time is a bit better on the brand spanking new phone (by secods) and some test point towards the older having higher performance numbers and some that the newer has better numbers.

Hard to compare two devices like that as there are so many tings to take into consideration, but would have been interesting to see a basic battery life comparison if he swapped out the battery for a new one on the "old" phone.
Would be even more intereseting to see an updated comparison with iOS 18 on the "old" devices too.

Interestingly, and I don’t mean to turn this into a debate, I have repeatedly congratulated Apple on figuring out the performance aspect. Sure, with prolonged, continuous use, you’ll get keyboard lag. You’ll get a slower response, it will be worse. But it will be usable.

The problem is battery life. There it can’t compete. I don’t care about benchmarks. Real, actual use, there’s no competition. On iOS 18, I’d be lucky to get half of what I get on iOS 12. I’m not trying it, obviously.

But I do think the 16 series should be better than this, which leads me to think that the issue is user inefficiency, rather than iOS 18.

Like I said, I’ll give it a shot. I’ll believe there’s an issue with iOS 18 itself if I get abhorrent battery life on an iPhone 16 on iOS 18.

I have never, ever had any battery life issues whatsoever on an original iOS version. I don’t expect that to start now, but I can always be surprised.

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

I have no counter-arguments, because you’ve offered half a million qualms.

Low Power Mode doesn’t make that much of a difference, at least not when I tried it without on iOS 9 on my former 6s. I should get something similar without it, but sorry, I’m not trying it here. I have nothing to prove. A six-year-old iPhone with the original battery should not get twice the battery life as the current models rated for twice the battery life, especially considering you are also running original iOS versions.

But I’ll try the 16 and get back to you.

I’ll get the standard 16 soon, which should be obliterated by the Pro Max, and if I can get anything like this, then it’s settled. I’ll try that one (and it’ll be on iOS 18) without LPM and let you know.

I am still extremely confused as to what you are offering here. You come in saying you have all these battery saving tricks that everyone should be running to get better battery life, and say your XR can run circles around the newest phone and that shouldn’t be the case. So are you trying to prove something, because the only battery saving tips you have been given have either been tried or aren’t something everyone is willing to do. LPM may not offer that much more battery, but on a pro phone it’s a huge disadvantage. The refresh rate is horrible. That’s my point, if that’s a tip, it’s not a tip at all. Apple didn’t create LPM for people to use it all the time to just achieve a certain number for battery life.

That said, all of us here have repeatedly said that iOS 18 is the problem, and general it’s a pro phone issue. Less with the non pros. This isn’t about having the right battery saving settings on, there is just a core issue with iOS 18 and battery life.

 

[FeliApple]

I am still extremely confused as to what you are offering here. You come in saying you have all these battery saving tricks that everyone should be running to get better battery life, and say your XR can run circles around the newest phone and that shouldn’t be the case. So are you trying to prove something, because the only battery saving tips you have been given have either been tried or aren’t something everyone is willing to do. LPM may not offer that much more battery, but on a pro phone it’s a huge disadvantage. The refresh rate is horrible. That’s my point, if that’s a tip, it’s not a tip at all. Apple didn’t create LPM for people to use it all the time to just achieve a certain number for battery life.

That said, all of us here have repeatedly said that iOS 18 is the problem, and general it’s a pro phone issue. Less with the non pros. This isn’t about having the right battery saving settings on, there is just a core issue with iOS 18 and battery life.

All I’m saying is try the usual culprits first: push mail, to fetch manually. Disable background app refresh. Disable 120hz. Try to test it with a stable signal, Wi-Fi, and lower brightness. Disable pointless location services, and disable location for apps that have it on all the time. Don’t use massively draining apps like games and other heavy apps.

You now have a baseline. If THAT fails, then either your phone or iOS 18 have an issue.

Because I got 4 hours of SOT 100-50%... with an iPhone 6s running iOS 9, with peak SOT of about 8-9 hours. Almost a quarter of the 16 Pro Max.

I’m not saying “try it all the time”. I’m saying “try it for one cycle, see what your baseline is, and move from there”.

 

[kirbysmartsdawg]

All I’m saying is try the usual culprits first: push mail, to fetch manually. Disable background app refresh. Disable 120hz. Try to test it with a stable signal, Wi-Fi, and lower brightness. Disable pointless location services, and disable location for apps that have it on all the time. Don’t use massively draining apps like games and other heavy apps.

You now have a baseline. If THAT fails, then either your phone or iOS 18 have an issue.

Because I got 4 hours of SOT 100-50%... with an iPhone 6s running iOS 9, with peak SOT of about 8-9 hours. Almost a quarter of the 16 Pro Max.

I’m not saying “try it all the time”. I’m saying “try it for one cycle, see what your baseline is, and move from there”.

Ok, but if you read this thread way back in the beginning, all of this has been tried. That’s what I told you yesterday. All of the things you have suggested have been tried.

 

[ATmahe]

and even more ...
Also calling something a "tip" what actually decreases the useability is kind of a joke ...

It should be kind of okay with the default settings provided by Apple, but it's not ... for many people.

 

[FeliApple]

and even more ...
Also calling something a "tip" what actually decreases the useability is kind of a joke ...

It should be kind of okay with the default settings provided by Apple, but it's not ... for many people.

Agreed, and not only that. A phone rated for 31 hours of SOT should be better even with not-so-efficient usage, as long as it isn’t full brightness and massively heavy. Clearly, this isn’t the case for many.

 

[Blue Hawk]

That’s how optimized charging is supposed to work. If you dont take it off the charger at the same time every day, turn that off. It’s learning from your behaviors, but it can get confused real fast if you have insomnia or need to work early one day or sleep in on weekends.

It shouldn’t charge anyway with optimized charging. But why does it take more hours ? My charger always turns off automatically at 8am

 

[Reverend Benny]

It shouldn’t charge anyway with optimized charging. But why does it take more hours ? My charger always turns off automatically at 8am

Not sure I follow fully but its described pretty good in the link below how it works.
Looking at the pic it makes sense, it has charged to 80%, still connected to the charger, keeps it at 80% untill it thinks you will use the phone and starts charging it up to 100%

If your charger turns off it will prob try and compensate for it when its connected again and are aiaming for 100% since its your "usage" period.

About Charge Limit and Optimized Battery Charging on iPhone - Apple Support

To improve the lifespan of your battery, your iPhone learns from your daily charging habits.

support.apple.com

 

[ATmahe]

Agreed, and not only that. A phone rated for 31 hours of SOT should be better even with not-so-efficient usage, as long as it isn’t full brightness and massively heavy. Clearly, this isn’t the case for many.

I would be happy if my 15 Pro brings me through my day with up to 6h or 8h SOT.
But this is how it looks, I‘m on WiFi the whole day, 2m away from the WiFi access point, lying face down on the table nearly the whole time.

And I can’t find the reason …

 

[FeliApple]

I would be happy if my 15 Pro brings me through my day with up to 6h or 8h SOT.
But this is how it looks, I‘m on WiFi the whole day, 2m away from the WiFi access point, lying face down on the table nearly the whole time.

And I can’t find the reason …

Yeah, no, that’s abhorrent regardless of settings.

1.5 hours 100-40% or 30-something is ridiculously poor. My iPhone 5s (notoriously bad for battery life) was better than that.

Yeah, if brightness isn’t too high then that’s appalling. If it is at full maybe I could suggest decreasing it, but even at 60% that number is unacceptable.

And an iPhone 15 Pro is nowhere near updated enough so as to be obliterated by iOS updates. Not like that.

Yeah, very puzzling...