iOS 18 Battery Life Thread

[ATmahe]

Yeah, if brightness isn’t too high then that’s appalling.

Usually between 25 to 50 %, I‘ve Auto-Brightness enabled.

Darkmode on, photos on the lockscreen but solid black background on the homescreen. However, I don’t see them often.
Background app refresh is off, except for 4-5 apps which usually aren’t even in the app switcher (so this can’t have an effect), because I hardly use them (once a week), so I force close them when I no longer need/use them for the day. So, this can’t be it either.
Set mail from push to 1h interval => no difference.
Used one SIM instead of two (private/work) => maybe up to 5% difference, but on the other hand my „tests“ aren’t really scientific.

My phone uses roughly 5% battery in an hour, if I don’t use it. But I don’t have a phone to not use it …

Maybe my day is just too long => usually 18h 🤪

 

[FeliApple]

Usually between 25 to 50 %, I‘ve Auto-Brightness enabled.

Darkmode on, photos on the lockscreen but solid black background on the homescreen. However, I don’t see them often.
Background app refresh is off, except for 4-5 apps which usually aren’t even in the app switcher (so this can’t have an effect), because I hardly use them (once a week), so I force close them when I no longer need/use them for the day. So, this can’t be it either.
Set mail from push to 1h interval => no difference.
Used one SIM instead of two (private/work) => maybe up to 5% difference, but on the other hand my „tests“ aren’t really scientific.

My phone uses roughly 5% battery in an hour, if I don’t use it. But I don’t have a phone to not use it …

Maybe my day is just too long => usually 18h 🤪

Hold on… 5% of standby drain… PER HOUR? Forget about everything else, that’s the issue. I don’t have 5% of standby drain overnight.

Do you have any indication of what’s draining that amount of battery? Can you disable automatic mail fetch altogether? Do you have any background activity that you know of?

 

[goldmac2006]

Usually between 25 to 50 %, I‘ve Auto-Brightness enabled.

Darkmode on, photos on the lockscreen but solid black background on the homescreen. However, I don’t see them often.
Background app refresh is off, except for 4-5 apps which usually aren’t even in the app switcher (so this can’t have an effect), because I hardly use them (once a week), so I force close them when I no longer need/use them for the day. So, this can’t be it either.
Set mail from push to 1h interval => no difference.
Used one SIM instead of two (private/work) => maybe up to 5% difference, but on the other hand my „tests“ aren’t really scientific.

My phone uses roughly 5% battery in an hour, if I don’t use it. But I don’t have a phone to not use it …

Maybe my day is just too long => usually 18h 🤪

Which iPhone is involved in this testing that you did? Which iOS version is it?

 

[ATmahe]

Hold on… 5% of standby drain… PER HOUR? Forget about everything else, that’s the issue. I don’t have 5% of standby drain overnight.

Do you have any indication of what’s draining that amount of battery? Can you disable automatic mail fetch altogether? Do you have any background activity that you know of?

Yes, per hour. It’s like the phone is actively used all the time.
No indication at all. I already tried with only iCloud mail configured and set to fetch, I only get high important mails to this specific address, maybe 10 in a month (my main mailbox is hosted at Microsoft). But I can try setting them to manual.
No background activity I can think of, beside of the usual Apple stuff like FindMy, Apple Watch and so on.
Location services are also set to a minimum.

Which iPhone is involved in this testing that you did? Which iOS version is it?

15 Pro, bought at release, 92 % battery health, 525 charging cycles. Edit: iOS 18.3.1

It‘s roughly 13.5h off the charger now and I have 27 % battery left.
1.75h screen on and 2.25 screen off time.
Only 30 minutes without WiFi, listening to a already downloaded Podcast.

 

[Artemiz]

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 …

I suggest you try this.

- Fully charge the battery from about 10/20% without using it
- Leave it on for another half hour
- Unplug and turn off the phone for 15 mins
- Turn it On, unlock and leave it for a couple mins
- Plug in the charger for another 5 mins without using it

Enjoy!

I found it to be a better way to calibrate the battery and it seems to have stopped the inexplicable idle drain on my 13P.

 

[ATmahe]

I suggest you try this.

- Fully charge the battery from about 10/20% without using it
- Leave it on for another half hour
- Unplug and turn off the phone for 15 mins
- Turn it On, unlock and leave it for a couple mins
- Plug in the charger for another 5 mins without using it

Enjoy!

I found it to be a better way to calibrate the battery and it seems to have stopped the inexplicable idle drain on my 13P.

As I charge my phone over night it’s not a big deal to try that after I got up 👍🏼

 

[Artemiz]

As I charge my phone over night it’s not a big deal to try that after I got up 👍🏼

Didn’t make sense but that somehow turned the graphs from slopes to flatlines. You can see the difference between Monday and Wednesday.

 

[goldmac2006]

Yes, per hour. It’s like the phone is actively used all the time.
No indication at all. I already tried with only iCloud mail configured and set to fetch, I only get high important mails to this specific address, maybe 10 in a month (my main mailbox is hosted at Microsoft). But I can try setting them to manual.
No background activity I can think of, beside of the usual Apple stuff like FindMy, Apple Watch and so on.
Location services are also set to a minimum.


15 Pro, bought at release, 92 % battery health, 525 charging cycles. Edit: iOS 18.3.1

It‘s roughly 13.5h off the charger now and I have 27 % battery left.
1.75h screen on and 2.25 screen off time.
Only 30 minutes without WiFi, listening to an already downloaded Podcast.

I usually get around 5 hours of battery life on my iPhone 15 Pro blue titanium with 5G cellular, which is the average. I can also go at least 4 to 5 hours without charging it after a full charge.

I don’t download Apple Music except for alarm ringtones and occasionally download Fitness+ Time to Walk episodes when I go to a park with minimal cellular reception. 📶

Do you also turn off push notifications for emails? I do that as well.

 

[fergus2019]

Не имело смысла, но это каким-то образом превратило графики из наклонных в ровные линии. Вы можете увидеть разницу между понедельником и средой.

Hello, on my regular iPhone 11 on 18.3.1, such a difference in battery consumption occurs periodically by itself, without any manipulation of the battery calibration. iOS itself does something. Most often, the battery consumption during use is too high, compared to iOS 17.7.1. The battery is discharged before your eyes. The conditions of use, settings and applications on the phone are the same as they were on 17.7.1. Fast battery discharge on the iPhone is solely the fault of iOS 18.

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Moreover, the day before yesterday I encountered the fact that in the Safari browser, while watching a stream on the Twitch website, my smartphone heated up to ~80 degrees and began to interrupt the video (the phone was lying on the table, I was doing my own thing and listening to the stream with headphones). I have never had such behavior on any other iOS. Now I use the Google Chrome browser - it does not heat up and the battery consumption is less than in Safari. Standard Safari, without add-ons and factory settings.

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(When 18.3 came out, I encountered a low battery, I felt like a completely metal phone and installed the firmware from a computer, the phone was like from a store - the battery still drained quickly)

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If I remember the version correctly, then on 16.3 the battery consumption was even higher, and only the firmware for 16.7 saved it (after installation, the phone immediately calmed down and the consumption returned to normal, without any few days of optimization and indexing). With iOS 18, apparently, we will also have to wait for a version where the inadequate battery consumption will be fixed.

 

[Artemiz]

Hello, on my regular iPhone 11 on 18.3.1, such a difference in battery consumption happens periodically by itself, without any manipulations with battery calibration. iOS itself does something. Most often, battery consumption during use is too high, compared to iOS 17.7.1. The battery is discharged before your eyes. The terms of use, settings and applications on the phone are all the same as they were on 17.7.1. Fast battery discharge on iPhones is purely the fault of iOS 18.
Moreover, the day before yesterday I encountered the fact that in the Safari browser, while watching a stream on the Twitch website, my smartphone heated up to ~80 degrees and began to interrupt the video (the phone was lying on the table, I was doing my own thing and listening to the stream with headphones). I have never had such behavior on any other iOS. Now I use the Google Chrome browser - there is no heating anywhere in it and battery consumption is less than in Safari. Safari is standard, without additions and factory settings.
(When 18.3 came out, faced with battery drain, I tried to completely clear the phone and install the firmware from the computer, the phone was like from the store - the battery still drained quickly)
If I remember the version correctly, then on 16.3 the battery consumption was even higher, and only the firmware for 16.7 saved it (after installation, the phone immediately calmed down and the consumption returned to normal, without any several days of optimization and indexing). With iOS 18, apparently, we will also have to wait for the version where the inadequate battery consumption will be fixed.

Could you split them up into paragraphs please? I can’t read through all that without losing focus.

 

[fergus2019]

Could you split them up into paragraphs please? I can’t read through all that without losing focus.

Broken. The main answer to your message about calibration is at the very top. The rest is about my experience with firmware and battery consumption during use.

 

[Artemiz]

Broken. The main answer to your message about calibration is at the very top. The rest is about my experience with firmware and battery consumption during use.

Thank you!

While I agree that even with similar use the battery might last longer or shorter, it’s been pretty consistent for me since the calibration.

My observations:
- Barely any idle drain. 1-2% overnight.
- Battery drains 1% at a time.

It wasn’t uncommon for me to see 5% drops at a time a few times a week. I’d also almost never saw zero idle drains prior to this which itself is a big deal for me.
So yes, I’m happy with my 13P finally.

 

[fergus2019]

Thank you!

While I agree that even with similar use the battery might last longer or shorter, it’s been pretty consistent for me since the calibration.

My observations:
- Barely any idle drain. 1-2% overnight.
- Battery drains 1% at a time.

It wasn’t uncommon for me to see 5% drops at a time a few times a week. I’d also almost never saw zero idle drains prior to this which itself is a big deal for me.
So yes, I’m happy with my 13P finally.

My current situation is as follows:
Battery consumption during the night (the same conditions) - from 0 to 7%, always different for some reason.
Battery consumption with the screen on goes by 2%, first drops by 1% and a second later by another 1%.

 

[Artemiz]

My current situation is as follows:
Battery consumption during the night (the same conditions) - from 0 to 7%, always different for some reason.
Battery consumption with the screen on goes by 2%, first drops by 1% and a second later by another 1%.

I was experiencing similar battery issues before but all those seem to have disappeared now. It was purely accidental but I’m glad it ended up being the solution to my problems.

Can’t say for certain if that’d work for you too but it’s worth a try.

 

[fergus2019]

I was experiencing similar battery issues before but all those seem to have disappeared now. It was purely accidental but I’m glad it ended up being the solution to my problems.

Can’t say for certain if that’d work for you too but it’s worth a try.

I'll try, thanks.

 

[ATmahe]

Do you also turn off push notifications for emails? I do that as well.

Notifications for emails are only turned on for VIPs, so I get max 5 to 10 per day.

 

[Travis299]

Yes, per hour. It’s like the phone is actively used all the time.
No indication at all. I already tried with only iCloud mail configured and set to fetch, I only get high important mails to this specific address, maybe 10 in a month (my main mailbox is hosted at Microsoft). But I can try setting them to manual.
No background activity I can think of, beside of the usual Apple stuff like FindMy, Apple Watch and so on.
Location services are also set to a minimum.


15 Pro, bought at release, 92 % battery health, 525 charging cycles. Edit: iOS 18.3.1

It‘s roughly 13.5h off the charger now and I have 27 % battery left.
1.75h screen on and 2.25 screen off time.
Only 30 minutes without WiFi, listening to a already downloaded Podcast.

I have similar operation with a 15PM, 80% charge, 120 cycle, 100% max cap, first use May 24, average 12+ hours use & charge overnight. Excellent battery life. Wife's 16P is about the same, both on IOS 18.3.1 with Apple Intelligence enabled.

 

[goldmac2006]

Notifications for emails are only turned on for VIPs, so I get max 5 to 10 per day.

I only get notifications when I have the email thread set to notify me.

I even use the ‘Reduce Interruption Focus’ feature as a DND 🎧 feature. Or, I set a Siri shortcut where I set a timer and have it on until it goes off, during class/work hours, and when I’m busy at my desk. All focuses for working out, mindfulness, and sleep tracking are silent, with Intelligent Breakthrough and silencing enabled. So, only critical, important, time-sensitive, or emergency notifications are allowed.

 

[ATmahe]

I only get notifications when I have the email thread set to notify me.

I even use the ‘Reduce Interruption Focus’ feature as a DND 🎧 feature. Or, I set a Siri shortcut where I set a timer and have it on until it goes off, during class/work hours, and when I’m busy at my desk. All focuses for working out, mindfulness, and sleep tracking are silent, with Intelligent Breakthrough and silencing enabled. So, only critical, important, time-sensitive, or emergency notifications are allowed.

We don’t have AI here.

 

[goldmac2006]

We don’t have AI here.

Oh, I forgot you’re from Europe, right? The European Union isn’t supported for Apple’s intelligence features, which is why you don’t use it on your iPhone. I’m from the United States. 🇺🇸 My apologies for the oversight.

 

[ATmahe]

Oh, I forgot you’re from Europe, right? The European Union isn’t supported for Apple’s intelligence features, which is why you don’t use it on your iPhone. I’m from the United States. 🇺🇸 My apologies for the oversight.

No worries

 

[goldmac2006]

No worries

I noticed something interesting about today’s iPhone 16e announcement. They didn’t even film it from Apple Park. Instead, it’s all set against a white background. Isn’t that peculiar?

On a different note, have you tried reverse charging your Apple Watch or AirPods using the USB-C ports on the iPhone 15 and later models? I’m curious to know if it drains the battery more.

 

[fergus2019]

I was experiencing similar battery issues before but all those seem to have disappeared now. It was purely accidental but I’m glad it ended up being the solution to my problems.

Can’t say for certain if that’d work for you too but it’s worth a try.

Hello, I tried to do your calibration twice. In general, the situation with battery consumption during use has not changed. For example: the day before yesterday after the first calibration, for 4 hours of the screen on, the battery was spent by 50%. Yesterday, for the same 4 hours of the screen on, the battery was spent by ~110% (I charged the phone twice, because I did the calibration twice)

 

[Artemiz]

Hello, I tried to do your calibration twice. In general, the situation with battery consumption during use has not changed. For example: the day before yesterday after the first calibration, for 4 hours of the screen on, the battery was spent by 50%. Yesterday, for the same 4 hours of the screen on, the battery was spent by ~110% (I charged the phone twice, because I did the calibration twice)

Sorry it didn't work for you. Maybe your issue is something else and hopefully fixed in a future update.

 

[Stiille]

18.3.1 has been a mess for my 15 PM in case of battery life! 4-5 hrs SOT at best… with 95% limit - right now 39% left with 4 hrs SOT…