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iOS 18 Battery Life Thread

FeliApple said:
There you have the iOS updates destroying battery life. With more recent iPhones on original iOS versions, you can match Apple spec. I’ve matched the Xʀ (I’ve gotten 16-18 hours, Apple claims 16), which had a similar battery life to the iPhone 11 on iOS 14 I’ve tested (Apple claims 17); my 16 Plus extrapolates to about 27-29 hours (Apple claims 27).

Going by that, if the regular iPhone 16 gives 9h 55 minutes, the iPhone 11 should have 77% of the iPhone 16’s battery life. So, 458 minutes or 7h 38 minutes with the same usage. Instead, it gets 4 hours and 18 minutes.

Extremely clear. About 56% of what it should get, for a total iOS 18 impact of 44%. Sounds like what you can expect.

I will be testing an iPhone 11 on iOS 18 soon, and I expect to get around half of what I get with my iPhone Xʀ that still runs iOS 12.
Click to expand...
Lmk how it turns out. Surprised you update your other iPhones asides that iPhone XR on launch day iOS.

krvld said:
How does it compare to previous iOS versions though?
Click to expand...
Battery life in pro and pro max and regular/mini/Plus iPhones is significantly influenced by the differences in their battery sizes. For those running beta versions on their iPhones and iPads, battery life is further impacted by logging and sysdiagnose processes within iOS, as well as increased thermal usage from high-intensity apps and games. Additionally, the size of the battery itself plays a crucial role in determining battery life.

In YouTube videos focused on battery tests, enthusiasts often maintain a collection of iPhones across various generations. They update these devices to the versions they wish to test over the years. After conducting the tests, they observe that the battery health of older iPhones deteriorates over time. They meticulously document the battery health of each iPhone tested prior to testing it.
 
goldmac2006 said:
Lmk how it turns out. Surprised you update your other iPhones asides that iPhone XR on launch day iOS.
Click to expand...
I don’t update anything. But we share devices between family members. Even though they listen to me and never update anything, sometimes compatibility issues mean we have to update something. Well, this is one instance of that. That iPhone 11 has been running iOS 14.6 since day one, but iOS 14 has become too incompatible, and we have to update it. It’s an upgrade from that family member’s iPhone 8, also running iOS 14. The iPhone Xʀ will remain on iOS 12 because it won’t be used anymore.

In fact… this is our first compatibility-forced iOS update ever. The only two iOS devices I’ve ever updated were both A9 on iOS 9 devices (My iPhone-iPad combo was at one point an iPhone 6s and a 9.7-inch iPad Pro both on iOS 9), which Apple outright server-deactivated and I couldn’t use unless I updated.

I will fight and try as hard as I can to keep original iOS versions. But if the choice is updating or the device is bricked forever, well, that’s not much of a choice.

That iPhone 11 has never been used by me. I have some iPhones in a drawer, like an iPhone 5s running iOS 8 since day one, an iPhone 6s on iOS 10, etc. After almost 15 years of iOS, I think that only one compatibility-forced update is a good track record. Barring that 9.7-inch iPad Pro which was forced out, every iPad we have runs its original, in-box iOS version. If this were a football match, original iOS versions win like 20-3, I don’t think it’s too bad, honestly.

Despite what some people have told me, I’m not a collector. We buy the devices we need, we never update them (unless strictly necessary), and we keep them after their installed iOS versions are obsolete. But I would never buy an old, obsolete iOS device just because it runs the original iOS version, I’m not interested in that. I like to keep my own devices which have my own history of usage with me.
 
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FeliApple said:
I don’t update anything. But we share devices between family members. Even though they listen to me and never update anything, sometimes compatibility issues mean we have to update something. Well, this is one instance of that. That iPhone 11 has been running iOS 14.6 since day one, but iOS 14 has become too incompatible, and we have to update it. It’s an upgrade from that family member’s iPhone 8, also running iOS 14. The iPhone Xʀ will remain on iOS 12 because it won’t be used anymore.

In fact… this is our first compatibility-forced iOS update ever. The only two iOS devices I’ve ever updated were both A9 on iOS 9 devices (My iPhone-iPad combo was at one point an iPhone 6s and a 9.7-inch iPad Pro both on iOS 9), which Apple outright server-deactivated and I couldn’t use unless I updated.

I will fight and try as hard as I can to keep original iOS versions. But if the choice is updating or the device is bricked forever, well, that’s not much of a choice.

That iPhone 11 has never been used by me. I have some iPhones in a drawer, like an iPhone 5s running iOS 8 since day one, an iPhone 6s on iOS 10, etc. After almost 15 years of iOS, I think that only one compatibility-forced update is a good track record. Barring that 9.7-inch iPad Pro which was forced out, every iPad we have runs its original, in-box iOS version. If this were a football match, original iOS versions win like 20-3, I don’t think it’s too bad, honestly.

Despite what some people have told me, I’m not a collector. We buy the devices we need, we never update them (unless strictly necessary), and we keep them after their installed iOS versions are obsolete. But I would never buy an old, obsolete iOS device just because it runs the original iOS version, I’m not interested in that. I like to keep my own devices which have my own history of usage with me.
Click to expand...
I still have my iPhone 7 on iOS 15, which is not server deactivated.

I still install the latest versions of iOS even security patches so it can have these necessary bug fixes and stuff.

On average, how many of y'all still have iOS 15 or 16 on your iPhones?
 
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UliBaer said:
Found a somewhat actual website with that statistic:
telemetrydeck.com

iOS Versions Market Share in 2025 | TelemetryDeck

🧡 Helping developers improve their apps with immediate, accurate and private analytics.
telemetrydeck.com telemetrydeck.com
Still running 17.7.2 on my daily driver, cause 18 is imho still way too experimental...
Click to expand...
So its on the iPhone 12PM you have, right? Due to no Apple Intelligence?

Thanks for that cool link! It seems like iOS 17 had a steep drop since it came out to the public.
 
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goldmac2006 said:
So its on the iPhone 12PM you have, right? Due to no Apple Intelligence?

Thanks for that cool link! It seems like iOS 17 had a steep drop since it came out to the public.
Click to expand...
Yes, i have another (spare) 12 Pro 128GB in white from 2020 with 87% battery, that is momentarily running 18.4. I have no interest in AI and i bought the second 12 Pro in September 2023 right on purpose, cause i needed big memory capacity and the performance of the 12 Pro is still way more than enough for daily usage.
I'm absolutely not satisfied with how the white 12 Pro performs on iOS 18, so i stay on 17.7.2 on my daily driver (the pacific blue one), cause i need it absolutely dependable - and man! - it was a looooong way from iOS 17.0.2 until iOS 17.x was acceptable for daily use - around 17.5.x i could "trust" it enough. ;)
 
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UliBaer said:
Yes, i have another (spare) 12 Pro 128GB in white from 2020 with 87% battery, that is momentarily running 18.4. I have no interest in AI and i bought the second 12 Pro in September 2023 right on purpose, cause i needed big memory capacity and the performance of the 12 Pro is still way more than enough for daily usage.
I'm absolutely not satisfied with how the white 12 Pro performs on iOS 18, so i stay on 17.7.2 on my daily driver (the pacific blue one), cause i need it absolutely dependable - and man! - it was a looooong way from iOS 17.0.2 until iOS 17.x was acceptable for daily use - around 17.5.x i could "trust" it enough. ;)
Click to expand...
You hold off on updating your iPhones for performance and battery life reasons, not just Apple intelligence right?

Has it preserved battery health in any way?
 
goldmac2006 said:
I still have my iPhone 7 on iOS 15, which is not server deactivated.

I still install the latest versions of iOS even security patches so it can have these necessary bug fixes and stuff.

On average, how many of y'all still have iOS 15 or 16 on your iPhones?
Click to expand...
No, the only deactivated devices were A9 devices (1st-gen iPad Pros (9.7 and 12.9), 1st-gen iPhone SE, iPhone 6s and 6S Plus) running any version of iOS 9 (from iOS 9.0 to the final version for devices that supported iOS 10, which was iOS 9.3.5). That only happened with this specific combo: A9 on iOS 9. Not A9 on iOS 10, or any other processor-software combo. Nobody knows why.

I’m running iPadOS 15 on my iPad Air 5, but that’s the only iOS 15 device I’ve ever had. My iPhone 6s(es) run iOS 10 and iOS 13, and I had a 7 Plus on iOS 10 which was broken from the factory and I traded it in to Apple for my iPhone Xʀ. We also have an iPhone 8 (whose support ended on iOS 16), but it runs and will run iOS 14.

I kinda regretted the trade-in. The camera was broken, but I could’ve kept it because it was otherwise a great device. It would probably still run iOS 10 today, had I kept it.
 
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goldmac2006 said:
You hold off on updating your iPhones for performance and battery life reasons, not just Apple intelligence right?

Has it preserved battery health in any way?
Click to expand...
I bought the pacific blue 12 Pro in September 2023 brand new from a guy who had it spanking fresh from applecare+, cause he wanted to update to the newer model. This iPhone was only charged with the 5W wall wart via cable. I have set an automation, that "pings" me when the charge reaches 90% and i manually stop charging then. The battery health is still at 100% and with my normal (not too heavy, no videos, no gaming) usage i can cover 2 days easily without charging. I have wifi calling enabled, whenever i'm logged into a wlan. For my home and for my work wlan i have also activated an automation, that switches the phone to flight mode on login and switches flight mode off, when i leave the wlan.
 
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FeliApple said:
No, the only deactivated devices were A9 devices (1st-gen iPad Pros (9.7 and 12.9), 1st-gen iPhone SE, iPhone 6s and 6S Plus) running any version of iOS 9 (from iOS 9.0 to the final version for devices that supported iOS 10, which was iOS 9.3.5). That only happened with this specific combo: A9 on iOS 9. Not A9 on iOS 10, or any other processor-software combo. Nobody knows why.

I’m running iPadOS 15 on my iPad Air 5, but that’s the only iOS 15 device I’ve ever had. My iPhone 6s(es) run iOS 10 and iOS 13, and I had a 7 Plus on iOS 10 which was broken from the factory and I traded it in to Apple for my iPhone Xʀ. We also have an iPhone 8 (whose support ended on iOS 16), but it runs and will run iOS 14.

I kinda regretted the trade-in. The camera was broken, but I could’ve kept it because it was otherwise a great device. It would probably still run iOS 10 today, had I kept it.
Click to expand...
I still kept my iPhone 7, it just has 54% battery health. It still has pics of my nan which I could not back up to iCloud due to low storage space.

I also use it to take feature shots with my Apple Watch ⌚️ and iPhone 15 Pro.

Some devices you still updated for a bit, and stopped it. Is it due to security reasons?


UliBaer said:
I bought the pacific blue 12 Pro in September 2023 brand new from a guy who had it spanking fresh from applecare+, cause he wanted to update to the newer model. This iPhone was only charged with the 5W wall wart via cable. I have set an automation, that "pings" me when the charge reaches 90% and i manually stop charging then. The battery health is still at 100% and with my normal (not too heavy, no videos, no gaming) usage i can cover 2 days easily without charging. I have wifi calling enabled, whenever i'm logged into a wlan. For my home and for my work wlan i have also activated an automation, that switches the phone to flight mode on login and switches flight mode off, when i leave the wlan.
Click to expand...
Yep I used to use automations on Siri shortcuts for low or high charge level on my old iPhone XR when I only got to use optimised battery charging, but I only use it to turn on low power mode when the battery drops low on my 15 pro. I also have this Siri shortcut created by a popular YTer that I put on my action button menu shortcut, the ULPM. Ultra low power mode. It shuts off motion, turns on low power mode and then reduced white point to drastically lower the brightness. Watch this video for more information and link to shortcut on the description below 👇



Since I’m on spring break and not going to school for a week I cap my iPhone 15 pro to 90% charge limit instead of 95% since I don’t have to leave it off the charger for a long period of time.

Surprised man that’s how I kept my 15 pro at 100% health, 188 cycle count y’all.
 
goldmac2006 said:
I still kept my iPhone 7, it just has 54% battery health. It still has pics of my nan which I could not back up to iCloud due to low storage space.

I also use it to take feature shots with my Apple Watch ⌚️ and iPhone 15 Pro.

Some devices you still updated for a bit, and stopped it. Is it due to security reasons?
Click to expand...
I would not want to use an iPhone 7 on iOS 15 with 54% health. It’s probably completely unusable, right? In terms of battery life, I mean. Have you tested it with your standard usage?

The last person I remember with an iPhone 7 was a friend of mine. I don’t remember their health or cycles, but I recall it was fully updated and it was completely unusable. It practically lived on a charger.

All updated devices were either forced out, or restored due to a software issue.

The 6s that remains on iOS 10 was purchased on that version (likewise with the 5s on iOS 8).
The 6s on iOS 13 (and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12) were on iOS 9 until the activation bug forced them out.
The iPhone 8 on iOS 14 was restored out of iOS 12 (version in which it was bought) due to a software issue.
The iPhone 11 that runs iOS 14 today will have to be updated for compatibility. Those are all of the updated devices we have.

The rest run original iOS versions, including late purchases such as an iPhone 11 on iOS 15.

Out of 11 iPhones, 4 were updated (a 5c that glitched out, irrelevant; a 6s (forced out of iOS 9 by Apple’s A9 activation bug, remains on the original forced version, iOS 13.4.1); an iPhone 8 (had to restore); and an iPhone 11 (first ever compatibility-forced update)).

Out of 4 iPads, 3 run original iOS versions, barring the 9.7-inch iPad Pro (forced out of iOS 9 by Apple’s A9 activation bug, remains on the original forced version, iOS 12.4.1).

On my original iOS 18 devices, as this thread goes, battery life is absurdly good, of course (iPhone 16 Plus and iPad 11th-gen).

Proof:
IMG_7326.png


4 hours, 4 minutes of SOT with 91% remaining.
 
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FeliApple said:
I would not want to use an iPhone 7 on iOS 15 with 54% health. It’s probably completely unusable, right? In terms of battery life, I mean. Have you tested it with your standard usage?

The last person I remember with an iPhone 7 was a friend of mine. I don’t remember their health or cycles, but I recall it was fully updated and it was completely unusable. It practically lived on a charger.

All updated devices were either forced out, or restored due to a software issue.

The 6s that remains on iOS 10 was purchased on that version (likewise with the 5s on iOS 8).
The 6s on iOS 13 (and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12) were on iOS 9 until the activation bug forced them out.
The iPhone 8 on iOS 14 was restored out of iOS 12 (version in which it was bought) due to a software issue.
The iPhone 11 that runs iOS 14 today will have to be updated for compatibility. Those are all of the updated devices we have.

The rest run original iOS versions, including late purchases such as an iPhone 11 on iOS 15.

Out of 11 iPhones, 4 were updated (a 5c that glitched out, irrelevant; a 6s (forced out of iOS 9 by Apple’s A9 activation bug, remains on the original forced version, iOS 13.4.1); an iPhone 8 (had to restore); and an iPhone 11 (first ever compatibility-forced update)).

Out of 4 iPads, 3 run original iOS versions, barring the 9.7-inch iPad Pro (forced out of iOS 9 by Apple’s A9 activation bug, remains on the original forced version, iOS 12.4.1).

On my original iOS 18 devices, as this thread goes, battery life is absurdly good, of course (iPhone 16 Plus and iPad 11th-gen).

Proof: View attachment 2501255

4 hours, 4 minutes of SOT with 91% remaining.
Click to expand...
Got it.

Is your iPhone 16 still on launch day iOS 18 or on 18.4?
 
goldmac2006 said:
Got it.

Is your iPhone 16 still on launch day iOS 18 or on 18.4?
Click to expand...
I bought the 16 Plus last month. It’s running iOS 18.3.1, which is its in-box version. An interesting coincidence, as it’s an upgrade from my iPhone Xʀ, which runs (and has done so since day one)… iOS 12.3.1.

My way to fight app incompatibility is, when possible, to download the oldest compatible version. For that, you need to have the app purchased on your Apple ID, so you first need to be able to download the latest compatible version. I solve this by borrowing devices. But most of my apps are apps I have purchased before, so it’s not too much trouble. This obviously fails when the app is new (Apple launched Freeform in December 2022, and its first version required iPadOS 16.2. Tough for my Air 5 running iPadOS 15…), but apart from that, it’s fine. People tend to overestimate these issues. Safari is the largest annoyance, after you’re about four or five major versions behind, it struggles.

I also got an 11th-gen iPad, and on my most overarching test, it gave me about 19 hours of SOT with 23% remaining. It runs (and will run) iPadOS 18.3.
 
Folks, has anyone with newer devices on iOS 18 (or iPadOS 18) found that standby is infinitely better than a couple of years ago?

As I’ve mentioned sometimes, iPhone standby battery life (even on original iOS versions) collapsed on iOS 12. iPad standby time collapsed on iPadOS 13.

My iPhone Xʀ (on iOS 12 for its entire lifespan as a main iPhone) had pretty appalling standby battery life. A sharp contrast with its 16/18-hour screen-on time. My iPad Air 5 on iPadOS 15 was also mediocre. They dropped maybe 5% every 24 hours, maybe a little more.

Last month I upgraded both: the iPhone Xʀ to an iPhone 16 Plus, and I got an iPad 11th-gen as a companion to the Air. Obviously, both run iOS 18. And standby time is amazing, they barely drop at all. This was my experience with the 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 9 and 12, earlier iPads, and with my iPhone 6s on iOS 10 and earlier.

For a long time, it had collapsed. I was surprised, as even my 6s on iOS 10 with 60% health had amazing battery life (both screen-in and standby).
Now it’s good again, but is it just me? Have you seen an improvement, too?
 
FeliApple said:
Folks, has anyone with newer devices on iOS 18 (or iPadOS 18) found that standby is infinitely better than a couple of years ago?

As I’ve mentioned sometimes, iPhone standby battery life (even on original iOS versions) collapsed on iOS 12. iPad standby time collapsed on iPadOS 13.

My iPhone Xʀ (on iOS 12 for its entire lifespan as a main iPhone) had pretty appalling standby battery life. A sharp contrast with its 16/18-hour screen-on time. My iPad Air 5 on iPadOS 15 was also mediocre. They dropped maybe 5% every 24 hours, maybe a little more.

Last month I upgraded both: the iPhone Xʀ to an iPhone 16 Plus, and I got an iPad 11th-gen as a companion to the Air. Obviously, both run iOS 18. And standby time is amazing, they barely drop at all. This was my experience with the 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 9 and 12, earlier iPads, and with my iPhone 6s on iOS 10 and earlier.

For a long time, it had collapsed. I was surprised, as even my 6s on iOS 10 with 60% health had amazing battery life (both screen-in and standby).
Now it’s good again, but is it just me? Have you seen an improvement, too?
Click to expand...
Does this mean you’re having doubts as to iPhones being good on only original versions?
 
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Artemiz said:
Does this mean you’re having doubts as to iPhones being good on only original versions?
Click to expand...
No. Standby worsened for all devices, and original iOS versions weren’t the exception. An updated device would fare even worse. For example, my iPhone 6s on iOS 13 is ridiculously poor.

iOS 18 has been infinitely better in terms of standby on both my iPhone 16 Plus and iPad 11th-gen (which run iOS 18 as their original iOS versions) vs my iPhone Xʀ and iPad Air 5 on their original iOS versions (iOS 12 and iPadOS 15, respectively).

People have been reporting the worsening of standby time even on new devices for ages. For me, these newest devices seem to have reversed that trend. I wanted to see whether that was the same for others.

If my iPad Air 5 has worse standby time on iPadOS 15, I guarantee an older iPad will be even worse.
 
FeliApple said:
I bought the 16 Plus last month. It’s running iOS 18.3.1, which is its in-box version. An interesting coincidence, as it’s an upgrade from my iPhone Xʀ, which runs (and has done so since day one)… iOS 12.3.1.

My way to fight app incompatibility is, when possible, to download the oldest compatible version. For that, you need to have the app purchased on your Apple ID, so you first need to be able to download the latest compatible version. I solve this by borrowing devices. But most of my apps are apps I have purchased before, so it’s not too much trouble. This obviously fails when the app is new (Apple launched Freeform in December 2022, and its first version required iPadOS 16.2. Tough for my Air 5 running iPadOS 15…), but apart from that, it’s fine. People tend to overestimate these issues. Safari is the largest annoyance, after you’re about four or five major versions behind, it struggles.

I also got an 11th-gen iPad, and on my most overarching test, it gave me about 19 hours of SOT with 23% remaining. It runs (and will run) iPadOS 18.3.
Click to expand...
Do you use Apple Intelligence despite never updating your iPhone 16 Plus?

Have you ever wondered if you could become the next eBay auctioneer of rare launch-day versions of iPhones and iPads? Well, it’s a thing! You can sell old iPhones and iPads that you never updated iOS on.

I’ve heard of a seller who does this and marks up the prices of iPhones like the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro in their in-box versions. Check out his eBay page: https://www.ebay.com/str/rareappleios.

He sells them even BNIB! I think one of the YouTubers who did an iPhone XS speed test video that I mentioned to you a few months ago got a launch-day space grey iPhone XS BNIB like that.
 
UliBaer said:
Found a somewhat actual website with that statistic:
telemetrydeck.com

iOS Versions Market Share in 2025 | TelemetryDeck

🧡 Helping developers improve their apps with immediate, accurate and private analytics.
telemetrydeck.com telemetrydeck.com
Still running 17.7.2 on my daily driver, cause 18 is imho still way too experimental...
Click to expand...

This chart shows v17 users living in Texas, vs v18 users living in Oklahoma . . . not really a representative sample, then?
 
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Welp, it finally dropped down to 99%… it was a hell of a ride.

Launch day iPhone 16 Pro, iOS 18.4.1

1744957918765.png
 
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