Am I the only one with this issue? Yesterday, or the day before that, I updated my iPhone XR. One thing I've come to notice is that, since I updated it, the battery drains pretty fast. I'd say I'm an average user and I could go the entire day and it wouldn't reach 20%. Now, around 4PM, after being fully charged around 5AM, it's down to 50%. I just find it weird, knowing that I'm an average user, my average screentime is around 2 hours a day, so I don't know what's up.
***Sorry, posted too soon. Trying again***
I have been part of the group that has been impacted by severe battery drain of ~1% every 5-15 seconds since updating to iOS 12.1.4.
I tested the options mentioned in this thread, and have found that the issue seems to be related to app data download connections and/or downloading new data on the device (downloading an app from the app store, opening an app that needs to fetch new data, fetching new content by pulling/swiping down to refresh within an app, background app refresh, etc). I have confirmed that this issue occurs in both native apps such as Mail, App Store, Podcasts, as well as 3rd party apps.
Close all apps this did nothing, and the battery continues to drain. If not immediately, on the next background app refresh.
Power cycle (restart) device you can see evidence of some people's theory that there may be something going on with battery percentage calculation. After the battery appears to have severely drained, a power cycle will show the battery percentage back closer to what you would expect the usage to be prior to the draining event. A power cycle will likely still result in the device attempting to fetch new data, and more often than not will resume battery drain
Turn off Fetch New Data (Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Fetch New Data > toggle Push to off) + Power cycle device battery continues to drain
Turn off Background App Refresh (Settings > General > Background App Refresh > Background App Refresh > Off) + Power cycle device At first I thought this solved the issue while I was at work for a few hours in the morning, but when I started actively using my phone a bit more the battery drain started again
Delete Skype for Business + Power cycle device This is where I discovered that the issue is not isolated to only 3rd party apps doing things in the background and adversely interacting with 12.1.4... I tried this because some people indicated that they thought it may be related to Skype. I thought this worked for a while as well, until I opened my native iPhone Podcasts app and it started downloading new podcasts. I then watched my battery start draining at a rate of 1% every 5 seconds (I could hear a clock ticking beside me and timed it)
Turn off Bluetooth + open an app and pull down to initiate data fetch/download connection battery continues to drain
Turn off Wi-Fi + open an app and pull down to initiate data fetch/download connection battery continues to drain
Turn on Airplane Mode + open an app and pull down to initiate data fetch/download connection oddly enough, this doesn't always seem to work in interrupting whatever process is trying to download new data, and in some of my testing the battery would continue to drain.
Turn on Low Power Mode (Settings > Battery > Low Power Mode) + open an app and pull down to initiate data fetch/download connection this has been the only solution that I have been able to use to consistently and reliably keep my battery from draining. If the device is plugged in and charging, it will turn Low Power Mode off once it reaches a certain percentage (89%? 90%?) so you'll need to turn it on again once you unplug
Switch to a different device with <iOS 12.1.4 I have a spare backup iPhone 6S which is still on iOS 12. Apple will not allow me to restore from backup without updating to iOS 12.1.4 so I did not complete this test
Factory reset + restore at this point I did not have the time nor the patience to attempt this, but I did see that it did not resolve the issue for another user
Again, it seems like the only way to reliably stop the battery drain is to break or interrupt whatever connection is trying fetch new data by turning on Low Power Mode. I do have a lot of apps on my phone that I use regularly, which I'm assuming is the reason I may be impacted more than others since there is a lot of background activity happening with each additional app.
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tl;dr the battery seems to drain significantly when downloading new data or making a connection to fetch new data (unclear which it is, specifically), and the only workaround that reliably helps is to turn on Low Power Mode (Settings > Battery > Low Power Mode)
That was exactly what happened to me. Added no new apps, installed 12.1.4 and suddenly I experienced rapid battery draining. Iphone had been functioning perfectly prior to the update. With 12.2 it is performing much better.
My guess is that the problem is circumstantial. It doesn't happen all the time to me, but every time I've noticed it, I crossed a Wifi zone. Because Wifi is used by location services to enhance their ability to find you, my very wild guess is that LS starts looping when it calls Wifi while a boundary crossing is in progress.
One way to test this theory is to start where you have a strong Wifi signal and put the device to sleep. Go find a place, such as indoors but not buried in a building, where GPS is just a bit too weak to work perfectly. Then open the device and see if you see a sudden spike in battery usage. My iPad grows warm to the touch, and my monitoring app (System Status Lite) shows nearly 100% continuous CPU usage. And when I see that, I hook up my laptop with Instruments and start recording as well as watching the Console, and I see what I described above.
Replying to my own post... Turning off iCloud Calendar on my iPhone 6S helped the battery drain, but it didn't help it as much as it helped my iPad. Now instead of the battery draining 25% in a day, it takes 1 day and 8 hours to drop 25%. FYI
After struggling with a daily major battery drain for two months in spite of utilizing all suggestions to correct the problem, I was thrilled to find that the newest update 12.3.1 made a huge improvement. The battery drop on my IPhone 7 is now very slow allowing me to go almost 24 hr without having to recharge. Total reversal in performance.
Check your battery stats see what is using your battery
If you are using Facebook, don't. It is an energy hog. And the latest update seems worse than most.
Ok. Sorry I poked you gently in the ribs but there is a powerful anslysis tool there that I wanted you and others to at least look at.
Charging during part of the day will mask any good analysis unfortunately.
Screen shot each day at bedtime for a while, not the 10 day summary. Thats for you to analyse not me!
I guessed you may have updated Mon/Tues because it showed 2-3 days of poor performance as the Spotlight index rebuilds.
Friday is therefore better on the face of it without knowing if any of it was powered up.
Good luck with it.
oddly , we updated several devices (3) two ipads and an iphone 6s to 12.1.4...they were all using various forms of ios 10 and 11. we did this three days ago to initiate family sharing as another device (Xs) is using 12.1...apple would not allow sharing through icloud until we updated....all three devices at 12.1.4 are today now experiencing battery drain...one ipad is brand new and the 6s has 87% battery capacity...no battery drain with the Xs still running 12.1. To me, logic says it's the update. we turned on the usb accessories blocker that comes with the update thinking that was preventing a full charge and possibly giving a false reading but that wasn't the case.
While this may NOT be great news, it just goes to show that “Apple” is aware of the ‘problems’ with the 12.1.4 version
and is planning to release a MAJOR new version in March.
I am not certain/aware “IF” Apple intends on releasing an interim version to correct the on-going issues,
but the following is what I’ve located by website/news search inquires:
5 Things to Know About the iOS 12.2 Update
Published 3 days agoon 02/14/2019
By Adam Mills
Apple’s confirmed a brand new version of iOS 12 and the iOS 12.2 update is now in beta ahead of a release for iPhone, iPod, and iPod touch.
The iOS 12.1.4 update is finally out which means iOS 12.2 is likely next in line for iOS users.
We don’t have an official iOS 12.2 release date yet, but those who can’t wait for the official release can try an early version of the software right now.
With the iOS 12.2 update official, we want to take you through everything there is to know about Apple’s next major update to iOS 12.
In this guide to the iOS 12.2 update we’ll take you through iOS 12.2’s known changes, what you can expect from the iOS 12.2 release date and release time, the iOS 12.2 beta, and more.
iOS 12.2 Beta
If you don’t want to wait for the official version of iOS 12.2 to roll out you don’t have to.
Apple’s pushed an iOS 12.2 beta to developers and those enrolled in the Beta Software Program. The Beta Software Program is free to anyone with a working Apple ID.
The iOS 12.2 beta is compatible with every device capable of running iOS 12, a list that includes the iPhone 5s, iPad Air 2, iPhone X, and many others.
Before you download the iOS 12.2 beta remember that pre-release software is typically plagued with bugs and performance issues. These issues could impact the performance of your core apps, your device’s battery life, and its overall speed.
You should be able to fix some of these issues on your own, but some bugs and performance problems will require a fix from Apple.
Apple is currently on iOS 12.2 beta 2.
iOS 12.2 Release Date
Apple hasn’t confirmed an official iOS 12.2 release date or release window but there’s a good chance it arrives sometime in March.
Apple typically announces iOS release dates on stage during media events so there’s a chance we get the iOS 12.2 release date ahead of time.
The company typically hosts an annual spring event in March and we wouldn’t be surprised if Apple keeps the iOS 12.2 update in beta until then.
The company has reportedly set a March 25th date for a media event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California and we expect iOS 12.2 to arrive in and around that event.
Personally, I’d rather NOT (have to) wait (it out) till March, but I don’t know what Apple’s intensions are in this matter.
You have 18% used on Home and Lock Screen. I must admit I have never had that on my three devices.
I am guessing social media notifications lighting up the home screen.
My wifes ipad shares my ID and I turn off notifications on hers
There are so many of us without the problem and several on here who actually tried a full factory restore and got rid of theirs that it is pretty clear there is an app or setting that is incompatible with the update.
Maybe its Apple’s bad, who knows.
we are not apple and we don’t have to accept or admit anything. If you really did a full restore and still have a problem after 48 hours I would get the hardware looked at.
Or you can sit on your hands and shout #victim
Yes I tend to be simplistic with my half dozen extra apps and no social media.
Right from early in the thread we urged waiting 2 days for it to settle and many of the #metoo posts may well have settled but unlike yourself they don’t always give feedback when it settles down. Thank uou.
Yes zero app time recorded in the problem time slots was noted with other sufferers too. That’s what made it so undiagnosable. If you are uncomfortable with restoring before your trip you could try deleting or offloading non essential apps and in particular any cleaners or antivirus as they are a menace and unnecessary.
Hi robert1326,
I just spent most of my day today doing the same, including biting the bullet to update the iOS on my spare device. After switching devices altogether and testing all of the above, I still had the same battery draining issue.
After factory reset on my backup device and prior to signing in to iCloud or restoring I messed around on the phone a bunch and downloaded podcasts, etc (doing anything in podcasts will guarantee triggering battery drain for me). Without iCloud signed in, I had no issue and everything was fine. Once I signed in to my iCloud, the issue resumed again, specifically when doing things in the podcasts app. I ran this process though a few times - signing in/signing out and power cycling my device, and was consistently able to recreate the behavior.
After restoring my backup I tried toggling off anything to do with iCloud Photos again - no change. I then turned off every option within the iCloud menu and still had the same battery drain. I'm now thinking it's tied to iCloud or podcasts because of the fact that this was happening after factory reset, no apps installed.
Not really sure what else I could possibly try from here...
There is a battery depletion issue with iOS 12.1.4, but it is not universal. I have an iPad Air II that has iOS 12.1.4 installed. I can leave it untouched on my desk for a week and the battery level only drops to 75%. It has hundreds of third-party apps installed and iCloud enabled. Yet on my iPhone 6S, with maybe a few dozen third-party apps installed and iCloud enabled, the battery level will drop to zero in a day even if I do not use it. In trying to diagnose the problem, I have restored the phone as new and installed no third-party apps. The battery still drains in a day. The only way I have found to preserve the battery is to turn on Low Battery Mode. Then, with it untouched on my desk, it will still have 95% charge at the end of the day.
I suggest that those experiencing this problem report it to Apple.
iOS 12.1.4 battery drain
