iOS 12.1.4 battery drain

I’ve been experiencing sudden battery drain after recent update. No change in user patterns, no new apps, have changed settings so that there aren’t a lot of needless apps running in the background. I also tried the reset to factory settings and it didnt solve the drainage issue. With no use this evening my phone lost 40% battery life in a 3 hour span. What do you suggest I try now?

No, you're not the only one. Updated my iPhone 5S to 12.1.4 and battery drains much, much faster then before. Usage pattern and apps has not changed so can only assume the update has caused the problem. Problem being reported on other sites. One suggests downgrading to 12.1.3 and another suggests resetting the iPone and setting it up as new, not from a backup.

Hi!

I also experienced that last night. I got this my iPhone Xs last Thursday and I updated the software on Friday. It took more than three hours to fully charge it. About 70% when I slept but when I woke up, it’s already drained.

Any explanation?

Thanks

Read the whole thread. You will find at least one explanation and some remedies.

No wait, five readers marked another me-too post as “helpful” and took focus off all the other 16 pages of posts. Well done dudes. Democracy at work.

I have been experiencing the same battery depletion issues described by others. I have tried several of the suggested solutions including reverting to a previous OS version and installing the system as new. Two recent experiences need me to believe that Apple may be miscalculating the level of battery charge. The first incident happened in the morning. My iPhone 6S had been charging all night. I removed the charging cable and saw that the battery level indicator showed a charge of 10%. The low battery mode request appeared and I selected it. The battery level indicator then showed a 1% charge. Then the white screen with the Apple logo appeared. I waited and soon the unlock screen displayed. I entered my logon code and the battery indicator now showed 100%.

The second incident occurred yesterday. I left for an appointment and the charge level of the phone was 100%. I returned five hours later and the charge level was at 35%. The low battery mode request appeared and I selected it. I set the phone down on my desk and checked 30 minutes later. The charge level was now 69%. That totally blew my mind as there was no charging cable attached to the phone. From there the charge level decreased as I expected.

I now believe that Apple may be miscalculating the level of charge on the phone. With this erroneous value it is taking actions that are not warranted.

DavidS4001 - This is the precise issue that I am having.

I have also tried hard reset, followed by "restore from backup," followed by "restore as new," to no avail. The phone craps the bed within 5 minutes after taking it off the charger, and when I plug it back in, it has between 90-100% charge.

My choices appear to be wasting an evening at the Apple Store, or carrying around my Anker external battery until iOS 12.2 is released. Either option is frustrating and sucky, and should not have to be an option in the first place.

I’ve been noticing the same exact thing on my iPhone 8. Battery drainage has been extreme after I updated. Used to sit at 100% for up to 2 hours, then a week later would drop 10% in those 2 hours, being idle.

What is going on Apple?!?!?

with every update comes huge battery drain issues! My MacBook Pro w Mojave and my iPhone 7 on 12.1.4 are all losing its juice twice as fast as before! Come on Apple you didn’t use to be like this!

I charged my phone last night to 100%. Unplugged my phone and went back to sleep. Hour and a half later (with zero phone usage) I wake up and my battery is at 84%. It’s draining quickly with no usage. So frustrating. This never happened before the update. It would still be at 100% and then after using all day and no charging, I would come home and it would still be above 50%. I find myself having to charge my phone during the day to keep up. No change to my activity levels. No new app downloads. Nothing changed other than the update was downloaded to my phone so I can only speculate that is what it causing my battery to drain after not using it at all. Again, super frustrating. I wish my phone never did the update.

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.

I have tried many things to eliminate the battery drain on my iPhone 6S. These include a hard reset, reverting to the previous OS version, backup and restore, and restore as new. None of these worked. My battery would not last the entire day. And I am not a heavy phone user. The only thing that has worked is to turn on Low Power Mode as soon as I remove the phone from the charger. 

Hi David, just testing a theory here - does it get noticeably better if you turn off wifi and mobile data? Kind of counterproductive to having a smart phone, I know, but I mean as a way of narrowing down the source of the problem ;-).

Same here.

I have noticed this problem every time Apple are getting ready with a new generation of IOS. Ever since IOS5. They launch the last version of a generation with heavy battery consumption so that all devices that are about to be outdated, definitely will be so when they short after launch the next generation of tha IOS.

Happened to my iPod, my iPad, my iPhone 4, My iPhone 4S and now i fear it will happen to my iPad Air and my iPhone 6S.

I updated to 12.1.4 by mistake, as I try to stay away from updates in order to keep my two devises for longer. Actually I could have lived with my iPhone 4S had I not updated the last time.

I guess it is a part of their Marketing plan. Not very environmental friendly :-(

Both my wife and I are on iPhone 6s. She had been encountering sudden drop off of power (from 100% down to 20% in the time it takes her to get to work when she's not using the phone, and has it on airplane mode). While troubleshooting her phone I updated mine to iOS 12.1.4 and I'm now having the exact same problem. I can't go two hours without having to charge my phone, despite minimal usage. On both phones I have virtually all background refresh switched off, location services set to minimum, all analytics and advertising switched off, and emails set to fetch. None of this has helped. Our iPhone usage has not changed in the past two weeks, but we both have a sudden change power drain. As as example, I was fully charged an hour ago and down to 20% after using it intermittently for an hour. I understand screen time can make a difference, but I should be able to get through an afternoon using my phone without having to rush to charge it. I'm not a tinfoil hat type, but it feels like planned obsolescence.

Mail : 24% - Safari : 16% and Linkedin 11% Got a new battery 2 months ago and worked perfectly ...until the update ! I am seriously looking for another phone brand if that issue is not fixed ... It is frustrating !