Battery drain after updating to iOS 13.3.1

I am sure Apple would never admit to it, but it sure looks like something in the update tinkered with firmware to change a battery measurement algorithm, and Apple screwed it up. Really, there isn’t any solution for us other than to wait for another update to see if it is fixed.

I have a “late 2006” MacBook, and it had horrible Wi-Fi drop-out issues in OS X for over a year when I bought the MacBook. Then one OS X update mysteriously made the Wi-Fi work with nary a word from Apple. There was a discussion thread with over 300 complaints, yet Apple support made me jump through every possible hoop of the escalation process eventually all the way to an “engineer“ in Cupertino, yet nobody ever gave the slightest indication they had any prior knowledge. I would have felt a lot better hearing “we know about it and it will be eventually fixed” instead of leaving me hanging wondering. It certainly would have saved time for Apple and me. To Apple’s credit, I still have the 13 year old MacBook, but it is now running Windows 10 because the hardware is end of life for OS X updates.

Zag66 wrote:

Well supposedly battery life should get better with time..... not so.

System updates only affect battery life for about 24-48 hours.

What did Apple tell you when you contacted them about the rapid battery drain?

munchkyn wrote:

Your "answer" is not an answer, and does not qualify as a "solution". It'a a guess.

Please downgrade your answer from "solved", as you are confusing your fellow users.

The only person who can mark an answer as "Solved" is the original poster. Apparently, they were satisfied with the answer.

If you believe your problem is different, you may want to start your own thread. That way, no one will be confused about it being solved.

I know each iOS update does use a bit more battery initially because of information being sent back and forth more frequently. Another potential reason may be apps updating in the background along with the iOS update.

I believe your answer may be accurate for a few days, but I have a phone that is less than 50% of the storage capacity is used, and I have notice a very noticeable increase in battery drainage since upgrading and it has been going on for weeks. I also noticed it on my iWatch as well. There clearly is an issue here, judging by the number of complaints. and my personal experience. All of it started after upgrading to 13.3.1, and I have never seen this issue before after other upgrades.

Is there a short answer on how to get a downgrade to stick? I luckily grabbed the 13.3 installer file while it was still signed by Apple and I have the file in iTunes. I put the iPhone 6S in recovery mode and reloaded iOS 13.3. Once installed, the iPhone goes through the initial setup dialog and the very last thing it does is to update itself to 13.3.1. There are only BACK and CONTINUE buttons on the screen. You can back up and re-answer the setup questions, but unless I am missing something, the only way to exit to an operational phone appears to be through a compulsory update to 13.3.1.

It was frustrating to spend all that time only to wind up back in the same place. As an added annoyance I lost a couple of apps that are no longer on the Apple Store and thus could not be reinstalled by the setup dialog.

Well, it did illustrate that clearing the phone didn’t make the problem go away. I sill get the unexplained battery drain and inappropriate heating.

Well I talked with my Apple senior advisor yesterday about my parents’ phones. I got some kind of babble about cycle count as the problem for the first one, and BMU again for the second one (BMU was the reason given for my phone last week). She categorically denied any software problem.

So Apple’s washing their hands of this. Which is no surprise.

I let her know my disdain, informed her they yet again have another battery problem which could cost them another half-billion, and how Steve Jobs would be ashamed of them.

I would encourage all to contact Apple. Demand to speak with a tech who can take your logs (they walk you through the process, it’s easy and takes about ten minutes). I say this because I would LOVE to hear the excuses they give.

I’m calling back next week and demanding to talk with management.

I would also love to speak to a tech reporter about this. I’ve thought of attempting to contact some of the writers for all the major tech websites I rely on. That’s a long shot though. I don’t personally know of any. Does anyone? I’m furious.

Is anyone here that’s having problems have a newer phone? Because, according to Apple, my two- year-old battery is what’s failing. Has this affected 10’s or 11’s? From what I remember from other boards, it is. 13.3.1 started the problems with newer phones.

I’m with an iPhone X, and my battery got struck with the 13.3.1 the moment I updated it.

This is the software issue. Or same old story, slowing down the phone and ruining batteries to enforce the users for a new purchase. Especially with the current situation in Asia, where the sales dropped seriously due to the current outbreak of corona virus. Steve Jobs would have handled this things properly. No wonder many of my friends and family switched to android.

I am a Uber driver and cannot drive for more than 5 hours as my phone just drains so quickly.

I have it plugged in and charging but since the Latest 13.3.1 iPhone Update and the Uber App open it just keeps draining.

I have i Phone XS Max - Battery Health is 99%.

I am hoping an update comes quickly or I will be forced to Switch to a Android Phone.

This is Costing me Money Apple - Needs to be fixed.

In reply to UberRicko

Something I have noticed since one of the iOS 11 updates is that iPods and iPhones will draw no more than 100 mA if they are plugged into a USB port on a device like a speaker or clock radio - - and probably the same for the built-in smart USB port of a car. The fix is to use a separate USB charger plugged into the cigarette lighter (12 Volt accessory if you don’t smoke) socket.

I raised the USB limited current draw issue with an Apple genius over a year ago and pretty much a deer in the headlights look as if “milliamperes” is some weird word spoken only by aliens in another star system. I posted here and got a couple of “me too” responses and I hoped it would eventually go back to I devices being able to draw 1 Amp from USB ports on smart devices. It seems like all i devices act the same way, limiting current draw to 100 mA whenever they see USB data leads are present. At that rate, all i devices will pretty much go dead after a while because 100 mA is not enough to keep the battery topped up - especially not now with the battery drain problem. The work around would be to buy or make a USB cable with only the power leads passing through - presuming you don’t need any smart capability over the USB port - or use a dedicated charger.

Thanks for the info I appreciate your response.

The phone has always charged from this USB port in the past before the 13.3.1 update. I have also tried plugging into my portable battery with 2.4a charge and same thing happens.

OK, maybe using a dedicated charger won’t fix it, it was worth a thought. A 1 Amp charger seems to be able to keep my 6s going so that aI can receive text messages throughout the day. The iPhone XS might need more current. Thanks for the reply -and apologies for my suggesting something you already tried.

I have been using 8 plus. only after 4 months and 13.3.1 I feel the problem. Before, used almost 2 days. It had been remaining the same battery percentage in the morning where kept in night. But now only night sleep consume 30% battery without use any apps.