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User profile for user: catominor
catominor Author
User level: Level 1
7 points

iPhone SE (2016) sudden battery drain and/or inaccurate battery level on 13.4.1

I would appreciate any advice with the following problem. I'm not sure if it is a problem with battery drain or the battery level indicator, or both.


A couple of days ago, the battery on my iPhone SE (from 2016) started draining extremely fast - e.g. yesterday, from 100 to 2% in just over 3 hours, with virtually no use; today, a drop from 72 to 39% in 1.5 hours while on airplane mode and locked, with no apps running at all. But the battery level then stayed on 39% for over an hour while browsing (and is still stuck on 39%); the battery level also shows as unchanged in settings, which should be impossible with the screen on, etc. This leads me to suspect a problem with the battery level readings rather than actual battery drain. (Battery health is reported as 91%.)


The phone is running 13.4.1, and had been for a while (auto-update is on) before this problem started. I haven't changed any settings, dropped the phone, or done anything at all that would correlate with this problem starting.


I have already tried turning the phone off and on and force reset - the problem continues.


I would be grateful for any other suggestions. Thanks! :)

iPhone SE

Posted on May 17, 2020 12:12 AM

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User profile for user: catominor
catominor Author
User level: Level 1
7 points

Posted on May 17, 2020 4:47 PM

Hi Jeremy_v,


Thank you for your reply, but my problem is somewhat different. As noted in my original post, battery health is showing as 91%, and there are no apps showing any unusual activity (indeed, I experienced a 30% decline in 90 minutes with no activity at all – i.e. no apps showing use, either on screen or in the background, in Settings > Battery).


Also, despite the sudden decline in battery level, the battery has continued working - it has now been showing as 1% but still functioning for over 12 hours! This suggests to me a problem with the battery level metering rather than the battery itself. I don't know if this is more likely to be a problem with the physical component(s) responsible for estimating remaining charge, or a software bug – but, again, I would be grateful to hear of any potential fixes.


Thanks!!

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User profile for user: catominor
catominor Author
User level: Level 1
7 points

May 17, 2020 4:47 PM in response to jeremy_v

Hi Jeremy_v,


Thank you for your reply, but my problem is somewhat different. As noted in my original post, battery health is showing as 91%, and there are no apps showing any unusual activity (indeed, I experienced a 30% decline in 90 minutes with no activity at all – i.e. no apps showing use, either on screen or in the background, in Settings > Battery).


Also, despite the sudden decline in battery level, the battery has continued working - it has now been showing as 1% but still functioning for over 12 hours! This suggests to me a problem with the battery level metering rather than the battery itself. I don't know if this is more likely to be a problem with the physical component(s) responsible for estimating remaining charge, or a software bug – but, again, I would be grateful to hear of any potential fixes.


Thanks!!

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User profile for user: catominor
catominor Author
User level: Level 1
7 points

May 20, 2020 6:29 AM in response to i_rina

Thank you! Interestingly, restoring the phone does seem to have made a difference. I did a factory restore through iTunes then restored my data from the backup. Today the phone seems to be behaving normally – now on 49% after 14 hours with 3 hours' on-screen use (at low brightness) – and the battery level graph corresponds to usage, rather than the random drops then flatlining I was seeing before. Who knows how long it will stay this way (apparently the battery has done about 600 charge cycles, when the 'lifespan' is 500), but I thought I'd mention the restore option as a possibility worth trying for anyone experiencing similar issues.

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User profile for user: jeremy_v
jeremy_v
User level: Community Specialist

May 17, 2020 4:19 PM in response to catominor

Hello catominor, 


Welcome to the Apple Support Communities. I see that the battery of your iPhone is having performance issues. Restarting is a great place to start. Here are additional steps that I use whenever there is a change in the battery performance on my iPhone.


1 - Take a look at the Battery Health by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health. Here you can see the Maximum Capacity of your battery and the Peak Performance Capability. This article will give you details about what you can learn from this information: iPhone Battery and Performance. If you’re seeing anything below 80% maximum capacity or normal for peak performance capability, there may be an issue with the health of your iPhone. 


2 - The next thing to do is to check and see how your apps are using the battery power. If it’s been more than 24 hours since you installed the latest iOS 13 update, go to Settings > Battery and look at the list of apps below the list. This shows you how long the app has been on screen, running in the background, and the percentage of battery power it’s used out of 100%. If you see any that are unusually high over the last 24 hours, I’d uninstall the app and use the iPhone for another 24 hours without that app present. See if there’s any change. If there is, you know that the app was causing the excessive drain on the battery. This article will give you more information about the data shown: About the battery usage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. 


All the best.

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iPhone SE (2016) sudden battery drain and/or inaccurate battery level on 13.4.1

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