The phone shuts down with 20% battery

Hi everybody. I got a frustrating problem with my iPhone SE2020. For some reason the phone seems to think that it cannot function with less than 20% battery. Whenever it reaches that point, it just shuts down without any warning. Sometimes it goes as low as 12% but that's as low as it gets before it automatically shuts down. When I plug it in, it gets back on right away and shows the correct percent - for instance 20% - so it's not like it's claiming that it lost all battery. It just seems like the phone thinks that it cannot work with less than 20%.


I've sent it to repair, but they sent it back, saying that they had restarted the phone and that nothing is wrong with the hardware, that it's a software problem. They wrote that the problem is fixed with the reboot, but that it might come back if I download my security copy - and they were right - it did... It actually seems to have gotten worse. But I can't use an empty phone for anything! Therefore of course I need to be able to download my security copy to get access to my pictures, apps etc. Now I have all my stuff at my phone, but I also have a phone that I cannot trust at all because it shuts down during conversations etc.


Does anybody have any idea of what to do?

iPhone SE, iOS 14

Posted on Jan 30, 2021 3:19 AM

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8 replies

Jan 30, 2021 5:08 AM in response to DanishW41

Ok I understand now!

If the phone is OK in its raw state after a restore to factory, but has this problem back after you restore your backup then you have a rogue app or setting.

Impossible to know which but if it was me I would move all my photos and stuff onto a computer or cloud, restore to factory, then build up from scratch with only necessary apps.

You will lose social network and message history usually, if that is important.

Jan 30, 2021 6:46 AM in response to DanishW41


I meant move them back rather than restore the whole kaboodle.

The point I was making us that if you can run the phone to 1% in its factory state but not after restoring backup, then you have an app or setting that is messing it up.

If that isn’t your best route then do a Reset all Settings and delete all but essential apps and see if you caught the rogue.

I run my iphone 6S and 7 from 100% right down to 1% or less without problems. I run a lean phone without junk like Siri or security apps or VPN

Jan 30, 2021 5:36 AM in response to LD150

Thank you for your reply!

But if I understand you correctly, that would mean that I couldn't keep any of my pictures on my phone then? I bought a 256 GB iPhone only because I have 13.000 pictures on my phone and it's very important for me to have them on my phone so I have easy access to them. I don't really know much about iCloud - I haven't used it before - but I guess having my pictures in iCloud wouldn't give me easy access to them from my phone?


The phone is from May 2020 so there should still be a guarantee. But it sounds like - from both you and the place that tried to fix it - that the guarantee doesn't apply because it's a software error?

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The phone shuts down with 20% battery

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