IOS 15 is draining the battery on iPhone 6s

Question

IOS 15 is draining the battery on iPhone 6s

I know there was another asking the same question but I wanted to add something.

I have an iPhone 6s in daily use as a second backup device, I had it new and had Apple replace the battery a year ago, which still reports 97% health. It worked fine until I installed IOS 15 where the drop in battery literally drops before your eyes 1 or 2 % every few seconds.

Now if left unused, the device will go from 100% to 1% in 3 or 4 hours. The device will drain in less than one hour. The device went from being fine to being practically unusable after the upgrade.

I reset the phone and tried it in the default new state with not a single added app - same result, use default Safari, browse to a website and watch the battery drop.

As a development company we have a large pool of IOS devices, so we tried 2 other iPhone 6s device, first checking that the batteries were > 90% health and achieved the exact same behaviour on each device, so its not a device fault either.

Years ago I remember how the last supported update to iPad 1's (IOS 5.5) resulted in a usable device becoming, in practical terms, unusable.

So while yes, Apple state IOS 15 supported iPhone 6s, in real terms it does not appear so. In fact, it seems detrimental to the device's ability to retain its useful function.

I am not a conspiracy kind of person but I can't help but wonder if Apple is helping devices along in becoming obsolete.

Now. I am not particularly upset about this but now that there are no third party apps or user settings changes in the mix, can someone now explain why the iPhone 6s might suffer this issue?

Posted on Jan 29, 2022 4:31 PM

Reply

Answer 1

LD150

Level 10

91,247 points

Feb 1, 2022 1:13 AM in response to ActiveSurroundings

My iPhone 6S works perfectly well on iOS15 so I disagree with your conclusion.

I note you have alredy tried the vanilla factory state, so it suggests hardware failure

Try this test on the battery which checks discharge while powered off and off charge overnight.

User Tip

Check iphone battery for self discharge

Reply

Answer 2

Feb 2, 2022 11:03 AM in response to LD150

I appreciate your response.

I charged it to 100% and disconnected it, turned it off (7 pm). Next morning I turned it back on, it was still at 100% and remained so for around 15mins before the drop began. After a further 15 of no use, it was down to 92%. Being on CNN.com via Safari can cause the device to drop 1% per second until 73% remains, where it becomes stable for 5 mins or so before another slide begins. Oddly 1% can last 10 mins or so before the device turns off.

I have not done the same test on the other 6s's at the office.

'

As I mentioned before, I am struck by how many times it has happened to me where the "last" supported update to a iPhone/iPad has caused a need to replace it. I just feel it's becoming a pattern - just unlucky I guess :-)