Hello after 17.5.1 update i encounter extreme battery drain and life drop from 90% to 86% after update. Battery drains almost 50-60% in 4 hours without using it before update battery lasts almost day and half without charging!
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iPhone 11, iOS 17
For everyone having battery issues immediately after an update (within 1-2 days) here is a guide.
*** FYI, I shamelessly copy/pasted from articles Apple has on this site for your ease of use. I didn’t copy/paste when animations on the link will be helpful.***
First, understand that the software does housekeeping after an update. It can usually be accomplished overnight but that depends on your device and its data. Try to install updates overnight and leave the device on the charger (It’s ok to do so and won’t ruin the battery. That rule applied to older battery technology). This is so that processor intensive tasks like file indexing for Spotlight Search or iCloud syncing can occur then and not during your day.
If still dealing with drain after two days it’s probably something else so we need to become detectives and use the Settings > Battery section to see which apps are the culprits. Check under the View Battery Usage Information
section here: Batteries - Maximizing Performance - Apple (bookmark that link for later)
If nothing stood out on the battery usage, next check all apps for updates in the app store. To do this:
on your iPhone.
or your picture at the top right.Install them all. Feel free to do some spring cleaning on apps you no longer need also. Here is how:
Do any of the following:
Next, if any apps in the Battery Usage showed background activity, look at Background App Refresh (Settings>General>Background App Refresh) and turn off any apps that should not be allowed to be active when you aren’t using them.
Basically, if you lock your screen or move to another app, do you still want that other app running in the background?
Map apps, fitness apps and music apps like Lyft, Waze, Strava, Spotify, etc are examples of ones that you may want to keep on. They need to keep working even while the screen is off. Facebook, TikTok, Instagram etc are ones you may not want on unless it’s important you are notified of everything as it happens even if you aren’t in the app.
Now that everything is up to date and you’ve eliminated any frivolous battery usage, use the phone and see if that helped.
If not, next try closing all applications (helpful animations on this link):
(Close an app on your iPhone or iPod touch - Apple Support ) and restarting the device: Restart your iPhone - Apple Support
If this still didn’t help, try a force restart (helpful animations on this link. The title is for a different scenario but it is the correct link): If your iPhone won't turn on or is frozen - Apple Support
After all of this charge back up to 100% and give it a go. If still having trouble then give Apple or your family tech support (your kids, niece or nephew ;) ) a call.
I hope this helps. But to reiterate it is normal for the battery to suffer immediately after an update. All that housekeeping that gets done plus your regular usage taxes the battery hard those first days. I always leave my phone on the charger overnight after an update and it rarely ever gives me trouble. I have had the iPhone 4, 6S, XR and currently 13 Pro and used similar principles across all of them, except where the iOS features differed. Never got rid of a phone for battery issues but I did replace the battery on my 6S when it reached the end of its useful life around 70% Battery Health.
Cheers all.
@SravanKrA I can “surely” state the issue is 100% due to the update! Not sure where previous posts are relevant. It is clear that many comments here highlight the fact that their usage has NOT changed, leaving the only difference being upgrading their iOS.
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Same for me, im charging my 15 pro twice a day now, i had 1.5 days of use before 17.5, battery was awesome. Now its completely bad, im in shock, i cant rely on my phone because its dying after 3 hours of screen time, i never had phone that lasts that little in my life.
This issue is driving me nuts! I am convinced there is something bad in the 17.5.1 update. Since I updated to this version, none of my batteries in my 14 pro phone, apple watch and iPad are holding their charges.
Three separate iPhone models in our household. ALL experiencing horrible drain after updating to 17.5.1. Apple please DO NOT respond with the standard "applications are indexing" after the update. This is now over a week later, all phones on 24/7 so applications have long since indexed and been updated. This is clearly an IOS issue. Regardless of model. The models are:
iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone 13 Pro
iPhone XS
No Max version of any of them. All using standard services of wifi and bluetooth. No hours of TikTok or YouTube. One of them is purely a work phone and sites idle 90% of the time. That last one has seen its battery life cut in half, just sitting on a desk.
How is this still a thing?!
Hey there, I have the iPhone 15 pro max 512GB storage and recently upgraded from iOS 17.4.1 to the latest 17.5.1 and the battery life from 17.4.1 was awesome lasting almost 2 days before needing another charge. However, unfortunately that is not the same case with 17.5.1 I have also been experiencing extreme battery drain while doing some of the least resource demanding activities such as safari browsing and social media. Today I have experienced a battery drain from 90% to 84% within the span of 8 minutes, which never happened before. It is really spoiling my happiness and excitement for having the current latest and greatest iPhone yet. For $1,500 spent at apple all up front for the phone does not feel like I got a good deal. I hope apple fixes this battery drain issue as well as connectivity issues with cellular and WiFi.
My iPhone 13 Pro went from 90% battery health to freakin 84% in about 2-3 weeks after I installed iOS 17.5.1!
battery drains to 25% from 100% (with my normal usage) in under 5 hrs or maybe even less.
this issue occurred after installing iOS 17.5.1 too - seems like there is something really wrong with this update…
no hope for a fix from apples site - they will just ignore it until iOS 18 releases and then no one will talk about that ridiculous drop of battery health in a few weeks, I am so disappointed right now - thought my iPhone 13 Pro would last very well until iPhone 17 series releases next year
doubt that it will last that long with only 84% battery health
Listen SravanKrA!
iOS updates often cause issues with battery drain. Apple has even had to pay out millions of dollars as part of a class action lawsuit that involved them purposely slowing down older phones. I am not saying this is the same as "BatteryGate" but it is absolutely due to the 17.5.1 update. All of our devices are now showing considerably less battery capacity and batter drain right after the update. Mine was at 99% battery capacity prior to the update and is now 91% after the update. Nothing, Zero, Nada has changed as far as usage or habits with our devices. My phone used to last me two days with power to spare but now I am lucky to make it through an 8 hour day without plugging in. Whether done purposefully or accidentally is was done by the update and there is a plethora of witnesses and evidence to attest to that fact.
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Turning off feature and deleting 3rd party software always helps. Just like turning lights off in your house uses less energy. But a what cost, convenience, health features etc.
Apple releases updates to their software as required.
Sure, why not? There are things an iPhone does at night that consume battery capacity. I noticed this just the other night. My 15 PM usually drops 2% to occasionally 5%. However, the other night it consumed about 10% maybe a little more. The next night it went back to about 2%.
Why the drop? iPhones backup to iCloud at night. Maybe it had issues doing the backup. It could have been network issues, slow WiFi, lots of updates to photo collections etc. Battery drainage is very rarely the same day after day.
QJack wrote:
I just love how Apple stays silent.
This is a user-to-user forum. Apple's participation here is largely limited to making sure people follow the rules. This was explained in the Terms of Use to which we all agreed when we registered.
If you want support from Apple, you will need to contact them directly. You can start with the "Support" link at the bottom left of every page of this forum.
Can we downgrade to previous versions of iOS?
No.
I'm having the same issue! I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max, and after the update, my battery life just plummets as soon as I get up in the morning. I have to fully charge it at least by noon now, and my phone is constantly super hot! I can feel the heat coming off my phone all the time, and when I'm driving in the car, it's almost unusable because it overheats. It was never like this before the update! I literally have to take my phone out of its case and hold it in front of the air conditioner to get it down to a normal level of heat. I completely stopped putting my phone on the dash because it was so bad and it still gets overheated because it heats even more then it's plugged in and charging while using car play and the GPS.
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It surely is not after iOS 17.5.1 because...
I conducted a thorough search of this forum and uncovered numerous posts detailing similar issues across various iOS updates. This suggests that iOS updates may not consistently be the root cause. Below are a handful of examples extracted from the search results:
The links I've found suggest that the reason for battery drain may not be solely due to iOS updates, but rather, it could be influenced by how an iPhone is utilized.
iOS 16
iOS 15
iOS 14
My battery drains so fast since upgraded to iOS14, mine is 7 Plus 256GB
IOS14 Health app battery drain is significant
Battery is draining fast after iOS 14
iOS 13
Re: iOS 13.1.2 Battery Drain on iPhone
Re: iOS 13.2.3 iPhone Update – Severe Battery Drain
iOS 12
iOS 12 iPhone 6s battery drain
iPhone SE battery draining fast with iOS12
iOS 12 battery drain too painful
it can be and not… iam just pointing changes in numbers before update after update, if we all don’t point and write that ios behavior changed significantly after update how will developers know that something is not right?
I feel your answer is a little condescending. I’m having the battery drain issue on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. I don’t use the phone any differently than before the update. I could literally use the iPhone all day before the update and charge it at the end of the day. I’m doing the SAME tasks and the SAME usage after the update…. I’m having to charge my phone at least once if not twice. That, to me the consumer of this $1000+ product, is worth taking about.
my wife has same phone bought in same day in same shop…. she didn’t update it and voila she has 92% battery life and day and half working time!!!! she is using insta facebook hardly because of her shop
Extreme battery drain in iPhone post update
