Extreme battery drain in iPhone post update

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:

Open the App Store app  on your iPhone.

Tap  or your picture at the top right.

Scroll down, then tap Update next to apps you want to update, or tap Update All.

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:

Remove an app from the Home Screen:Touch and hold the app on the Home Screen, tap Remove App, then tap Remove from Home Screen to keep it in App Library, or tap Delete App to delete it from iPhone.

Delete an app from App Library and Home Screen: Touch and hold the app in App Library, tap Delete App, then tap Delete.

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, Spotify, etc are examples of ones that you may want to keep on. Facebook, TikTok, Instagram etc are ones you may not want on unless its 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.

after a wider testing. To me it seems, bluetooth is the culprit here. Just turn off bluetooth and check the battery drain rates. If it works for you please upvote. My iphone 15 pro battery drain with bluetooth on is around 5% per hour while on standby and with BT off it is 1% (normal).

Clearly keeping BT off is not a solution and apple must look into this ASAP.

I have an iPad and the exact same thing is happening. The battery has been abnormal since updating to 17.5.1.

I recently upgraded to an iPhone 15 from a 12 mini and the battery is absolutely abnormal. It is also running 17.5.1. I am using the phone the same way I used to and it is marginally better than the old 12 mini battery. With a brand new phone I should be able to, use it all day just like I did with my 12 mini.

[Edited by Moderator]

Same here, I have the 15 pro max since update my battery health went down to 99%, I always keep my phone 40%-80% and usually I charge my phone to 80% and unplug it, usually it would last all night or loss 2% at most (wifi/cellular data/ Bluetooth disconnect) now I end up starting the day with 72%. Let along the battery drain like crazy

This is such a frustrating issue. My battery life lasts barely two hours from full charge - with no background activity. Are there any solutions from Apple yet or are we stuck with this built-in redundancy? !

After every update the device goes through its post-update regimen. This occurs while your normal usage continues so there is additional "usage" occurring, just not by the user. Understanding this can help reduce the impact during this timeframe.

There is a pattern: Immediately after an update, a subset of users mention battery life issues. A large portion of those users also notice that the battery life gets better usually between 1 to 3 days afterwards with no changes made. Why is that? The additional usage completes and things go back to normal.

I notice this sometimes as well but I mitigate it by installing the update during a time where I don't need the phone for around 30 mins, usually at work. I plug the device in, finish the install, then update applications from the App Store. I keep the device plugged in for sometime after that to allow any syncing to occur, and for the file indexing done after updates to complete. There is no visual indicator of this happening and no progress meter, I just let it stay on the charger for a few hours and overnight for good measure.

Doing this typically avoids or resolves any issues with excessive battery drain after an update, unless there is in fact, a bug that causes battery drain but it has been a long time and many phones ago that I actually had that happen.

How do we not have a fix for this yet? My phone gets hot and drains in a few hours. It’s no longer usable unless I carry a battery pack around, this is unacceptable. I use this for work and must have the battery life back.

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.

At first, I was just having a excessive battery drain, now my phones won’t even charge using chargers unless it’s an Apple one which cost like $40

So are you going to reimburse everybody whose phones you’re destroying while you don’t do anything about this for the last couple months?

because my phones are almost unusable now how are we supposed to get reimbursed for this if it’s not covered within our warranty and we don’t have insurance? Or was this the point of the update to basically screw everybody else over so we’re forced to buy new phones? because it just seems odd to me that you guys ignore this issue for so long, issues were accounted for within the last few updates alone

On my iPad I lost 45% after being on it, roughly an hour and a half. Brand new iPhone 15 is also experiencing similar problem. I should have returned it.

Does Apple not monitor this forum? Given the number of complaints and how long this has been an issue, it would appear that they do not.

Dude, I'm having a worst problem and idk where to report for Apple! My phone ain't charging look at the hours idk what else to do

Same here. Iphone 13. Plus very slow charging. I expect more from a 1000 USD device. This was the last drop for me - next purchase will be something else.

My phone drop battery health 2 percent after update