Why is my iPhone 16 Pro Max battery draining so fast?

My wife and I see the same drain with our two 16 Pro Maxes. Given that the battery improvement was the main reason we upgraded our 15 Pro Maxes, it’s more than a little disappointing to see this. Others have given tips on how to lessen battery drain, but while useful to some, if I hear of improved battery life, I expect it with my current use pattern, not with a modified one - otherwise I could have just applied those tips on the old phone and get the same battery improvements.

Initially I thought the drain was the usual

initial one when things get re-installed in the background or some initial AI training, but it’s still draining to around 30% every day (vs 50% for the 15 Pro Max) after 5 days.

How long can indexing take? I am still unable too search for iMessage conversations that I know exist and in iMessage conversations I use a lot, there are most all of the photos sent in the message conversation missing.

My phone 16 pro draining constantly leave house at 6am for work and it’s dead by 3pm not a lot of use though the day just music for a few hours of the day when commuting my iPhone 13 lasted better very frustrating

i just brought a new iPhone 16 pro last Sat. The battery drains fast like my old iPhone that I used for 5years. Normally the new phone should have better performance?! Should last longer hours. I watched videos in FB for 2hrs it dropped the battery % from 70% to 30%. This seems unusual for a brand new phone.

I got my 16 pro max on launch day (arrived sept 20th) and was just sure that the battery would be better than my 13 pro max which had 85% battery health left. I completely understand that the initial set up would drain down some battery and it did. But since then, I have turned off nearly everything that everyone says to turn off because some of those things are cool, but it still drains SUPER fast. I got all day out of my 13 pro max with 30 or 40% to spare most of the time and I have 2 phone lines on it. 1 for personal, and the 2nd for work.

That being said... I did a controlled test last night. I have my phone set to only charge to 90%. So I charged it to 90% and then laid it on my nightstand and turned on "do not disturb" and woke up the next morning and it had drained down to 78%. It makes no sense. I still haven't sent back my 13 pro max because I'm not too sure about whether I'm going to keep this phone or not after these battery issues. I want to think it's just some sort of software bug, but I honestly can't tell at this point. I wish someone from Apple would address this and say that there is a battery drain issue and they are aware and it will be addressed with 18.0.1 or something. To say the least, I'm frustrated.

Now, on the other hand, I also bought the apple watch ultra 2 in black (switched from the apple watch 8 45mm) at the same time and that battery life is UNREAL. It's amazing. 10/10. would recommend.

[Edited by Moderator]

I had high expectations for battery life for 16 Pro Max, because of the reviews, but unfortunately it is seems worsen than in 3 yrs old iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Made a mistake, should just keep that phone and not to spend lots of money.

This is sixth day of usage, so there should not be any indexing etc left. There was some in first two days, like photos.

Basically 1,5 hours of random usage (X, Instagram, FB, threads, browser, safari) consumes 30 percent of battery.

I literally feel the same- I was using my iPhone 14 Pro Max with 85% battery life and it held up all day and was maybe 20-25% by bed time- this phone iPhone 16 pro is awful for battery life - and I’m actually hating the swap and want to go back to my old one - iv never felt like this with a new apple product/ pretty gutted to say the least x

I’m noticing the same thing. I had an iPhone 13 Pro that I got at launch. It’s battery was down to 85% of the original and this new 16 Pro is lasting about the same amount of time if not less per charge. I’d really like to get to the bottom of it

I have the 16, and it is draining very fast, and it sits idle a lot. When I had the new13 mini, it seemed as if it hardly even needed charged up. I’m not satisfied with the way this phone is just dropping battery %’s like it’s a leaking faucet. I’ve even changed a ton of settings. Same thing.

Same situation. Had the 14 max pro and it lasted all day, streaming etc by the end of the day it would have 30%, all day for me meant 6am till 10pm. I am afraid to even look at my mail let alone streaming on this new iPhone 16 pro max. Still with in the return period may go to 15 if this is how it’s going to be if the tips I followed for closing background apps etc, don’t solve the battery drain

I have the same issue with my Pro Max. It’s gone from 100% to 84% in 2 hours. I used the GPS for a 30 minute drive and I browsed online (no videos) for about 30 minutes. My IPhone 14 had better battery life so I regret trading it for the 16.

My iPhone 16 pro max is the same having to charge it everyday, today I’ve had to charge it twice as the battery goes so quickly never had a iPhone like this I would go back to my 14 pro max but I gave it to my mum 😭 also the iWatch 10 battery life goes just as quick 😩 what should I do?

I’m running into the exact same thing. I’ve contacted support, they did a diagnostic test and saw nothing strange. I sent them a link to this thread, but they were unhelpful. Very disappointing. My 12 Pro Max at 80% battery health lasted longer.

So meaning since somebody got their phone last sept 20th were having a 6 full cycle of charging and it kept draining the battery. I use to charge my phone iphone 13 pro and 16promax with the dual charging ports of the 35W adapter both at 2% and both phone charged the same percentage of 73% at 45mins. I am not amazed and got disappointed recently after transfering all datas and apps from my old 13pro to 16promax and its draining its juice RAPIDLY!!! Need to place back the unit to apple.

I am having the same problem. Super disappointed with this new phone!! I have gone through everything and adjusted the settings/turned things off to improve battery life. I am traveling next month and don’t see how this will will last me even one day 😑