iPhone 16 Pro – Fast Battery Drain on Cellular Data

Hi everyone,


I’ve had my iPhone 16 Pro for about 2 months now, and I’ve noticed a serious issue with battery life when using cellular data. The battery drains much faster compared to when I’m on Wi-Fi, even with light usage like browsing, messaging, or checking social media.


I usually have around 2 bars of signal, but the battery consumption is still shockingly high — even when the phone is just sitting idle. On cellular data, the phone uses more than twice as much battery compared to Wi-Fi. I'm seeing an average drop of 1% every 4 minutes while using mobile data.


For context, I’ve turned off background app activity, and location services are set to “While Using the App” only — so it’s not like anything heavy is running in the background. I also use a samsung, which runs only on cellular data, and the battery performance there is completely normal — no such drain at all.


Is anyone else experiencing this? Could it be a software issue or something with my device?


iPhone 16 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on May 1, 2025 12:58 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 2, 2025 5:11 AM

Depending on your range/distance to a cell tower, connection strength and network traffic, the cellular radio will vary its transmission power. Indoor usage from remote locations or in high traffic areas can lead to high battery consumption.


Cases have been known to cause issues as well. You might want to try it without a case for a few days. Even something as simple as tuning Airplane mode on and off may assist with the issue.

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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 2, 2025 5:11 AM in response to Kamyk23

Depending on your range/distance to a cell tower, connection strength and network traffic, the cellular radio will vary its transmission power. Indoor usage from remote locations or in high traffic areas can lead to high battery consumption.


Cases have been known to cause issues as well. You might want to try it without a case for a few days. Even something as simple as tuning Airplane mode on and off may assist with the issue.

May 2, 2025 3:34 AM in response to Kamyk23

The measure of battery health deterioration/drainage is subjective and can vary depending on individual usage patterns. There is no universal standard to determine whether the battery health deterioration/drainage is normal or abnormal because it heavily relies on how the battery is used and maintained.



Protect & Prolong the Life of your iPhone's Battery:

  1. About the battery usage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch ...
  2. Batteries - Maximising Performance - Apple (IN)
  3. iPhone Battery and Performance



Try to monitor Battery usage by iPhone Activity as shown below


What is shown under battery usage? Checking that would give you an indication of the usage behavior.

  1. Background Activity
  2. Notifications
  3. Connected to Charger
  4. Or any Other


See the pic below (iPhone 12 Pro iOS 17.3.1)


"Show Activity" feature will show you more info see the pic below




Try some of these options too.

To prolong the life of your iPhone battery, you can follow these tips and best practices:


To prolong the life of your iPhone battery, you can follow these tips and best practices:

  1. Optimize Battery Charging: Enable the "Optimized Battery Charging" feature on your iPhone. It helps reduce the wear on the battery by slowing down the battery aging process. You can find this option in Settings > Battery > Battery Health. About Optimized Battery Charging on your iPhone - Apple Support (IN)
  2. Avoid Extreme Temperatures: Extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, can negatively impact your battery life. Avoid exposing your iPhone to excessive heat or cold, such as leaving it in direct sunlight or in a freezing car.If your iPhone or iPad gets too hot or too cold – Apple Support (UK)
  3. Use Original Chargers and Cables: Always use Apple's original chargers and cables or certified third-party accessories. Low-quality chargers or cables can damage the battery and reduce its lifespan. Identify counterfeit or uncertified Lightning connector accessories - Apple Support (IN)
  4. Avoid Draining the Battery to Zero: Charge it whenever the charge becomes lower than 20%. The rest is up to you when to charge. how long to charge, how often to charge, which adapter to use starting from 5W to 140W USB-C Power Adapter etc.
  5. Optimize Display Settings: Adjust your display settings to optimize battery life. Lower the screen brightness, enable auto-brightness, and use shorter screen timeout durations. Adjust the display and text size on iPhone - Apple Support (IN)
  6. Minimize Background App Refresh: Limit the number of apps allowed to refresh in the background. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and disable it for apps that don't require real-time updates. Switch apps on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support (IN)
  7. Disable Push Email: Push email notifications can drain your battery quickly. Instead, set your email accounts to fetch data manually or at longer intervals. You can change this setting in Settings > Mail > Accounts > Fetch New Data.


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iPhone 16 Pro – Fast Battery Drain on Cellular Data

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