battery draining after iOS 26 update on iphone 15

Actually it is not nonsense as you must give it 3-5 days to index the files and you are supposed to be experiencing battery drain, lag, and the device feeling warmer than normal during this time. That has been documented.

So now if you are still experiencing trouble at 9 days, then there are 4 additional steps you can take:

1- Post the Battery Health percentage along with the screenshot of Settings > Battery that shows the green battery graph with the previous 24 hour option selected along with the top apps consuming the battery.

2- Perform a Force Restart:

• Press and quickly release Volume up
• Press and quickly release Volume down
• Press and HOLD side button until the Apple logo appears. This could take up to 15 seconds before you see the Apple logo and you have to ignore anything else on the screen. If you do not see it, then try again as it may take a couple of attempts to get the speed and sequence of the key presses correct.

3- Compare your results after a Factory Reset and not restoring from a backup to test.

4- Wait for iOS 26.0.1 that is currently in beta. We cannot comment on the issues resolved in this beta and the release date has not been announced. Could be today or in a week, nobody knows.

Things to consider:

• Where was your device purchased? Apple no longer sells new iPhone 15's, so was it refurbished?
• What is your Battery Health at Settings > Battery > Battery Health > Maximum Capacity?
• You still have a couple of days to go for the indexing and photo optimizations to complete. It is best to leave the phone plugged in all night, every night.

About Apple software updates - Apple Support

• Provide a screenshot showing your green battery graph with the last 24 hours option chosen at Settings > Battery, and include the top apps consuming the battery.
• Perform a Force Restart. Force restart iPhone - Apple Support
• And as a last resort, wait for the next update that is currently in beta and being tested. We cannot comment on the issues that have been resolved in this update, as it violates the Terms of Use.

You should expect that after EVERY update. It usually takes about 3-4 days to index the files after the update and could be up to a week with a large photo library for photo optimizations with object detection algorithms. You can read this article for confirmation and may also notice the iPhone is running warmer than usual and performance will be slightly less until the indexing has completed.

https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/09/15/apple-has-finally-explained-why-battery-life-can-be-different-after-an-os-update

soumyadas1 wrote:

Additionally i expected if its the OS utilising more than usual power, the same should be shown under the battery application, which it’s not.

iOS processes are not reported in the Battery Settings. Those are for apps that are consuming the battery.

The article mentions you should be experiencing it for the next few days, so 24 hours is clearly not enough time to wait. As I said, I would give it more like 3-4 days, and possible a week for a large photo library.

Had the same issue, for the first 4 days it was horrible, the iPhone 16 pro would get hot by only using it for basic things, even in my pocket it would get warm. I was used to end the day with 40 to 50% battery, after update, I’d end the day with 15 to 20%…

my solution was to disable Apple Intelligence, now my battery is back to normal.

not sure if the solution was that or maybe the indexing is actually done, anyways I’m not using Apple Intelligence so I’m not willing to run tests on that lol

give it a try? Maybe it helps! And don’t forget to restart your device after switching Apple Intelligence off :)

Turns out turning off Background app refresh reduced my battery consumption by more than half, especially at when I’m asleep.

I hope they fix this

[Edited by Moderator]

• It is the green graph that is needed to determine the rate of drop.
• The Home & Lock Screen battery usage is commonly seen after an update and can be an indication of the background processes sill being performed for spotlight indexing and object detection in your photos.
• Do you know what is using the Microphone as indicated by the orange dot in the Dynamic Island.

Same here, my 16 Pro Max battery has been draining quicker after the iOS 26 update. First day was horrible, now it’s a bit better

I came across this guide in another discussion and decided to try a few of the things it suggested: disabled the Siri for the apps I don’t need it on, turned off Live Voicemail, cut down push notifications, and even removed some widgets. After doing that the drain isn’t gone fully, but it has improved a little.

Here’s the link in case you want to check the same tips: Stop Battery Draining on iPhone After a Recent iOS Update.

HunterLuca wrote:

Hi since updating my iPhone 15 pro max to iOS 26 my phone will be on 76% then turn off and when comes back on I’ll only have 10% or so battery then before I get to put my password in my phone switches off how do I fix this

• What is your Battery Health at Settings > Battery > Battery Health > Maximum Capacity?
• Did you purchase the phone from a third party that may have sold it as refurbished and it now has a non-genuine battery installed? The only way to know for sure that it is genuine is if it was purchased at Apple or Authorized Apple Seller.

vishesh298 wrote:

•So what should I do now & from where I can find the green graph.

•Please elaborate the second point I'm not able to understand what are you trying to say.

•No I don't know! Please tell me.

1. The graph which used to be green for the last 24 hours, now green and grey and from midnight to midnight, is under View All Battery Usage on that top photo
2. They mean it is normal to use a lot of battery for 2-4 days after update
3. maybe you were dictating the words into Safari?

Same for me. I have 16 pro. I disabled Apple Intelligence. It has helped some. Still not as good as iOS 18 but better. Really hoping Apple prioritized this issue of battery drain and fixes asap.

Deejjjjjjjjjj wrote:

Have to be honest this is all nonsense. I updated 9 days ago now. I keep my phone on the charger at home with WiFi all the time and I’ve done everything all these videos have said about saving battery. Nothing has worked and nothing has gotten better. My battery drain is ridiculous. I have an iPhone 15 pro max that is about 15 months old I haven’t even finished paying it off yet. So the whole give it 3 days to a week to index is not true.

what’s the deal. When is Apple fixing this battery drain bug?

I have been testing this new iOS since June and following others tesying it online. The concensus is that battery usage is as good or better than iOS 18.

There may be something on your phone (VPN is just an example) that is no longer compatible with iOS26, try to find out why your phone has this problem

The last update killed my battery! - Apple Community

MrDreamliner wrote:

Not only is there a battery drainage there is a battery capacity drain. Before update I was at 100% and now after update I was 98% the day of update and a few days later 97%.

Depending on your phone, the battery health is expected to drop on average 1% for either every 25 or 50 charge cycles, under ideal conditions. The drop is not linear so when viewing monthly, some will drop more and others may not drop at all. Also the calibration of the battery values will only happen when the phone is allowed to charge to 100%, so if using a Charge Limit it will automatically charge to 100% on occasion unless it is manually disconnected from power to prevent the calibration from occurring.

Without knowing your iPhone model or Charge Cycles, the observation of Battery Health dropping is expected whether you had updated your software or not.

Same for me. 7 to 8 hours of screen on time with iOS 18 on an iPhone 16 Pro. Now 4 to at best 4 1/5 hours of SOT with iOS 26. 26.0.1 update did absolutely NOTHING in terms of battery life.

As I see this drop in battery life on all *26 OS and all Apple devices, I tend to blame that ****** Glass fetish constantly using too much computational resources.

Apple Watch with WatchOS 26.0.2, iPad with iPadOS 26.0.1 and iPhone with iOS 26.0.1 - all have at least 30 to 40 % less battery life. Drives me crazy. Never been so mad about Apple for years!