Battery Drain on iOS 26 and iOS 26.0.1.

Yes, I am sorry I updated to 26.1. Before I had no battery problems but now I need to have it on a charger all day. It drains my battery faster than I can charge it. Now this issue in addition to how disappointing the iPhone 14 plus I bought. I won’t be buying another iphone in the future.

Unfortunately Apple will not allow you to install latest update 18.7.3 released Yesterday because they are enforcing 26.2 on capable phones (like iPhone 15).

Latest iOS 18 release can be only installed on very old iPhones like XR/XS.

They really want us to move to 26.2.

I said it before and I will say it again I think 26 version will become stable for battery performance in mid next year (around 26.5, 26.6 release) in similar way it was for 18 version. History will repeat itself.

One more discovery for me. I have the settings such that charging should stop at 80%, but it doesn't. It just keeps going. I tried turning off Find My (per the experience of another user) - I don't see that making any difference.

That article tells me nothing concrete about the percentages corresponding to what you said. I tried clicking on the links, but none of them said more. BTW I used to be a Professor of Math and CS. I would give these articles a grade of C-.

I am having the same problem and this ticks me off! My battery was fine until I downloaded the update several weeks ago. My battery has progressively gotten worse ever since. Apple needs to give us all new batteries!

Jim, I'm sure you mean to be helpful. Your responses are not helpful. I've worked with Apple products since the 1980s. I know when to make a service appointment. I've been observing the battery issues for a while now. No one at the Apple Store has a sufficient response. There are tons of posts about the battery issue. I have had Apple devices for so long now - I understand the charging behavior. THINGS ON APPLE'S SIDE OF THE EQUATION HAVE CHANGED.

Here is what I know: the problems with battery drain and the charge limit started after upgrading to iOS 26. The fact that the problem is happening on both my phone and my iPad is quite strange. Your point of view and your attitude are quite clear. I am merely sharing my experience with my devices and the current iOS. I have been to the Apple Store numerous times. I have called Apple. I resorted to this support community when I couldn’t get help from the professionals, but this has been counterproductive too.

sk8gal wrote:

Here is what I know: the problems with battery drain and the charge limit started after upgrading to iOS 26. The fact that the problem is happening on both my phone and my iPad is quite strange.

I know you are talking about 2 completely different issues and what you have posted here is unique to the Charge Limit issue that you are experiencing on 2 of your devices that no one else in this post has experienced. There is also no other post found using the Search option on the top of this screen that has found the same to be true.

I know you are familiar with how troubleshooting works and making a claim that your unique Charge Limit issue is that same as the Battery draining issue reported here is not only unfair to the users looking for a solution to their problem by hijacking a post involving battery draining on iOS 26.0.1, it is not likely going to resolve your problem either.

I have recommended you create your own new post describing the specific issue you are experiencing, so you will get the attention of others that are not following a 2+ month old thread about an issue that has nothing to do with yours. If there happens to be another user that experiences the same thing as you, then they will be able to find your post and will also be able to chime in.

I have also recommended to let your devices charge all night to see if they return to the Charge Limit as others have found to be the case. Instead of following up with either recommendation, here we are doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result.

I’m also facing the same problem I had the same brand new iPhone 15 just last two weeks ago and after I upgraded the iOS to 26 my battery has been messing up the worst part is when I turn the phone off and on it for some minutes , battery drop from 90% to 80% after turning the phone on . This is so horrible . I’m so disappointed .

outofusernames3 wrote:

Same. I did everything suggested with battery, bg app refresh, display (I hate the glass anyway), etc.. The charge in my phone won’t even last a day, and I’m not using it for videos or games.

You posted a reply to a 3 month old post that pertains to iOS 26.0.1. I would suggest creating a new post, instead of replying to this one, with your current details and that should be iOS 26.2, and also post your Battery Health along with a screenshot at Settings > Battery showing the green battery graph along with the top apps consuming your battery.

etmax wrote:

I have an iPhone 12 Pro with now 26.1 and it was always at around 75% in normal use after being smart charged to 100% overnight. Now it is in the mid to low 40% (same wake up time and same bedtime/plugin to charge time.

I only ever have 3 apps constantly open, the FitBit, music, and Tesla App and I only have the music app BT streaming in the morning and the evening for ~20 minutes each. and I have Life360 running in the background (still). The only change is the new OS. I've turned off and restarted the phone after a few days of this ridiculous power consumption issue. The phone reports that power consumption per app is the same (within a few percent) but I'm guessing it doesn't take into account how much the OS uses to do all that fancy display stuff.

One thing off this topic is that the timer app shows a large font for the time display but the contrast to the background makes it unusable.

Have you ever thought of contracting out your SW development? It couldn't be any worse.

Nope, I've never thought about contracting out any SW Development? You may wonder why? You aren't speaking with Apple in any way here. This is a user to user only forum. And in case you don't understand how software development works, the developers program what the Engineering teams tell them to develop. The SW developers didn't design iOS 26. They simply develop the software based on the actual Engineering Team who designs the software.

You suggest you have an iPhone 12 Pro. Have you ever had the battery replaced? iPhone 12 Pro was sold from 2020 - 2021. At best, your iPhone is 5 years old and if you bought it when it was first introduced, it is almost 6 years old. If you open Settings > Battery > Battery Health, if the health is 80% or less, that would explain why your battery isn't lasting as it did previously. Batteries don't last forever and once they dip to 80% or below, the battery in your phone needs to be replaced.

You can adjust Liquid Glass to better meet your needs by following the directions in this link --> Liquid Glass - Love It Or Hate It - It's … - Apple Community. But the chances are your more pressing need will be to pay Apple to replace the battery in your phone.

etmax wrote:

Have you ever thought of contracting out your SW development? It couldn't be any worse.

Hello~ Have you ever thought about reading these?

Community etiquette guidelines - Apple Support

Apple Support Communities Use Agreement - Apple Community

~Katana-San~

Stagechris1 wrote:

Updated to the latest IOS, and what a surprise, my phone has zero battery

Certainly possible under a number of circumstances:

• What is your Battery Health?
• What are your Charge Cycles if available?
• What phone model?
• Is is a refurbished phone?
• Where was it purchased?
• When was it purchased?
• Was it plugged into power while updating?

We have all been through the endless cycles of questions and suggestions without finding a solution. A better survey would be to find out which iPhone models are experiencing poor battery performance.

I correct my correction. The iPad consistently stops charging at 80%, but the phone only stopped at 80% once. The latest iOS appears to be too demanding for my older phone to handle. I'm not interested in upgrading at this time so I just make sure I have charging capabilities with me wherever I am.