Battery Drain on iOS 26 and iOS 26.0.1.

It's not the only cause of high battery use, but is one of them.

All of Meta's apps seem to use more battery than they should.

That having been said, checking the Battery statistics to see where power is being used is the best first step to resolving the issue.

michalw2 wrote:

I think it's actually very convenient for Apple supporters to put a blame on WhatsApp, however we've seen number of reports here from US customers not using this app (which is not that popular in US) yet still being affected by the issue.

There are other reasons including:

• Battery Health percentage
• Some users being on beta OS
• Not updated to the latest release. Yes updates do include OS battery optimizations too.

In this case, when your Battery Settings are showing high battery use for a particular app, which was WhatsApp, and the problem immediately goes away when the app is removed, then you have found your answer. Also when that same app has been reported to drain the batteries of Samsung/Android phones too, then you can realize that it is not specific to Apple. WhatsApp is just one of the Meta apps that has been seen to cause this behavior and it has also been seen on Facebook and Instagram too. There is a reason why Google called out Meta for their apps draining the battery on their devices.

michalw2 wrote:

Unfortunately that's probably the most effective way on getting proper attention from Apple.

Given the number of people buying them and not returning them, it seems doubtful. It also doesn't tell them why you're unhappy. Use the feedback link:

Product Feedback - Apple

I have iOS 26.1 on an iPad A16 and an iPhone 13 mini. The iPad mostly stays at home and doesn't get used all that much. Still has Facebook on it. The battery life is fine. I haven't tested it by taking it out and about. The phone, however, has horrible battery life (85% battery health). I removed Facebook from the phone after reading this thread, and that has helped a little bit, but it hasn't been a game changer. I started to notice degrading battery life with iOS 18, and this issue accelerated with iOS 26. An Apple Store employee suggested that the smaller size of the phone was part of the issue, but based on the posts here, I don't think that is the main issue. Apps are updated, phone has been restarted numerous times (another Apple Store employee said to restart or shut down the phone every few days). CNET and other outlets have published articles about this with the advice from Apple to wait a few days, but that has not made a difference for me. Based on this thread, it seems clear that there is an issue for Apple to address, either in its own software or with developers that sell on its App Store. I was a tech support professional ages ago, and when so many people experience the same problem, it's unlikely to be due to user error.

FaceTime is now draining more battery. I have an iPhone 16 Pro Max running 26.1. I had 2 FaceTime calls this morning totaling 1 hour. After I hung up (see attached) FaceTime used 16% battery. There was no other FaceTime activity, and it’s now use 37%! Background turned off in all apps. This is ridiculous.

Iphone 14 pro max - 87% - no apps used during this time, just left on the table.

Can we all just agree there's a major issue with ios 26 instead of suggesting tweaks, app updates, and reboots. I've got multiple Apple devices with exactly the same battery drain issue - ipads iphones watches - only started happening since ios26.

Maybe if the battery app wasnt like my kids crayon drawings & had some decent system level cpu usage we could get to the bottom of this.

Ios 26.2 has not fixed the issue either.

This happend with my iPad Pro 2013 12.9". It killed the battery and Apple support couldn't help as it was out of warranty. Now my 6 month old iPad Pro 2025 13" is dying as well. It says the built in calendar and mail apps are running for hours in the background. As they are built in, there is no way to turn off background refresh. I have still turned background refresh off system wide, but it doesn't help. I have left feedback via feedback help, but no response. I tried to follow the notes for iPhone battery issues after upgrading to 26, but I don't think there enough charge to even get it into restore mode. It might be good to restore it to a non beta version. Here is the release notes that mentioned battery and charging issues: iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes | Apple Developer Documentation

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.

PaddyG26 wrote:

Little bit WhatsApp, little bit google maps, little bit Facebook, little bit safari, some photos.

Whatsapp and Facebook (really anything by Meta) are horrible battery hogs. Make sure the apps are up to date.

But I start to feel very uncomfortable with this phone. Cannot do basic tasks anymore without having fear running out of battery.

Make sure you have Settings>Battery>Power Mode>Adaptive enabled.

Get this done Apple!

This discussion here sounds like we're talking about 200 Euro Temu Phones.

Apple doesn't read here in this user-to-user forum for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

My fairly new recent iPhone SE went through the iOS 26 updates weeks ago. My phone has been overheating when doing nothing! My battery drops from 100% to 70% with NO open apps, background app refresh off, no haptics going, sitting on my WIFI (so not searching for a cell tower or 5G network). It continues to do this. I've seen where on line Apple says to wait a few days. Mine has been weeks and it still persists. Further this heavy draining and overheating has reduced my battery's health. Apple needs to correct this situation and fix the problem!

I have been using 26.3.1 for over three weeks and after that length of time my phone is still doing this sudden drain from 95 to under 50%. I have to always run battery in Low Power Mode or it's even worse. Any time I use the phone I immediately clear the app or apps from the background. Still the battery is going down down down. I took it in for analysis at Applestore. The tests showed the phone normal with no issues. My battery's Health shows a capacity of 94%. My standard charger which I have been using on this phone since new in 2025 now shows "slow charge" and essentially will not keep pace with the draining of whatever processing the phone is doing. Mind you I'm in my home as I'm retired. It's on my WIFI so it's not searching for 5G (and I have it set to LTE as some have recommended). I've done all the energy saving suggestions all have made and still the phone is rapid draining while it just sits there not being used. If I take it off the charger for 2 hours, it drains to less than 50%. Two days ago, while it sat in my pocket unused, it went from 60% to 10% in about 2 hours. Remember it's in Low Power mode. I'm at my wits end over this.

As I'm in "limp mode" on the phone I'm reporting on my desktop PC.

My phone is an SE purchased new in Jan 2025.

Battery usage by App

Wordelix On Screen: 2 min 13% >

Messages On Screen 1 min 9%>

Background 1min

Gmail On Screen 1 min 9%>

Background 1min

Walmart On Screen 1 min 7%>

Youtube On Screen 1 min 5%>

Facebook On Screen 1 min 3%>

Background 1min

Camera On Screen 1 min 2%>

Photos On Screen 1 min 1%>

Other Battery Usage

Home & Lock Screen On Screen 3 min 2%

This is today's phone usage and yet it drained from 100% to under 60%. It's basically sitting in my charger (slow charging for the last 4 hours and is back to 92%

Before the ios 26.3 (and 26.3.1) update, I could use my phone for several HOURS and maybe drain to 60%... Now I use it for a total of 15 minutes and it's draining this amount. Compare this to your usage screenshot. This is ridiculous. So my phone is pretty useless right now, since I'm having to keep it charging constantly!

mattneilscott wrote: "Me too. Ridiculous! I swear I turned off completely in the cinema, and turned it on again it was even flatter !?! Only lasts half a day. What on earth is going on???"

mattneilscott ~ What model of iPhone is it?...

Settings > General > About > Model Name

And what version of iOS is it running?...

Settings > General > About > iOS Version

õ¿õ¬

What apps are draining your battery?