iPhone says “charging” overnight but battery drops significantly

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Level 1

5 points

iPhone says “charging” overnight but battery drops significantly

My iPhone will not charge overnight despite showing that it’s charging the entire time. It doesn’t happen every night but it happens regularly. I recently got a 17 Pro Max, but I also had the issue on my 15 Pro Max.

This is what the battery usage chart looks like overnight. My phone is not doing anything like playing music, etc. It happens regardless of the cord or brick.

If I have the time in the morning and I plug the phone back into the same charger, it will start actually charging.

Waking up to my phone being 20% or lower is hugely problematic. How can I fix this??

Posted on Jan 31, 2026 6:50 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,422 points

Jan 31, 2026 10:12 AM in response to Empietrus

In Settings > Battery, does the section "App and System Activity" list any apps or process as looking "hungry" during the night? If so, what are they and what %age does that show each using.

Processes like web pages or social media apps open in the background may periodically have to "phone home" during inactive periods to check for new messages. That could do what you describe considering you observe normal behavior during the day.

One visitor here found Whatsapp caused similar issue to what you describe.

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Answer 2

Jan 31, 2026 7:10 AM in response to Empietrus

Without more information, it will be difficult to help you. Please answer the following:

What iPhone model
What is the current iOS version (Settings > General > About > Model and Version)
What is the current Battery Health and Cycle count if listed (Settings > Battery > Battery Health)

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