IOS 9.2 Rapid Battery Drain Issue

Battery drain issues are almost always misbehaving apps. So it is a software problem, but probably not Apple's. If it was a problem with the version you would see many thousands of posts about it, as there were a few years ago when there really was a problem in a release that caused battery drain to about 1% of users. The thread on that subject ended up (before it was locked) with 15,000 posts and 3 million views, at a time when there were only about 1/10 the number of iOS devices that there are today.

There are so many possibilities with over a million apps in the app store I can't enumerate all of them. So the first step is to gather information. You've already had Apple test the battery. Apple's test will detect if the battery has at least 80% of its original capacity. So if it passes that test the battery is OK.

Most of the diagnosis comes from the listing in Settings/Battery. There are 2 things to look at; the apps using the most energy, and the Usage vs Standby numbers at the end of the display when you scroll down.

If usage=standby you have an app that is running continuously in background, never suspending. While on the Home screen double-press the HOME button, then close every app by flicking its screen image up. When all but the Home screen are closed reboot by holding the HOME and SLEEP buttons at the same time until an Apple logo appears.

If the values are not the same you have a very busy app, but one that is doing real work. The first couple of apps at the top of the listing are the ones to study. The most common apps that drain the battery are:

• Facebook
• A Microsoft Exchange email account
• iCloud sync (not backup) for contacts, calendar or notes

If it's Facebook (or any other 3rd party app) try killing the app. Sometimes it will behave after restarting. Otherwise you need to change the settings of what notifications you get

If you have an MS Exchange account and it is using energy try deleting the account, rebooting, and adding it back. There is a long-standing (15 years at least) issue with the Microsoft ActiveSync protocol where it can open multiple sessions that all try to sync at the same time. Microsoft has never fixed it.

Apple's own iCloud sync process can also get stuck if there is an invalid record in the contacts, calendar or notes database on the iCloud server or the corresponding apps in Mac OS X (assuming you use a Mac). Most often it is Calendar. This will show up in the Battery listing as Calendar using a lot of energy. What I have done that fixed it is turn off Calendar in Settings/iCloud for a day, then turn it back on.

This is a start to the troubleshooting process.

Many thanks for this.

I read somewhere else about Facebook so had deleted that already. Likewise, I've removed my work exchange account from email but that has had no effect. The icloud sync issue is up next. I've turned off what I can today but will switch icloud sync off all night to see what happens. Oddly enough, the News app was taking the lion's share of the power today but a few days ago, it was Mail. I'll also shut off icloud on my Mac tonight and see if anything changes.

Many thanks for taking the time to put all this down.

Hi Lawrence, thanks for the information. However, even when I wipe the phone, do not enter a single mail account, put in all the settings to reduce power consumption it still drains very very fast. 1% every 2-3 minutes.

Even in flight mode, the phone still drains the battery for reasons unknown? Is this because of the latest IOS version or is it a hardware issue?

I'm getting ready to scrap this phone and march to the shop to buy an Android.

I'm sure you will love your android phone. They never have any problems, and the tech support is great. I'm not sure why my associate keeps his plugged in when he's at his desk. He mumbles something about the battery only lasting a few hours after he unplugs it, but I'm sure that won't happen to you.

This is not an answer now is it. You post all over this site stories about app usage and settings, in reality everyone seems to have the same problem which is clearly hardware related. In all cases those who are lucky get a new iPhone and the problem is solved. I wouldn't feel very good about myself claiming to everybody that they have software settings problems when in reality it's hardware. Well thanks for the useless comments.

Battery drained 2% while writing this message.

You tell me, does it make any sense to replace the charging port or the logic board? If none of that helps then this phone will end up in iPhone heaven.

It is the answer. No, "everyone" does not have the same problem. I don't, with 5 iOS devices. "Everyone" means 900 million people. If "everyone" had the problem this site would crash from overload. You are stating a tautology. "Everyone" with the problem is just those people with the problem. In most cases it isn't hardware; in a few it is. There are probably hundreds or thousands of different reasons different phones have rapid battery drain. It isn't one problem. And careful troubleshooting will identify the problem pretty quickly.

OK, I tried disconnecting from iCloud , turned off calendars, notes, reminders etc but that hasn't made any difference. I've also done the same on my other devices in the hope of 'isolating' the cloud sync completely. The battery usage now points to Phone as being the biggest user (40%) even though I've made no calls and sent very few texts. I've also deleted all the apps that didn't come pre-installed.

If you've got any other things I can try to help identify the issue, I'd be grateful. Even if I can't find a cure, I want to be in a good position when I take the phone into the Apple Store again on Sunday to show what I have tried.

Thanks, Mike

I tried all what you have done as well, and as I also own an iPad Mini and an iPad Air, none of these solutions have made any difference whatsoever. The iPhone is the only one that drains so fast without any reason.

Since the repair also has a warranty, I'll put the issue with them and they can propose whatever it takes. But I have a hard time to accept making more costs replacing parts on this phone.

So I did a few things that together, seem to have helped matters

1. Upgraded to iOS 9.2.1

2. Run the phone in 'Low Power Mode' all the time (Settings > General > Battery), which doesn't seem to alter the user experience, and even 'background' apps like Strava seem to function OK, still, in this mode

Second trip to the Apple store armed with all the information of all the steps I'd taken to try and rectify the problem. This time, they didn't ask any questions and simply replaced the phone saying it was almost certainly a hardware issue. A bit of a hassle all round but finally restored my faith in Apple.

I've been running iOS 9.2.1 for almost two months without experiencing any battery drain issues; in standby, my device would use about 2% per hour. Then last week my device (iPhone 6S) suddenly started to drain over 12% battery per hour. When looking at the battery usage in the settings app, it said that it was Safari that used most of the battery; however, even after closing/killing all of my apps, the device would still drain well above 12% per hour.

Now the interesting part: what had changed during the last week was that I had updated my mobile data subscription to a different kind of subscription; and it seemed that the battery issues started about a day after my subscription was changed. Now, many people sugest that resetting the device and/or reinstalling an earlier version of iOS helps with this issue, and in many cases I bet it does, but I think that's a bit too much collateral damage for something that might work... I remember reading somewhere that updating the mobile data settings had helped some people, so I tried that at first but to no help; I then tried resetting the network settings of my device and then updating my mobile data settings again, and now my device is back to normal again.

So, in my case, my best guess is that the mobile data settings of my device went erroneous when my subscription was updated at my service provider, and that the device tried to recover from this state by getting updated settings from the service provider via 4G, but without any success, causing the battery to drain at the rate it did... This is just speculations of course, but what speaks for this theory is that my issue started when my subscription was updated, and was resolved after resetting my network settings; what speaks against this theory is that during the whole time, my device still had internet access over 4G.

TL;DR; If you are having the battery drain issue, and think about resetting and reinstalling your device, before you do, you should first try to just reset network settings and then update the mobile data settings.

TThanks for the insight NickeF, but can you tell me clearly step by step how to reset network, etc. I have no idea where to go & how to do what you suggest. I have an iPhone 5. Many thanks.

Hi Molly,

I noticed you have an iPhone 5 device; some iPhone 5 devices were actually assembled with faulty batteries and are eligible for cost free battery replacement. Before you test resetting your network settings, you should first check if your device is identified to have the faulty battery using this page: https://www.apple.com/support/iphone5-battery/

If your device is one that got a faulty battery, you should be able to have your battery replaced with a healthy new one, at no cost.

Otherwise...

To reset the network settings, start the Settings app, then goto General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings...

Note: resetting the network settings also means that the device will be cleared of all known WiFi networks and WiFi passwords; after the reset you'll need to reconnect manually to your WiFi network again, so better keep your WiFi password close at hand.

To reset mobile data settings, also start in the Settings app, goto Cellular -> Cellular Data Network -> Reset Settings...

Note: in my caseresetting the Cellular data network worked fully automatically, but it may work differently for different carriers, so before you reset your cellular data settings You should take a screenshot of all the settings, so that you can restore them manually if there is a problem afterwards.

Resetting the network and mobile data settings seems to have worked for me, but is not guaranteed to work for everyone; but if it works for you, please let us know...

My iphone6 was working perfectly until in February i have made mistake of updating it to 9.2.1 via itunes. Since then battery started to drain really fast and watching videos in youtube app would make iphone really hot. Before i could watch videos for countless hours without problems.

After release of 9.3 iphone don't seem to heat up that much, but the battery is still draining quite rapidly. not like it was before. and the usual suspects like facebook and skype don't show up on battery draining charts.

And updating to ios 9.2.1 on iphone 5 and iphone 5s have not caused issues of this sort. go figure.

Dear Apple

I received an email that you deleted my previous post because it contained "rants and complaints" Fair enough.

However i post this now kindly requesting a solution to an ongoing problem that many users are experiencing as you can see. So kindly do not remove this post but lets work together for a solution. I'm sure my feedback can be found to be "constructive" as i have solved this problem twice already, but no found a permanent solution.

Here are my facts. Hopefully we can be constructive together.

the App Store is draining my battery in the background. All battery power gone in 2-3 hours. Phone heating up like its going to explode.

All notifications and Updates for app store turned off, cellular data turned off, location services turned off. Today i am at 58% usage app store in the background. All apps up to date, all versions of IOS up to date.

The last 2 times (months ago) i managed to fix the problem by backing up the phone, wiping it clean and reinstalling the back up. I would then go a good 2 months with no issues and out of the blue the app store would start draining again and the phone would overheat.

So i will once again tonight back up, wipe the phone and reinstall to solve the issue but my fix seems only temporary.

I'd like to let you kindly know that this is an ongoing issue for many users and we as customers would like a little feedback that you acknowledge there is a problem and you are at least working on a solution.

Best regards

PS, if this helps.... the battery drain issue also goes away if you put the phone in LOW POWER MODE.