iOS 10.3.2 update drains battery

I have an iPhone 6s and the battery life has been horrendous since 10.3.2 and battery constantly overheating. I have tried everything suggested and even with minimal/no use my battery can 'die' within a few hours. Very frustrating now as it's impossible to use my iPhone as a smart phone! Just about use it for calls & texts!

Please apple fix this update 😟

Disclaimer: my only affiliation with Apple is that I am a paying customer.

I have seen battery drain and heating issues with iOS 10.3.x as well as with some prior releases, so I believe the reports of others are real.

As a software engineer, I would expect if there was a generic across-the-board issue with battery drain and overheating then Apple would have identified it during QA and addressed it.

What I strongly suspect is happening is that software outside of iOS that are interacting with the operating system are causing the issues. The first possibility is that certain applications may be exposing defects within iOS. More likely, the applications themselves may be causing the issue when run under the new iOS version. This is particularly true of applications that may not have been updated to run under the iOS version. In some cases, interactions between two or more applications could create situations which expose defects (either in the application or in iOS).

These types of issues can be extremely difficult to track down.

So, my advice is to take a look at the applications you are running. Look at the battery usage per application. Look at which applications are doing background processing - perhaps disabling background features when possible or even uninstalling suspect applications.

Thank you.

Thank you, done all this already. Nothing standing out. If anything the % use of certain apps is less than before 10.3.2. The battery behaviour/overheating isn't normal and definitely only started after the updated ios.

Same - restored over wifi and via iTunes on MacBook Pro, re-calibrated, etc etc … but in terms of apps little joy since not going to delete phone, mail, messages etc - can't make it through the day even inside a Mophie!

I too am an Engineer. I specialize in Embedded Firmware development dealing with things at the hardware level. I have spent a lot of time trying to track down this issue. If there are software apps that are draining the battery, the app is one that is preinstalled with a new phone. I have experienced this issue on 2 of them were brand new iPhone 6s setup as new phones and not restored from a backup and not installing any other apps. Using Battery percentage, while for standard issues may work, won't work for this issue. The battery percentage is based on a period of time and not since the last charge. I can show examples of an app showing a high battery usage percentage, but the actual number of minutes is 4. The minutes used for that app remains at 4 hour by hour, but still shows that it is the highest percentage app used, while the battery level is dropping 15% per hour. This is showing even though that app was not used since the battery was fully charged. It looks at the past 24 hours and takes no consideration of app usage since the last full charge.

I just spent two hours at the apple store where I provided screen captures showing the battery drain issue over a day on a brand new phone and also on a new phone that I also did an iTunes reset. They could see that no new apps were installed on the phone and that the succession of screen captures were showing no activity, but the battery draining about 15% per hour.

I got them to admit that this is a legitimate issue and that there was no solution for it, other than to escalate this to the engineering team. The tech that helped me actually brought in a lead and this was the first time someone at Apple was not blaming me and my abuse of the phone for the battery drain. I'm still frustrated that the issue exists and I have to deal with extreme battery management. I don't know if the escalation of this issue to Engineering will result in any actions, but I have a grain more of hope today that I did yesterday.

Have you read my post above? Did the phones you have tested have location services enabled? If so, check the 'setting time zone' feature and see if it is being used (grey icon). If so, that is the culprit.

I have tested with Location Services turned off and turned on. On one occasion, the issue did stop for about a week, but came back and subsequent changes to Location Services had not effect. I have not messed with the Setting Time Zone. I've just disabled that and will see what happens. Thanks!

Yep, I can't count how many 24 hour periods I've had to wait on this issue. Both by myself in testing and subsequently with Apple senior advisor testing.

First, I would turn off 'setting time zone' but leave location services on. Wait 24 hours and you will still see the grey icon.

Second, leave 'setting time zone' turned off. Turn off location services totally for 24 hours. Then after 24 hours, turn location services back on, but, leave 'setting time zone' turned off. You will see there is no grey icon now next to it. Still leave 'setting time zone' turned off, then use Google Maps or anything else that uses location services. Within 10 minutes or so, you will notice setting time zone will start using your GPS again!

The problem is, once you use any location services, it just won't stop using your GPS even after checking your time zone once. That's when it gets in the cycle of constantly using your GPS for the 'setting time zone' feature and draining your battery.

Apple are aware of the issue, with no plan to fix as we have not made enough noise :(

My background is with embedded systems as well, but not specifically mobile platforms.

I have not had an opportunity to test with only the base OS and I respect your findings.

My test case is different and is the basis for my post.

I have two identical iPhone 5s (one mine, one my wife's), purchased at the same time, both with iOS 10.3.2 installed, via iTunes, installed the same way, at the same point in time. The phones share a common set of applications installed, but also differ with many user-specific applications, differ in the data associated with the applications, and differ in the usage patterns of the applications.

One of the phones exhibits the battery drain issue, random overheating, and what appears to be the 30% battery shutdown issues. The other does not.

In the past, this same phenomenon has been observed, and after several/many weeks as applications are updated for the new version of iOS the problem disappears. I have not had the time or patience to track the updates to try determine exactly when the issue goes away. Note too that the behavior has not been tied to one specific phone (i.e. sometimes it is mine that has issues, sometimes my wife's phone) so I have ruled out hardware issues as well.

It seems this difference in behavior must be triggered by application software, data, or some environmental difference between the two phones. As I type this, I am pondering if it could be in some obscure configuration area such as carrier settings / roaming (wild speculation as I am not familiar with the deep details of mobile phone operation).

Thank you for your insight.

There's no need to be polite to people that provide boilerplate answers.

Yes, it IS the update that's the problem. Every person I've talked to that has updated to 10.3.2 suddenly found their battery life severely lacking, turning their iPhone into an expensive corded phone, due to the possibility of it shutting off at any time, no matter the battery level. When I downgraded my wife's phone to 10.3.1, she was again able to use it for more than 2-4 hours, like she could before this crap update. While your suggestions are POSSIBLE, they are not at all even remotely likely.

LOcation and time zone off. 80% battery used in 3 hours with virtually no iPhone 6 usage. Didn't switch off at 20% was the only change. These fixes are increasingly looking like random acts being thrown at a systemic problem.

I have also battery problems with my iPhone 6s since month. At first there were only scattered days which fast battery draining. Since the last update ist is a permanent condition. And the iPhone SE from my wife also have this battery drain problems. Since the last weeks me and my wife have also problems with cellular data usage. „System Services“ like „Push Notification“ and sometimes „Documents & Sync“ consume all my 1GB data quota within a few days.

I have checked everything. Including turning off background refresh, location services, cellular data. Clearing keychain. I erased the system and restored with and without using a backup. Under „Battery Usage“ there was nothing special. Also my battery has been swapped by Apple support. Sadly no improvement.

Only one thing has been helpful. A complete logout and deactivation of iCloud and Messages/Facetime. Then my iPhone has been act like expected. As soon as I login to my iCloud Account I can see a fast battery draining.

Next week I have my third meeting at the Genius Bar.

Hi do you know what I never learn I got rid of Samsung s7 for iPhone! Bigggggg mistake, I could cry, I took my ph Me of charge before work at 730 and I am now on 64% and that's on low power mode too!!!! So by the time I leave it will be dead. I don't k ow what to do. I have done all the things they say to do.... but nothing working. It's disgusting.... OH WELL A GOOD LOOKING EXPENSIVE PAPER WEIGHT as to scared to use it or make calls, and have t even attempted to check emails x

I have a 6s: one of the batch that had bad batteries. At the beginning of this year I got a new battery from Apple (part of the warranty program) and my phone was lasting all day, and that was with frequent Facebook, Bluetooth and gps usage. Suddenly my phone drains to less than 20%, and I recently deleted Facebook so I **know** I haven't been using it as much!

What's the deal, Apple? 😒