Unusually high battery drain is a symptom, not a problem. There are many possible causes for this symptom. In theory, as many as there are apps installed on the phone.
Sudden change in battery drain is caused by an app or apps that are using more energy than they should. It can happen at any time, but is slightly more likely after an update, because the update process interrupts apps in the middle of some activity, either foreground or background, and some apps do not recover cleanly and get stuck attempting to repeat a failed data update, essentially forever. Killing the app doesn't always resolve it, because the real problem is data that was corrupted by the interruption, and the app will continue trying to recover the corrupted data after it restarts.
MS Exchange email accounts will do this frequently, due to a bug in the Microsoft ActiveSync process which, unfortunately can never be fixed, because it would break millions (billions) of older MS Exchange clients that cannot be updated. If you have an MS Exchange account the only fix is to delete the account, restart the phone, and add it back. Or have your administrator restart the MS Exchange server (which most admins don't really want to do). If you are interested I can provide technical details on this bug, but I don't want to distract from solving the problem.
Other IMAP email accounts can exhibit a similar problem; again, the easiest solution is to delete the account, then add it back. As the email server is always the master for IMAP accounts no messages will be lost.
Accounts that sync data from a server (and this includes iCloud) can get out of sync between the server and the iPhone. Given enough time this can resolve itself (at least for iCloud), but it's easier to shut down the sync service, restart the phone, and start it up again. Yes, even for iCloud syncing. And I had to do this over the weekend when my iCloud Contacts stopped syncing correctly. It took about 14 hours for my contacts to again sync.
As many 3rd party apps sync with a server all can be suspect. That's why checking to see which apps are using the most energy in Settings/Battery is a good diagnostic step.
I have an iPhone 6s, but the exact same issue is occurring. I've had this phone for almost 3 years, and the battery was AWESOME, and then specifically when upgrading to 11.2.5, the battery retention is horrible.
The battery sine I updated to iOS 11.5.2 is a joke! I’ve restored my phone 4 times, done a full clean install taking the phone back to factory settings (however this still keeps the updated iOS). I have no apps on the phone yet my battery just ticks away. I’m getting less than 2 hours on a full charge IN POWER SAVE MODE!!!.
The standard advice from apple to save battery power is ok for everyday use, but this is an iOS issue that apple should be dealing with yet are ignoring it. This isn’t a divice issue, it’s an iOS issue!!! Maybe Apple are getting their own back for being caught out messing with the software to make people buy a new product, or is that me being cynical?
Apple has been in touch and ran a full diagnostic test on my battery and it passed, so no problems there. This to me says there is a problem with the update. I think our only option is to see if Apple releases a patch to resolve the issue. That’s what I’m hoping for anyway.
Hi Wanda, I found that once I removed my SIM card, the battery was fantastic. I ran my iPhone 6 on WiFi only and got almost 2 days on a full charge. This suggests that there is an issue with the software relating to phone use. Maybe you could remove your sim and see if your battery issue is similar.
A new battery is clearly not the answer for ALL of us. I have had the same results as others; battery lasted days before updating to 11.2.5, now I charge it twice a day! Completely unacceptable. I am trying the iCloud, iMessaage toggles today and hope that it improves.
bunrattyMKS,
Out of all the options that I have tried yours is the one that I noticed had the biggest impact. [for everyone's reference, it was to turn off Siri) I can't say that the battery drain has been completely reversed to how it was prior to the upgrade, but it is lasting a little longer. So I really appreciate the advice. I've seen people comment here with iPhones 7, 8 and Xs having battery drain issues because of this upgrade, and some of the even changed out their battery to no avail. So I'm going to live with it until my phone until it breaks. Because my conclusion from reading this insanely long thread is that the final solution is to move to Android. It was a good journey.
I updated my iPhone 6 to 11.2.5 just a few days ago in early Feb 2018 (i prenviously had a new battery installed about 6 months ago)
I immediately noticed it was running HOT and the battery indicator was going down so fast I could almostuse it as an egg timer! Restarts and reloads made no difference. I was having to charge maybe 3 times a day between 8am and 10pm !
AS A LONG TERM APPLE USER, I am disgusted that this bug has been out there since the launch of this software update and all APPLE can do is recite the same old CRAP about battery management for something that is clearly an actual error/problem created by them and affecting many, many users.
Let me put this in to perspective, I have NEVER had a PC (never!) and have been using and owning Apple products since 1986
I have had 7 or 8 iPhones since the very first one, I have currently, with my wife, approximately 5 iPads. We have in the house over 6 Mac laptops, I have a 27” iMac as a home server, currently my 7th, 8th or 9th+ desktop (I lose track now) I can reload them, take them apart, upgrade them (although Apple are now building in obsolescence by making their products non-upgradeable, another nail in the coffin lid)
I know Macs/Apple products really well....... so please believe me when I say “I am really really getting ****** off with Apple now” Apple, if you are reading this, check my product history with you, if your records go back that far!!!
This update should never have been released if it affects iPhone 6 phones and later..... BUT having done so, WHY has APPLE not corrected the fault, acknowledged the fault or admitted the problem, instead of just giving the same old scripted info about how to extend battery life???
APPLE YOU ARE LETTING DOWN LIFE-LONG CUSTOMERS.
SHAME ON YOU
I read ALL of the comments on this thread/topic/forum.
I then did all of the things listed here by ‘dianefromliverpool’ and also went on to turn off iCloud Drive.
After which I restarted my phone. Luckily for me, something worked and my phone is back working as normal and my phone was at 100% this morning at 9am and it is now 5:15pm and my phone is at 41% (and I have been using it)
so although I cannot say for sure if just ONE thing solved the problem, something did, so I recommend any readers to try these things and see if it works for the you.
Good luck!
...... and Apple, get a grip and look after your customers not your share-holders!!!!!
Yes, that is a good summary of the options. The reason I hadn't posted this before is it has been discussed earlier in the thread.
ADDENDUM: The other thing to check is the battery. The app Battery Life is pretty good at reporting the battery condition. Or you can call Apple and they can do a remote test.
You shouldn't let your battery go dead. First, it significantly shortens the life of the battery, and it also can corrupt data on the phone (sort of like turning off your computer without running Shutdown), which would explain why the problem appears randomly after startup. For a normal shutdown apps are given a chance to clean up before iOS actually shuts down. If you do a forced restart apps do not get that chance, which is why Apple strongly advises not to do it unless the phone is unresponsive. After any shutdown all processes that sync to outside services such as iCloud, IMAP mail accounts and many apps (such as News, Weather, Stocks, etc) must update their contents. So any time you restart a phone (any phone, not just iPhones) for any reason it will use more energy until these processes complete. So you should wait until the phone has been fully charged until you check battery performance. And if iOS crashed, was force restarted or the battery died it can take much longer to fix corrupted data.
I have found some tips for how to Improve iOS 11 Battery Life On iPhone : https://www.howtoisolve.com/improve-ios-11-battery-life-iphone-ipad/
I turned off iCloud Drive on my iPad with 11.2.2 with 100% charge before going to bed. Woke up this morning to the same 100%! yeah. Finally a solution. Can anyone confirm no drain in 11.2.5?
Turning off iMessage is what helped me too.
IPhone 7 batteries are covered under Apple’s new iPhone reduced priced battery replacement program, too!
So some iPhone 7 users are having issues with iOS 11 related to battery integrity issues, too!
Same here, since I updated to iOS 11.2.5 I can literally see the procentage indicator counting down. Usually the phone stayed on 100 percent up to 25-30 minutes of usage after the phone got fully charged and did so until I updated.
Background updates is turned off, as well as background gps location services on. Display background light is on a low level. Generally I didn’t change any settings either after updating, but I lost 11 percent battery capacity within 30 minutes after the device was fully charged.
My iPhone 7 device is 13 months old and that issue came over night.
Very annoying
Hi to all,
I just want to say that many of us who have purchased an iPhone, regardless of model types, have spent quite a lot of money. Shouldn't we be using and turning on functions that we want to use (location/background app refresh/etc) and still be able to experience the battery usage/consumption span that is realistically acceptable?
I think all the tips about maximising batteries and turning off this or that does NOT solve the problem of the unfortunate "premature battery drainage" which comes with the iOS update. This is unfair to all users and I suggest that somebody in Apple should address this problem as they would for the latest battery replacement scheme.
My iPhone 8 plus battery life was so good at iOS 11.2.2 until I have updated the software. I have updated the software as I have been experiencing call drops and cancellations. This is infuriating. I don't see the need for me to turn off this or that because I might as well buy a simple Nokia phone and forget about all the wonders of what Apple has to offer. Are we paying money for empty promises? Listen Apple, I am feeling it already.
IOS 11.2.5 battery drain
