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’m also having a problem with my battery draining quickly since this update on my iphone 6. The first day Ihad a few apps running in the background but bluetooth was turned off. I was trying to send a text message, I noticed that my battery was down to 25%, which surprised me as I’d been at home all day and barely used it. As I went to send the text message my phone just randomly shut down and wouldn’t restart until I’d recharged it. The same thing happened yesterday, but this time my phone shut down with still 34% battery and wouldn’t restart until I’d recharged it. As I’m disabled I really rely on my phone, so I hope this problem is sorted as soon as possible
Same here, just updated to 11.2.5 and my battery went from 80 to 40% within one hour! Apple needs to provide a fix. After knowing all of you have had the same battery draining issue, Apple should have trashed this update so nobody else would be affected. Maddening!
If you purchased a iPhone 5S 4 months, ago, as new, you probably purchased a new "old” stock device as the iPhone 5S was discontinued in March 2016!
So, the battery in that phone, could be, at least, almost 2 years old!
You have no idea how old the battery is in that iPhone 5S.
Get your iPhone 5S battery checked out!
Ok, seems you have found a universal response to any iPhone 7-or-older owner. But what do you think about my situation? As I mentioned before, I have a shiny brand new iPhone 8, that I bought 2 weeks ago from authorized reseller. Which means that this phone’s battery is new. It was also confirmed by Apple support during remote test. Everything works as it should they said. Yet nobody knows why I’m experiencing the same problems as other guys with the older models after 11.2.5 installation. Any fresh ideas will be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!
I have an iPhone 6. I have similar experience to the list of people saying the same thing about the update and battery loss. Until the last 5 updates, I have loved my iPhone even with the glitches that came with the 6 phone. Your answer provides the standard ways to save battery power but you did not address the update change and its relation to the wide spread issue of significant loss of battery life. It certainly appears that it has happened to many immediately after the update. Additionally, the speed of the phone operation has been dramatically reduced. This goes back to one of the more recent updates where Apple admitted it was slowing down phones to save battery. And a list of other issues (seemingly from updates) that makes a product that I absolutely loved to one now where I am ready to switch to a non-Apple product. Is there a fix or is this the norm until another update comes.
My wife and I are using 1-month old iPhone SE models (32 GBs models) that have been updated to the latest iOS 11 version and neither of us are experiencing any of these battery draining issues!
NONE!!
What is your explanation for that? Hmmm???...
I see you are being very persistent that we need to buy a new battery(!), even though the batteries were working just fine before the 11.2.5 update....before I decide to BUY(?) a new battery, can you at least admit that if Apple didn't offer/encourage the update, and/or IF we poor souls had chosen NOT to install the battery draining update, our batteries would not have had this sudden accelerated drain problem? I don't see the $29 battery offer in the links you have sent. We shouldn't have to jump through more hoops to find it. From the time the first forum contributor described the battery draining problem, Apple knew there was a problem, and they should have immediately sent an alert to all iphone users letting us know the update was going to drain their batteries and provide the link to a new FREE battery. Thanks for listening.
Well, first of all let me specially stress out that answering in a “question on a question” manner is acceptable only if any additional clarifications are needed, otherwise it is unconstructive and does not lead us anywhere. I’m happy to hear that your and your wife’s devices shows the expected battery life and do not suffer from the described issues. Let’s consider this as a possibility of normal functioning of such type of devises. It is just led for us to find how it is possible to solve our cases and make our phones work great (again). Thank you!
İphone 8 alalı 1 hafta olmadı şarj çok çabuk bitiyor 11.2.5 battery problem problem problem 800€ para verdik günde 3 kere şarja takıyoruz ayıp hemen çözülsün durum bir an önce siz Apple sınız kendinize gelin !
Same problem here. I have an iPhone 6s and am noticing immense battery drain with latest update. By mid-day I'm at 20% without having had one conversation on the phone (and only having sent one or two texts). Minimal web and streaming usage as well. My 6s is less than 2 months old, so I know the drain is not due to an aged battery or phone. It is 100% response to the latest update. Colossal aggravation, but not surprising given Apple's recent track record. A solve would be appreciated.
Ditto! I’m seriously sick of it. Battery life had been awful from the minute I updated and phoneover hearing. I could use my phone at work all day and have 30% left. This morning I unplugged my phone at 100% drive 15 minutes to work and hadn’t used it and it was on 83%. App has lost the plot!
I purchased a new battery for my iPhone 6s two weeks ago after updating to 11.2.5. This did not solve the problem of the immense battery drain my phone is having! So, I assumed that maybe I received a bad battery and had it replaced again. This again did not solve the problem! I have been following this thread since the beginning and have tried all solutions presented. My phone battery continues to drain extremely fast. By noon each day I’m at about 20% after starting at 7:00 a.m. with 100%. This is without using the phone except for sending a few texts. I don’t know what else to do at this point. I can’t have an unreliable phone.
I have tried turning off iCloud Drive and didn’t see any significant changes. I think I’ve turned off about everything! Nothing so far has helped slow the battery drain. I’ll keep trying! Thanks!
Was wondering if Apple has acknowledged that this is a real problem. Or, if there is a fix on the way.
bunrattyMKS
I've tried all the various solutions in this EPIC Story that is now "11.2.5 Upgrade drains battery" to no avail.
But yours is the only solution that I haven't tried. Can you go into details as to the sequence of steps that you look that stabilized your battery drain?
I have an iPhone 5s. I updated my phone the day 11.2.5 was released. Immediately had problems with phone not responding to the Home button. Force restart, noticed battery would be at 100%. Two minutes later, would show 2%. Again, phone not responding after lock screen. Force restart, same process two or three more times. Phone stuck on boot loop. White Apple insignia to all red screen to a black plug in battery screen. Rediculous upgrade.
IOS 11.2.5 battery drain
