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tsipo Author

Level 1

27 points

iOS 11.4 battery = disaster! Handoff is culprit?

Hi, I have iPhone 6s, my battery life has been reduced by ~50% with iOS 11.4! Without any change in my usage pattern.

My battery health is 96% (device is just 6+ months old). I used to get from 100% down to a single digit in a day+ (30-35 hours) with iOS 11.3.1, now it takes 15-16 hours! And my daily usage pattern hasn't changed a bit. It started immediately after installing 11.4 two days ago (official version, I do not install betas).

I suspect handoff between iPhone and my Mac is the main culprit. Today took my phone off the charger in the morning at 100%. After 11 hours at work and commute (no handoff there) I was at 65%-70% when I got home. After 2 hours at home, working mainly on my Mac (very little on the phone itself), I was down to 50%. After 3 more hours (again, barely touching the phone), down to 7%. What is that???!!!

I am sorry, but this is a huge FAIL. This software "upgrade" has downgraded my battery life by 50% or so. It is unacceptable. Give me back iOS 11.3.x!

iPhone 6s, iOS 11.4

Posted on May 31, 2018 10:24 PM

Top-ranking reply

tsipo Author

Level 1

27 points

Posted on Jun 1, 2018 8:36 PM

Update: I disabled handoff on both my iPhone and my Mac, to no avail. I have come to the following conclusion: when you are where Apple decides as home, iOS 11.4 drains your battery like crazy. What they do it for I do not know, but it's outrageous.

Here are my measurements today:

In 9:30 hours when I was commuting (cell network only) and at work (cell data and wifi), my battery dropped from 100% to 76%. Reasonable.
Came back home (cell data and wifi) for 1 hour exactly, battery went down from 76% to 57%.
Went out for 2:30 hours, battery went down from 57% to 52%.
Came back home, closed ALL apps (including mail and messages) on the iPhone. in 1:30 hours battery dropped from 52% to 32%!

This says enough. When Apple identifies you are at home, they take the liberty to drain your battery even when the phone is supposed to be DOING NOTHING. Again: no apps are running, handoff is disabled on both the phone and the mac.

This is for Apple:

Report to the public what the new iOS is doing all this time when the phone is not supposed to do anything!
I consider returning my iPhone for a refund. I got is 6+ months ago, and then you degrade its performance by 50% (in my case) with your shiny new version of iOS. I think I have a case.

I have macs for the last 13 years or so, and iPhones for the last 6 years. I consider whether I should continue this relationship.

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iOS 11.4 battery = disaster! Handoff is culprit?

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