iOS 12 Terrible battery life on iPhone SE

Further to my post above:

I made a simple test on my iPhone SE, which is 1 year and 3 months old.

Battery health is 100%.

iOS version is iOS 12 ( upgraded from iOS 11.4.1 ).

The only apps that were installed outside of default apps are, Whatsapp Messenger, Panecalplus, Merriam-Webster dictionary, Tureng dictionary, and Lexar.

iPhone is constantly on 802.11ac 5 GHz wi-fi network.

Cellular is 4.5G LTE network.

Screen brightness is about 45%. Bluetooth is off.

The phone was in idling condition. Make or receive no phone calls, receive whatsapp images and messages, e-mails and sms messages. Open Settings from time to time.

Battery charge dropped from 100% to 40% in 102 hours or 4 and 1/4 days.

This is not how a phone is supposed to be operated, of course. It is just a test that may give you an idea about battery charge consumption rate or nothing.

Hope you find this info useful.

You can't possibly have had the general release of iOS12 for more than 30ish hours.

You have few measurable battery usage metrics yet.

Plus, the leap from iOS 10.x to 12 introduced many changes to your apps/data, including dropping 32 bit support.

You may need more time for stability than others.

I have an iPhone SE running iOS 10.3.1 and I'm still affraid updating to iOS 12. If you notice any improvements on battery life, please update this thread so everybody can know that it's just a matter of time for things to settle down

I recommend NO to updating. I have a 6S, and Ipad Pro. Both devices are a bit messed up. Wish I could go back to IOS 11. In all the Apple updates and devices I had through the years, this 12.0 update is by far the worst. Getting double phone screens, people can’t hear me on speaker phone and battery life is tragic. I’m not so sure Apple is forcing people to buy “new”.

Sorry to interrupt but I did a test on Measure app. When my iPhone SE was at 72% battery charge level, I started Measure app. I acted as if I was measuring something for about 10-15 seconds. Then I closed the app and looked at the battery charge level. It was still at 72%. So no battery level drop observed by just starting the Measure app and closing it.

Your charge level drop by 10% is incredible with the Measure app.

So I am really curious to know why some iPhone owners are complaining that much over battery charge duration. I guess I am lucky.

Of course, battery charge duration may be less as iOS burden on the iPhones increases with version, bit count ( 64-bit OS ) and RAM usage, I believe. But not that much, I think.

There must be something wrong.

Don't forget that with each IOS update all devices need to re-index their content which means the device is very active in background - this does drain the battery for the first few days depending on how much is on the device as to how long it takes to re-index.

If you normally use location services etc. which do drain the battery, perhaps turn those off for the first few days after an update which might help give slightly longer life.

Same issue here on my SE, updated from the last iOS 11 version (whatever it was) to iOS 12 three days ago, and the battery has been draining like crazy ever since. I could be looking at a graphically non-busy website on Safari (via wifi) and literally see the battery lose 1% every 20 to 30 seconds with nothing else running. Have already turned everything off in the background, yet it is absolutely atrocious, and I have no idea what I will do when I will not be near a charger. I wish I had waited and hadn't updated. This is, I think, my seventh iPhone in about eight years, I always updated the iOS, and had never seen anything like this.

I decided to take Apple's offer to replace my iPhone SE battery at reduced cost. In preparation for that, I turned off 'Find my Phone' and backed-up my phone to both my Mac and iCloud.

Since then, battery life has returned to normal, even after I reactivated 'Find my Phone.'

The battery was replaced today. So far, things look good.

Maybe it was that my phone needed lots of processing to re-index itself after the OS upgrade, but I also think the back-up process may have contributed to the battery life improvement. Worth a shot for those still suffering from poor battery life following their iOS12 upgrade.

I am still getting terrible battery life. Just got off a plane and it dropped fro 74% to 66% in five minutes. After using Lyft and checking e-mail, it is down to 41%. I had the battery replaced by Apple in April, so it should be in good condition. I didn’t have problems like this on iOS 11. Not acceptable.

I've found that the battery life *estimation* is terrible after upgrading to ios 12. It will often drop by 5-10% in just a few minutes for no discernible reason.

I'll often have 1% left in the evening, and it will plateau there at 1% for hours.

Since upgrading to ios 12, I only actually lost power once (on Sunday). Otherwise it whines and complains, but didn't actually shut off (until Sunday, that is).

My SE is only about 1.5 years old, and the Battery Health -> Maximum Capacity is now at 90%. I don't think I should have to replace the battery just yet (the battery on my 5s lasted 3+ years).

12.1 is no better.

-martin

Hello Martin,

i experience same issues, jutst found your message, is your problem still actual? I can sign everything you wrote, i own same iphone also battery health is 91%... i was very satisfied when i bought, because it was beast with battery life, but now its crazy, it's like when u buy house next to nice forest and they build highway between u and forrest half year later... :(

I have had the SAME problem. Very erratic battery levels. Battery health says good at 93 but it fails and must recharge. And within 10 mins it is back up to 85% or greater. There is something VERY wrong with the software updates and SE. My phone is only 1 yr 10 mons since it was manufactured. Apple DO SOMETHING about this. I have been to my local Apple three times in the last 2 days. Each time they say the battery looks healthy. They even wiped it and reinstalled everything. Looks good for a few hours then dramatically falls to a low percentage and stops running. Why must I pay for a new battery Apple, why can you not fix this phone SE?

Guess I won't update, then.

Please, if you notice any improvement in battery life, update this thread to tell us.

Best regards.

Since updating to iOS 12, I've been waking up to a nearly-dead phone in the mornings. Not good.