Battery Drain Issue on iOS 18.1 (iPhone 16 pro)

Yes!! It’s been so bad!!!! I’ve done all the things to and no dice!

My phone has been sitting idle for the better part of the day. It charged overnight last night and was fully charged this morning. The only difference was that last night I did the software update to the new OS. I just checked my phone and after barely picking it up all day, it is now at 47%. There were no apps open. What could make it drain so fast? I was happy with the battery performance before this update. This is a horrible update - was it designed to kill battery life?

I am somewhat disappointed with the battery capacity of my 16 Pro Max 512GB device. As a long-time iPhone user, I have been closely following the discussions surrounding battery life, and I find that the battery performance does not meet the expectations that have been raised.

While using the device for activities such as YouTube, FaceTime, a few phone calls, Facebook, and Instagram, with a full charge, I typically do not exceed 80% usage. However, to verify the battery status in real time, I checked the charge level after using the device for approximately five hours, and it dropped to 50%. 

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Same issue here

It's been draining too quickly.

🥲🙁

Same issue. I updated on Tuesday and now my battery use had gone up even though my usage is the same or less according to the graph. And it says that the flashlight was running for 19hrs and today it says 15hrs. I haven’t even used it for 5 mins. This is ridiculous and Apple pretty much forced me to update. My IPhone 14 Pro now has a battery capacity of 81% when less than a year ago it was over 93%. Thanks Apple!!

Are updating the iOS multiple necessary functions will take place. This includes syncing and indexing photos, music, videos, third apps and much more.

Generally this activity is done at night during normal downtime for the iPhone. If you updated to iOS 18.1, 18.1.1 or one of the betas, Apple Intelligence needs to complete updating and then AI needs to start learning your new apps, etc. This process typically takes 3 to 5 days depending on multiple factors. It can certainly be less.

No two iPhones are alike in their batteries and what works for one may not work for another. If it fixed his device, it worked for him.

Are updating the iOS multiple necessary functions will take place. This includes syncing and indexing photos, music, videos, third party apps and much more.

Generally this activity is done at night during normal downtime for the iPhone. If you updated to iOS 18.1, 18.1.1 or one of the betas, Apple Intelligence needs to complete updating and then AI needs to start learning your apps, etc. This process typically takes 3 to 5 days depending on multiple factors. It can certainly be less.

The average user (if there is such a thing) loses about 1% battery health per month. Your battery health being at 81% seems consistent with losing 1%. The graphs are consistent with a recently updated device. You may want to do a forced restart in case an app is stuck in a loop.

Force restart iPhone

1. Press and quickly release the volume up button.
2. Press and quickly release the volume down button.
3. Press and hold the side button.
4. When the Apple logo appears, release the side button.

If iPhone doesn’t restart after you try these steps, see the Apple Support article If your iPhone won’t turn on or is frozen. Or if your iPhone isn’t working as expected after you restart it, see the iPhone Support website.

Pustiu314p wrote:

Same problem here and I start to regret that I bought the 16 pro. It holds even less than an 15 pro…. So disappointing but a good lesson to remember to look at other brands next time.

Sure, look at other brands, because if you do, you'll see on their respective forums, just as many people having battery drain issues. There is no magic bullet for this. What you need to determine is what is causing your battery drain. We have two iPhone 16s (a Pro and a Pro Max). Battery life on both is nothing short of amazing.

At a minimum, when was the last time you performed a Forced Restart on your iPhone? --> Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

Next, what do you have your phone set on for Cellular? Trying to stay connected to a network is a HUGE user of your battery. Open Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data and either change it to 5G Auto or if you are in an area where 5G service is spotty at best, set it to LTE, which may use less power.

Another user of power is Background App Refresh. There are only a few apps I want to constantly be refreshing in the background and you have full control over that in Settings > General > Background App Refresh.

Finally, go through this link for other suggestions --> If the battery in your iPhone drains too quickly - Apple Support

If the end you choose another brand, that's fine. You should buy what you think best your needs and it really doesn't matter to anyone here what you spend your money on. This is after all, a user to user only forum.

Is 18.1.1 a fix?

Bo body knows until it’s been released for 5 to 7 days.

18.1.1 resolved my issues. Thanks.

No. That’s what I have. No fix. I had full charge and have been listening to downloaded podcasts for an hour or so today. 15% gone. You can see when I downloaded/installed 18.1.1 on iPhone 14 Pro yesterday. I’ve noticed other glitches with Apple Mail too.

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Is it possible to go back to a better OS? The last OS I had worked well and didn't kill the battery life. This is crazy. I have had my phone charging now for awhile and it has only gained 2%. It looks like the new OS not only kills the battery life, it makes it much slower to even charge the phone. I'm surprised that an update that is problematic would even be released. How can I go back to the last one that worked?

I purchased my IPAD Air 13 in large part to make use of the Hearing Aid features. I have updated to ios 18.1.1 and downloaded the Hearing software update but have not yet set it up for use. Your comment is interesting to me because if typically it takes 3 to 5 days for the AI to complete the updating and to start learning my apps again, it leaves me wondering how the updates and the nature of how the AI relearns will affect my hearing settings? And also how it would affect my AirPod settings? I have been experiencing a great deal of frustration with my AirPods already, and it seems this has occurred following each of about 3 various updates. Your comment does offer a possible understanding rather than simple frustration. Could you comment on this, please? Thx

See if this helps --> If the battery in your iPhone drains too quickly - Apple Support