Apple
How to Fix Bad iOS 15 Battery Life
If you’re noticing excessive battery drain after installing the latest version of iOS 15 on your iPhone, there are some steps you should take before downgrading your iPhone’s software or getting in contact with Apple customer service.
As we push away from Apple’s latest iOS 15 release, iPhone users are reporting a variety of iOS 15-related problems. One issue on the list is abnormal battery drain, a common issue that pops up every time the company pushes new software to the iPhone.
Some of these battery issues may hardware-related, but many others are likely related to Apple’s latest iOS 15 software update. In many cases, it may be an app causing the issue.
If you’re experiencing abysmal battery life after moving to the latest version of iOS 15, you might be thinking about a move back to older software.
That’s certainly an option if the downgrade is available, but you should try and fix the issue so you can stay put on the current version of iOS 15.
Fixing iOS 15 battery life problems can be tricky, but we’ve got some solutions that have worked for us, and many other iPhone users, in the past.
Table of Contents
Restart Your Phone
If you start noticing abnormal drain after installing the latest version of iOS 15, we recommend restarting your phone before doing anything else.
Power your iPhone down, wait for a minute, and then power it back on. A quick reboot can have a tremendous impact on your device’s performance so this is the first thing to try.
Update Your iPhone
Apple will periodically release new iOS 15 software. The company might not call out battery life fixes in an iOS 15 update’s change log, but new software always has the potential to help cure your device’s ailments.
If a new software update is available, dig into feedback about its performance and then decide if it’s worth installing. For more about the latest version of iOS 15, check out our guide.
Check Your Apps
Applications, particularly third-party apps, have a tendency to start acting up after Apple releases new iOS software. So, there’s a good chance one, or more, of your apps is the source of your battery life problems.
Checking app performance is fairly straightforward on iOS 15 and it might only take you a few minutes to find the app, or apps, causing trouble. Here’s what you need to do:
- Go to the Settings app.
- Select Battery.
- Head into the Battery Usage tool. This tool will show you the apps draining your battery and when they’re doing so.
If you use an app on your phone a lot, it will obviously drain more battery than an app you never use. So if you see something out of the ordinary, an app you rarely use draining battery for instance, you’ll want to investigate further.
If you see one or more of your applications eating up an abnormal amount of battery, try deleting the app from your device and see if that improves your iPhone’s performance.
If the app is an essential one, we recommend downloading the latest updates. If that doesn’t help, and you really need to the app to get through your day, you might need to downgrade back to an older version of iOS if the option is available.
Reset All Settings
If you determine your apps aren’t the source of your battery issues, you should now try resetting your iPhone’s settings.
Before you do this, note that it will cause your iPhone to forget known Wi-Fi networks (and Bluetooth connections) so make sure you write down your passwords if you need to before you tap reset.
Here’s how to reset all of your iPhone’s settings:
- Go to Settings.
- Go to General.
- Scroll and tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.
- Tap Reset.
- Tap Reset All Settings and enter your passcode if one is enabled.
Once the process is complete, you’ll need to reconnect to your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices.
Downgrade
If you can’t find a fix for your problem and/or don’t want to wait for Apple’s next iOS 15 update, you can try downgrading back to an older version of iOS.
Your downgrade options will change over time and downgrading may not be available as Apple stops signing on older iOS software.
For more on the iOS downgrade, take a look at our walkthrough.
Buy a Battery Case or Battery Bank
If you can’t seem to shake your battery life issues and you don’t want to take your phone in and/or replace your device, buying a battery case or battery bank could help.
We generally recommend going with a Mophie battery case, but Apple’s official battery cases are a great alternative if you’d prefer a first-party accessory.
If you don’t want to put a bulky case on your iPhone, you might want to buy a battery bank.
Battery banks are small, portable power sources that can fully charge your iPhone multiple times. There are a ton of great options out there, but Mophie’s powerstation and the Anker Powercore 20 are a couple of relatively inexpensive favorites.
Install iOS 16.7.10 for Better Security | ||||||||||||||
If security is important to you, think about installing Apple's iOS 16.7.10 update on your iPhone right away. iOS 16.7.10 itself doesn't have any security patches on board, but if you missed older versions of iOS 16, you'll get the fixes and features from updates you missed when you upgrade. iOS 16.7.9 featured 20 security patches. If you want to protect your device from harm, and you missed iOS 16.7.9, you should install iOS 16.7.10 sooner rather than later. iOS 16.7.8 has two security patches on board, iOS 16.7.7 had two, and Apple's iOS 16.7.6 update delivered several security patches to iPhone users. iOS 16.7.5 had nine security patches on board and they're important if you want to keep you device and its data safe from harm. iOS 16.7.3 delivered several security patches including one that patches up an issue with the Find My app. iOS 16.7.2 brought several security patches to iPhone models still running iOS 16. Learn more about them here. iOS 16.7.1 carried two important security enhancements including one that addressed a kernel vulnerability. You can learn more about the pair over on Apple's website. iOS 16.7 had three security patches on board and you can learn more about them right here. iOS 16.6.1 brought two important security patches to iPhone. If you're interested in what they patch up, here's Apple's guide. The iOS 16.6 update featured 16 security patches. For more information about the changes, check out Apple's rundown. iOS 16.5.1 brought two security patches to iPhone users If you want to learn more, head on over to Apple's website. The company's iOS Security Response 16.5.1 (c) update also included a security update and you can learn more about it right here. iOS 16.5 brought a ton of security patches to the iPhone. You can find out more about them over on Apple's security site. iOS 16.4.1 included two security upgrades . You can learn more about the pair right here. Apple's iOS 16.4 update had a substantial number of patches on board. You can read about them in detail over on Apple's security site. The iOS 16.3.1 update had three security patches on board including one for an actively exploited vulnerability. For more on the security contents of iOS 16.3.1, check out Apple's security page. iOS 16.3 brought 10+ new security patches with it and you can learn more about all of those right here. In addition, the software came with support for physical security keys for Apple ID. These will beef up your account security by requiring a physical security key as part of the two factor authentication sign in process. Learn more about the change right here. If you skipped iOS 16.2, you'll get its changes with iOS 16.7.10. iOS 16.2 brought a ton of important security patches with it and you can dig into the details on Apple's security site. The update also brought end-to-end encryption to iCloud, iMessage, iPhone backups, Notes, Photos, and more. If you want to learn more about it, head over to Apple's guide. If you decided to missed iOS 16.1.2, you'll get its solitary security patch with your upgrade. Learn more about it right here. If you skipped iOS 16.1.1, you'll get its security patches when you upgrade. You can learn more about them right here. If you missed the iOS 16.1 update, it brought 19 security patches to the iPhone and you can learn about the particulars of those over on Apple's website. If you failed to download iOS 16.0.3, it had one security patch on board, a fix for a potential exploit within the Mail app. For more about the fix, check out Apple's security site. If you're still running iOS 15 your iPhone, you'll get a bunch of other patches when you upgrade. iOS 16.0 brought a ton of security patches to the iPhone. If you're interested in the exact nature of these improvements, you can read about them over on Apple's security website. In addition to those patches, iOS 16 brings some additional enhancements to privacy and security including Safety Check which, according to Apple, will help "people in domestic or intimate partner violence situations review and reset the access they’ve granted others." The feature also resets system privacy permissions for apps and restricts Messages and FaceTime to the device on hand. Apple's also made some improvements to Passkeys in Safari. iOS 16 brings a brand new sign-in method that's end-to-end encrypted and safe from phishing and data leaks. | ||||||||||||||