Apple

How to Fix Bad iPhone 12 Battery Life

Published

4 months ago

11/27/2023

If your iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, or iPhone 12 Pro Max’s battery life starts draining faster than it should, there are some steps you should take before getting in touch with Apple customer support.

Battery life issues are common, particularly after Apple releases new iOS software. We also know that 5G drain batteries faster than LTE so these complaints aren’t surprising.

If you start noticing severe battery drain there are some steps you can take to try and resolve the issue. In this guide we’ll take you through some fixes that might help you fix iPhone 12 battery life problems.

Table of Contents

These are fixes that have worked for us over the years and they might help you solve your battery issues in minutes and help you avoid a chat with Apple customer service or a visit to the Apple Store.

Restart Your Phone

If your battery starts draining faster than you think it should, we always recommend restarting your phone before doing anything else.

Power your iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, or iPhone 12 Pro Max down, wait a minute, and power it back on. If it’s still draining quickly, move on to these other steps.

Update Your iPhone

Apple periodically releases iOS software updates for the iPhone. Point updates (iOS x.x.x) are typically focused on fixing bugs while milestone upgrades (iOS x.x) usually deliver a mix of features and fixes.

The company might not call out battery life fixes in an iOS update’s change log, but new firmware always has the potential to help alleviate battery issues.

For more information about the latest version of iOS 16, have a look at that guide. And for more about the latest version of iOS 17, check out our guide.

Turn Down Screen Brightness

If you constantly have your phone’s screen at its maximum brightness, it’ll drain the battery. We recommend enabling Auto-Brightness on your device to help prevent battery drain. Here’s how to do this:

Go into the Settings app.
Tap Accessibility.
Tap Display & Text Size.
Make sure Auto-Brightness is toggled on.

Turn Off 5G

The iPhone 12 series supports 5G connectivity. While fast, it could drain your battery much faster than LTE does. If you don’t need to use 5G or you don’t need to use it all the time, head into your iPhone 12’s settings.

iOS has a few 5G settings that you’ll want to commit to your memory bank. To find these you’ll want to head into Settings, then Cellular, then Cellular Data Options, then Voice & Data.

If you’re in the right place you’ll notice three options:

5G On
5G Auto
LTE

5G On means your iPhone will use 5G whenever it’s available, even if it could kill your device’s battery life.

The 5G Auto option only uses 5G only when it won’t significantly drain your phone’s battery. 5G Auto is the default and the option most people should select.

Check Your Apps

Apps can sometimes have a negative impact on your phone’s battery life and you’ll want to look into them if you’re noticing abnormal drain.

Checking app performance is extremely easy on the iPhone 12 series. Here’s how to do it:

Head into your Settings app.
Select Battery.
Check your battery usage.

This battery usage tool shows you the apps draining your iPhone 12’s battery and when they’re doing so.

If you use an app a lot, it will obviously drain more battery than apps you never use. So if you see an app you rarely use sucking up a ton of power, you’ll want to investigate further.

If you see an app sucking up a ton of battery life, try deleting the app from your device and see if things approve.

If the app is essential to your day-to-day use, we recommend downloading the latest update from the developer. If that doesn’t help, and you really need the app to get through your day, you might need to downgrade back to a previous version of iOS.

Reset All Settings

If you’re positive it’s not an issue with one or more of your apps, try resetting your iPhone 12’s settings.

Before you do this, note that it will cause your device to forget known Wi-Fi networks so make sure you have your passwords written down or stored somewhere before you do this.

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.

Once the process is complete, you’ll need to reconnect your iPhone to your Wi-Fi network(s) and Bluetooth devices.

Use Low Power Mode

Low Power Mode helps you conserve battery life by shutting off services (Hey Siri, automatic downloads, and mail fetch) that could drain your battery.

You can turn Low Power Mode on and off any time you want and the operating system will also prompt you to turn it on whenever your iPhone reaches 20% battery.

If you haven’t done so already, add Low Power Mode to your Control Center. Control Center is the menu that pops up when you swipe up from the bottom or, if you’re using a newer iPhone model, from the top right of the screen. Here’s how to do that:

Head to Settings.
Tap Control Center.
Tap Customize Controls.
Tap the green plus sign next to Low Power Mode.

The next time you open up Control Center on your phone you’ll see a battery icon. Tap it to enable, or disable, Low Power Mode on your device.

You can also turn Low Power Mode on via your Settings. Here’s how to do that:

Go to Settings.
Tap Battery.
Tap Low Power Mode.
Toggle it On.

Stop Using Background Refresh

Background App Refresh refreshes apps in the background in order to show you the latest data when you open them. It’s a useful feature, but it can also eat away at battery life. If you don’t need it, try turning it off. Here’s how to do that:

Go to Settings.
Tap General.
Tap Background App Refresh.
Turn it off for any applications you don’t use.

You can also turn it completely off if you don’t want to go through your apps one at a time.

Downgrade Your iPhone 12’s Software

If you can’t find a fix for your issue, and/or don’t want to wait for Apple’s next iOS update, you can try downgrading your iPhone 12’s software.

For more on the downgrade process, take a look at our walkthrough.

4 Reasons Not to Install iOS 17.4.1 & 11 Reasons You Should

Install iOS 17.4.1 for Better Security

1 / 15

If security is important to you, think about installing Apple's iOS 17.4.1 update right away.

The iOS 17.4.1 update includes security patches, but Apple hasn't revealed them yet. It's probably waiting until it releases additional software for Mac and other devices.

The update's patches will help keep your device and its data protected from harm. And that makes it an important upgrade.

If you missed iOS 17.4 and older software, you'll get the security patches from updates you missed when you upgrade to iOS 17.4.1.

iOS 17.4 had four security patches on board.

The update also delivered quantum security protection for iMessage. The company says the upgrade gives iMessage "the strongest security properties of any at-scale messaging protocol in the world."

The iOS 17.3 update brought 15 new security patches to iPhone. The software also added Stolen Device Protection to iPhone.

It increases the security of your iPhone and Apple ID by requiring Face ID or Touch ID to gain access to passwords, make purchases in Safari, and more. This is useful if someone gets access to your iPhone and its passcode.

iOS 17.2 delivered 10 new security patches to iPhone. If you wish to find out more, you can head on over to Apple's security site for the details.

iOS 17.2 also included iMessage Contact Key Verification which improves the security of iMessage. The company also fixed an exploit that let the Flipper Zero multi-tool lock up iPhones.

iOS 17.1.2 had two security patches on board. Both were related to WebKit. If you want to learn more, you can do so right here.

iOS 17.1 brought 18 security fixes to iPhone. It addressed issues within Weather, Status Bar, WebKit, and more.

iOS 17.0.3 brought two patches for two security issues Apple identified within the software. If you want to read about the patches, head here.

iOS 17.0.1 delivered three important patches to iPhone. If you're interested in the exact nature of these improvements, you can read about them over on Apple's security website.

As for iOS 17 itself, it brought 40+ new security patches with it. A staggering number to say the least. If you want to learn more about them, head over to Apple.

In addition to those patches, iOS 17 brings some additional enhancements to privacy and security including improvements to Communication Safety beyond Messages.

It now includes content sent by AirDrop, Contact Posters in the Phone app, FaceTime, and the systemwide photo picker. You now have an option to blur out sensitive photos and videos before you choose to view them.

There's also an expanded Lockdown Mode which will help protect you against cyber attacks.

Apple's also improved sharing permissions and you now have more control over what you share with the apps on your device.

The company also notes that starting in iOS 17, Voice Memos encrypts the titles of recordings stored in iCloud, in addition to the recordings themselves.

If you skipped older versions of iOS, you'll get the security patches from those updates with your iOS 17.4.1 update as well.