It gets me every year how people complain of bad battery after an update but have no idea how updates actually work.
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Apple Says Installing iOS 26 Might Impact Battery Life
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Our iPhones are 10x slower with iOS26 now. Never had a slower device.
I would keep unplugged as indexing already makes the device hotter. Charging also does. Too much heat can’t be good.
The 15 Pro has a bad thermal design and is also so titanium so it doesn't dissipate heat well like aluminum does.
I have the 15 Pro myself and just dumped it for the base 17. It has such horrible thermals. The most disappointing iPhone I've ever had.
It‘s not broken.
They are fixing consumers from withholding iPhone purchases because their iPhone 12 or 13 is still good enough.
As a public beta user, I can attest to increased battery drain. For me, it’s been quite dramatic. My 16 Pro is off the night stand charger at 6 am, back on at 11 pm (or later). Before iOS 26, I would routinely see anywhere from 20-40% battery remaining at 11 pm. Rarely in the red. since iOS 26, I‘m often in the red by 4 pm - sometimes even earlier - which is super unusual. I’m definitely having to change mid-day, especially if I have plans that night (like a concert) that will require phone access. While battery performance has improved a bit, it’s still not ideal. It’s 12:15 pm and I’m at 60%. Normally would easily only be at 80%, and sometimes even higher.
As always, YMMV.
As always, YMMV.
Apple is explaining two separate problems.
1. Temporary perf & efficiency downgrades - part of the update flow, will disappear "soon"
2. Permanent perf & efficiency downgrades - permanent additions to the OS, cannot be reverted:
Perhaps iOS 26—more than previous upgrades—did not meet a "perf consistency threshold", meaning Apple tests major iOS upgrades to ensure they didn't make them slower or worse. Usually, there is no downgrade in perf or efficiency.
Thus, perhaps iOS 26 failed that test and its perf & efficiency is worse permanently, for "some users". Thus, it cannot be mitigated and / or won't be mitigated.
What caused this? Nobody knows (yet) and Apple is typically very coy here.
15 Pro and 16 Pro have bad thermal design coupled with titanium that doesn't dissipate heat well. Hence the move back to aluminum and adding a vapor chamber. Countless threads, posts, Reddits, articles, etc. even after supposed software updates fixed the issue.
Might be a good idea to turn-off the max recharge cap if you have it on, at-least temporarily.
Dude, from my point of view, the new iOS 26 has a significant system requirement boost, and more juice is mostly required for a regular device to work.
Also, iPhone Air must be a HUGE fail for Apple cuz - titanium case, no additional cooling system, a small battery, and now iOS 26 battery issue…
AND YOU KNOW WHAT IS FUNNY - THEY KNOW IT LITERALLY FROM DAY ONE!
Intentional Software obsolescence of the device
Conspiracy. It's running very well on my base iPhone 11.
Yes, the titanium pros are a hot plate on a nice LA day of filming. They will learn why the heat chamber was necessary.
Air has the titanium chassis though, but it's thin enough that it shouldn't ever be an issue.
I like how people are just ignoring the second half of it where apple is clearly saying "but yes, even after you let it settle in for a week, iOS 26 is going to murder your battery a little bit"
Yes, it's very obviously about the current batch of new OS releases cmon people.
Yes, it's very obviously about the current batch of new OS releases cmon people.
This seems like the most likely reason for the sudden and coupled statement before it even hit the street. I know that my 15 pro is absolutely horrible its hot I can watch the battery free fall like carzy, I am probably going to DFU restore the phone to 18.7 and I had an iPhone 17 pro on order the will get canceled for sure, they borked this os upgrade so badly it is not even funny.
I don't even want to imagine what his inbox looks like on release days. 😆
As long as it is documented nobody can complain, right?.
No.
Liquid glass requires GPU always working extra for translucency calculations. Transparency is not a free graphics effect. So, battery life will be impacted, how much?, lets see user complains in the next few weeks. I hope I am wrong.
No.
Liquid glass requires GPU always working extra for translucency calculations. Transparency is not a free graphics effect. So, battery life will be impacted, how much?, lets see user complains in the next few weeks. I hope I am wrong.
Good to hear. My 11 Pro is already pretty laggy, so I’m holding off updating till more anecdotes show up. I have zero need for, nor desire for liquid glass, and am old enough to remember how much slower iOS became after the last big UI change (6 to 7).
I skipped the iOS update last year. I am still on 17.7. Working in the cellular industry for 20+ years I was responsible for hundred of software updates .... leaving the industry I had no desire for new features or the newness of - update now for all the cool new xyz. I guess I was just too engrained in it for too long. If/when I update my device (I am thinking of getting the new iPhone Pro) I realize I'll then have to be on the latest software and I am ok with that lol.
BTW, the battery impacts for any update are one of the big reasons I just decide to forego the update lol.
BTW, the battery impacts for any update are one of the big reasons I just decide to forego the update lol.
I have to charge 2 times er day if I want to reach home with 50%.
iPhone battery life is a joke vs my Chinese banned phone. Really.