iPhone 13 Pro Max Battery drain at Idle / Standby

[shieldcy]

Hello,

Lately I am noticing battery drain when I don't use my phone.
I lose around 3-4% per hour. WiFi on, BT on, Background refresh off (except 2-3 apps), very few widgets on homepage (3-4)

I checked the battery usage and the apps... but it doesn't make sense.

I lose 3% overnight which is ok. I can use the phone for long and lose the same battery percentage (3%).
But being idle, doing nothing, screen not on, background refresh off... and it drops 3%/hr?

Isn't it weird? Does anyone else experience the same issue on Pro Max?

 

[now i see it]

It’s not good but it’s the new ‘normal’.
Check out this excellent explanation by @cynics

Battery improvement - iPhone 13 Pro vs 11 Pro

I've been testing my new iPhone SE 2nd Gen that my employer gave me. However at the very end I think is one of the biggest factors... With nothing on the device, new AppleID and no iCloud data it will sip battery. I ended a 12 hour day today at 80% battery... When I log into my personal...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[shieldcy]

Thanks for the link. Very informative.

So in general it is “normal” to lose 3%/hr? I thought there was something wrong with my phone…

 

[now i see it]

For a test over night,
Take a screen shot of the battery level, then unplug the phone, then:

Turn on Airplane Mode
Turn off Wi-Fi
Turn off Bluetooth
Turn ON Low Power mode
Force quit all your apps

And see what the battery level is the next morning when you wake up.
Betcha it’ll drop less than 8%.

 

[shieldcy]

I actually turn everything off and airplane mode on overnight already.
I lose 2-3%.

But the moment everything is back on (wifi, bluetooth etc), I can see the battery dropping 3-4%/hour on standby.
The weird thing is if I use the phone properly, browsing, socials, videos… it drains almost the same battery as being idle.
it doesn’t make sense.

Thanks anw for the suggestion though.

 

[Taz Mangus]

I actually turn everything off and airplane mode on overnight already.
I lose 2-3%.

But the moment everything is back on (wifi, bluetooth etc), I can see the battery dropping 3-4%/hour on standby.
The weird thing is if I use the phone properly, browsing, socials, videos… it drains almost the same battery as being idle.
it doesn’t make sense.

Thanks anw for the suggestion though.

Try using Low Power Mode enabled overnight. I have it auto enable before I put the phone down for the night and have it disable in the morning.

 

[shieldcy]

I also have low power mode on overnight.
Losing 2-3% overnight is ok. I dont think is unusual.

But losing 3-4%/hour on standby (when I’m awake with WiFi, BT etc on)… that I don’t know. It’s weird

 

[Taz Mangus]

I also have low power mode on overnight.
Losing 2-3% overnight is ok. I dont think is unusual.

But losing 3-4%/hour on standby… that I don’t know. It’s weird

If you look at your 24 hour battery usage you don’t see any apps running during idle?

A couple of other things you could try. Do an encrypted backup to your computer, put your phone in Recovery Mode Update. This will download a fresh copy of the latest iOS and install it on your phone. It won’t touch any of your user data.

The nuclear option is to do a Recovery Mode Restore followed by a restore from the encrypted backup. The Recovery Mode Restore will erase the entire contents of the phone.

Make sure to do an encrypted backup as that will save off everything including any passwords.

If you can't update or restore your iPhone or iPod touch - Apple Support

You can put your iOS device in recovery mode, then restore it using your computer.

support.apple.com

 

[now i see it]

The 13 series has a first generation Qualcomm 5G modem. That thing definitely can use some optimization. Supposedly the next version will use less power.

 

[Taz Mangus]

The 13 series has a first generation Qualcomm 5G modem. That thing definitely can use some optimization. Supposedly the next version will use less power.

The iPhone 13 has the QualComm X60 which is the 3rd generation 5G modem. It is more power efficient then the iPhone 12 QualComm X55 5G modem.

 

[Reggaenald]

Something is wrong with iOS 15.
Look at this screenshot from iOS 14, that’s just not possible anymore

 

[shieldcy]

Some screenshots I took to show how weird the issue is.
Battery dropped 6-7% in 2 hours but there are no apps at all in the list

Would probably try @Taz Mangus's suggestion and see how it goes.

 

[now i see it]

iOS 15 battery life sucks on my iPhone 7 but it doesn’t suck that bad. That’s seriously messed up.

This graphic below is an iPhone 8 on iOS 14 over night. Airplane mode On, Bluetooth On, Wi-Fi Off, Low Power mode On, DND On.

Battery dropped 2% overnight
not being used

 

[shieldcy]

thanks for the screenshot. Maybe there is a problem with my battery. Your stats seem quite reasonable.Would probably ask for a replacement if none of the above work for me.

Overnight is ok btw, mine also drops 2-3% which is fine.

During the day though when it is not in airplane mode and wifi / bt on... it drops 3%/hour
What I will try is to turn airplane mode off (and keep WiFi/BT on) and see if the issue is still there.
If not, I can assume that the phone signal might be the issue (I get 3 bars)

 

[Samdh90]

Hey bud,

There are definitely some issues with iOS 15.3.X and battery drain. There are a couple additional threads on this. I am sorry if this was asked, but have you tried using airplane mode overnight to see if the drain is less? If you take it to apple, it has to either fail their tests or be below 80% health. If neither apply, they won't replace it in most cases. I would say that if you can, I would try waiting for 15.4 to drop and see if it improves. Have you tried enabling App Privacy Report? I have read that with this on, if a particular app is doing something crazy, you will see it on the report. A good example of "Crazy," would be a near constant connection to a server on the internet, or something constantly accessing "X" for example. If one exists, you can try killing the app and then re-testing.

One last thing I can suggest, I would not recommend this unless you are at the end of the ropes but;

1. Backup phone to a PC or a Mac
2. Restore the phone as new
3. Don't restore the backup, set everything as new

Then see if you still have the issue. Unfortunately, battery issues like this can be a pain in the rear but this would rule any weird app or setting conflict. Of course, if the issue still occurs, you can then restore the backup as it did not help.

 

[shieldcy]

I am sorry if this was asked, but have you tried using airplane mode overnight to see if the drain is less? If you take it to apple, it has to either fail their tests or be below 80% health. If neither apply, they won't replace it in most cases. I would say that if you can, I would try waiting for 15.4 to drop and see if it improves. Have you tried enabling App Privacy Report? I have read that with this on, if a particular app is doing something crazy, you will see it on the report. A good example of "Crazy," would be a near constant connection to a server on the internet, or something constantly accessing "X" for example. If one exists, you can try killing the app and then re-testing.

Thanks for all your suggestions. Appreciate it.

Yes, airplane mode on, wifi / BT off and the drain is 2-3% overnight. Which is perfectly fine.
The issue is during the day. With airplane mode off, WiFi/BT on and on standby.

App Privacy Report is enabled. Will definitely take a look there.
I will be waiting for 15.4 too.

 

[Samdh90]

Thanks for all your suggestions. Appreciate it.

Yes, airplane mode on, wifi / BT off and the drain is 2-3% overnight. Which is perfectly fine.
The issue is during the day. With airplane mode off, WiFi/BT on and on standby.

App Privacy Report is enabled. Will definitely take a look there.
I will be waiting for 15.4 too.

Hi,

Glad to hear that turning the radios off at night help for the most part. From there, when seeing this issue, are you always connected to WiFI, or are you sometimes only connected to cellular? How strong is the cellular connection? I have noticed that if cell connection is weak, battery will suffer. If always on the wifi, maybe restart the router and see if it helps. The phone has to be doing something, my guess is excessive network traffic.

I would also note, look at the battery graph, if you see any apps that are using background. If the app has background permissions disabled and still showing up, it could be a bad app. I was personally able to kill the 3-4% overnight drain I had by removing all apps that were backgrounding when not opened and when I specifically told the phone to now allow it.

This is also a longshot, but if you are using the tile app, I have noticed leaving the app logged in put a drain on my battery for no reason other than just an annoying app. Since I use a tile, I leave the app logged out unless I need it and that fixed it. Maybe other similar apps that link to BT tracking like tile/airtags might have the same issue. I have read that the Find My app has caused battery drains for some who have airtags but I can't personally confirm why.

Best of luck