Battery life on 18.4 iPhone 13 mini

[splifingate]

Absolutely, even though I admittently had to look the acronym up

Here, there's only Telekom (that owns everything) and Vodafone, that managed to have shocking reception but did gobble up the company Kabel Deutschland, to lay their own glass fibre lines for home use. And it's basically what happened to my provider. They used the company O2 network for LTE whilst trying to put their own 5G towers up. Their LTE switched to Vodafone and suddenly I had little to no reception, with no explanation why. Fibre optics are not yet even widely distributed as the apartment blocks are often from the early 1900's. They reckon last quarter this year to my building, but then the price will be higher vs an already very stable VDSL line.

Germany is quite backward with tech in this regard and still swear by fax machines. The bureaucratic machine is slow, heavy, and soul eating. But now I digress.

While I do have a 1Gbps fibre line attached to my home, I can appreciate just how many layers there are to our Markets.

Interestingly, there is a distinct possibility that I may soon be able to avail myself of 'Google Fiber', it's more the flexibility of the Connection, than the Service--itself--that attracts me.

The hoops I have had to jump-through just to get my own, bespoke hard/soft to work with my own FTTH Connection has been an astounding series of efforts.

wrt "Cellular":

I have ~five choices for Cellular, and it has always seemed best (to me) to choose a Carrier that actually claims ownership of the signals 🤷‍♂️

 

[v0lume4]

What do you mean battery life stayed the same?

The battery health on my mother's iPhone 7 Plus was down in the 70%'s. I think it was like 77% or something. Her battery life wasn't very good as you could imagine. Per my recommendation, we had the battery replaced at the Apple Store. You'd expect the new battery to give the phone much better battery life, right? With 100% battery health? Wrong. Battery life was hardly better. May have been the same.

So, if the hardware can be ruled out for the battery woes, what's left? Software. Her phone was running the very latest (and last) iOS versions released for that phone at the time (iOS 15.7 or 15.8, I believe).

 

[Alpha Centauri]

The battery health on my mother's iPhone 7 Plus was down in the 70%'s. I think it was like 77% or something. Her battery life wasn't very good as you could imagine. Per my recommendation, we had the battery replaced at the Apple Store. You'd expect the new battery to give the phone much better battery life, right? With 100% battery health? Wrong. Battery life was hardly better. May have been the same.

So, if the hardware can be ruled out for the battery woes, what's left? Software. Her phone was running the very latest (and last) iOS versions released for that phone at the time (iOS 15.7 or 15.8, I believe).

Sounds like the same experience I had with my 2016 SE after battery replacement.

 

[xxFoxtail]

18.4 seems to be very stable with my 13 mini. Battery is great. A couple days ago, I was using ChatGPT for a lot longer than I'd normally use the phone for. Didn’t need to recharge it at all (Capacity is 100%).

 

[FeliApple]

18.4 seems to be very stable with my 13 mini. Battery is great. A couple days ago, I was using ChatGPT for a lot longer than I'd normally use the phone for. Didn’t need to recharge it at all (Capacity is 100%).

Just curious, can you please share a screenshot of the last 24 hours screen that’s in Settings-Battery?

 

[geta]

The battery health on my mother's iPhone 7 Plus was down in the 70%'s. I think it was like 77% or something. Her battery life wasn't very good as you could imagine. Per my recommendation, we had the battery replaced at the Apple Store. You'd expect the new battery to give the phone much better battery life, right? With 100% battery health? Wrong. Battery life was hardly better. May have been the same.

So, if the hardware can be ruled out for the battery woes, what's left? Software. Her phone was running the very latest (and last) iOS versions released for that phone at the time (iOS 15.7 or 15.8, I believe).

Did you try to reinstall the iOS and then reinstall all apps not from backup?

My SE1 could hold maybe half a day, but now since I replaced to a new battery last year, it can hold two days.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Did you try to reinstall the iOS and then reinstall all apps not from backup?

My SE1 could hold maybe half a day, but now since I replaced to a new battery last year, it can hold two days.

what iOS version is it on?

 

[xxFoxtail]

Just curious, can you please share a screenshot of the last 24 hours screen that’s in Settings-Battery?

Sure. As far as yesterday goes, looks like I had it on the charger briefly. A little hard to tell if it would have made it all day yesterday without a charge.

My average screen time for the last 10 days came out to be 4 hours and 4 minutes.

 

[geta]

what iOS version is it on?

iOS 15.8.3

 

[FeliApple]

Sure. As far as yesterday goes, looks like I through it on the charger briefly. A little hard to tell if it would have made it all day yesterday without a charge.

My average screen time for the last 10 days came out to be 4 hours and 4 minutes.

View attachment 2500071

Tough to extrapolate with so many replugs, but from the three partial cycles I can see, it seems that with a Safari-centric usage pattern you’re getting about 6-7 hours of SOT. More or less what I would’ve expected from an updated Mini. Not the best, but maybe you had a couple more hours on iOS 15. Not too consequential anyway. Those are the limits of the Mini. That’s more or less what I get on a 6s on its original iOS version. Definitely usable for a light-to-moderate full day, but just like the 6s, I think it would struggle on a heavier outdoors day with a little Camera and full Cellular use. You’d probably be looking at 4-5 hours.

Two more questions that are very important:

Wi-Fi or Cellular? And what was your brightness level throughout? If it was automatic, do you know the overall level?

 

[xxFoxtail]

Tough to extrapolate with so many replugs, but from the three partial cycles I can see, it seems that with a Safari-centric usage pattern you’re getting about 6-7 hours of SOT. More or less what I would’ve expected from an updated Mini. Not the best, but maybe you had a couple more hours on iOS 15. Not too consequential anyway. Those are the limits of the Mini. That’s more or less what I get on a 6s on its original iOS version. Definitely usable for a light-to-moderate full day, but just like the 6s, I think it would struggle on a heavier outdoors day with a little Camera and full Cellular use. You’d probably be looking at 4-5 hours.

Two more questions that are very important:

Wi-Fi or Cellular? And what was your brightness level throughout? If it was automatic, do you know the overall level?

I was home all day, so it was wi-fi. I keep the brightness roughly between 50-70%, but it is automatic. And no Bluetooth devices connected, haven't been wearing my AirPods or Apple Watch. I'd have to experiment more on cellular on a warm, sunny day. I'd imagine the battery life would take a harder hit there. And yeah, Safari is my most used app, I try to use website versions of apps whenever possible. Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with the 13 mini on anything other than iOS 18, though did use a 80-90% capacity 12 mini on it years ago.

I know this opinion is unpopular and slightly off topic, but one of the reasons I wanted the 13 mini was for forced reduced screen time (smaller screen and reduced battery life), though doesn't help that I always have a charger nearby. It's not exactly where I’d like it to be yet, but it's certainly a lot lower than where I was at with my 14 Pro.

 

[SpAwN_BG]

Very pleased! Battery with 100% health.

 

[Ian Moody]

I've had no problem on my 13 mini. All good.

 

[v0lume4]

Did you try to reinstall the iOS and then reinstall all apps not from backup?

My SE1 could hold maybe half a day, but now since I replaced to a new battery last year, it can hold two days.

Before the battery replacement, I did reinstall the OS, yes. A true reinstall -- through iTunes on the computer. And it did make a small difference. The biggest difference was in performance. The phone was more snappy than before. Not placebo. And the battery life may have been a hair better though I cannot recall. So, some difference, but mostly performance rather than battery life.

I did restore the apps and data through a backup, however. From what I understand, though, the actual "OS layer" isn't really touched by a restore. Its mostly just instructing the phone what apps to redownload from the App Store. So you're not dragging over a bunch of bloat deep down in the system. It isn't the same as cloning a system, for example. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on that.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

iOS 15.8.3

Interesting. I fired my SE up and it was on 15.2...updating to 15.4 cause...it just doesn't matter anymore. Battery health shows as 89% but it barely lasts just sitting idle all day, screen off and on WiFi only. It was destined to be an emergency ph or/and a remote of sorts.

 

[Removebeforeflight]

Hi, iPhone 12 mini here. I am pleasantly surprised with 18.4. Today I had almost 40% remaining in the evening (admittedly not much browsing etc done) where normally I would be between 10-20%. May also be due to the restart that is connected with each of the software updates that kill rogue apps, but ok..

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Hi, iPhone 12 mini here. I am pleasantly surprised with 18.4. Today I had almost 40% remaining in the evening (admittedly not much browsing etc done) where normally I would be between 10-20%. May also be due to the restart that is connected with each of the software updates that kill rogue apps, but ok..

There's a few now in this thread that are having this (quite noticeable) experience. Having said, speaking from even more experience....18.4.?...nooo...not jinxing.

 

[otetzone]

13 mini here on iOS 15.5, battery health 87%.
Pretty much satisfied with battery life. However, I can see people here are happy with 18.4.
Now I have a dilemma. Would it really be better for me to update my 13 mini to 18.4 or it's better stay with 15.5? Seems like a huge jump so I obviously have some doubts and worries. Battery life is the main thing I'm after.
I dont't care about security issues, it's only the battery life that I care about.

 

[SpAwN_BG]

15.5 has tons of security flaws! I wouldn’t risk staying on it.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

13 mini here on iOS 15.5, battery health 87%.
Pretty much satisfied with battery life. However, I can see people here are happy with 18.4.
Now I have a dilemma. Would it really be better for me to update my 13 mini to 18.4 or it's better stay with 15.5? Seems like a huge jump so I obviously have some doubts and worries. Battery life is the main thing I'm after.
I dont't care about security issues, it's only the battery life that I care about.

I am on iOS 18.4 with my 13 Mini

IF you don't care about the security aspect whatsoever, nor about new features, or symbiosis with another device:

then no, there's little incentive in upgrading if all needed Apps are still working. Sooner or later you'll be forced into an upgrade either way. 18.4 seems to work well for me and others on here BUT my experience has been that next dot versions that tend to degrade things.

Off course you'll get comments to just use the phone, not worry about the battery and just replace it when it's needed. Yes..and..No. It's been my experience that older hardware running the latest iOS, (with large generational gaps), will effectively not benefit from a new battery. Let me correct that. It will at the start of the replacement but certainly won't have the same long term behaviour as a fresh device with a new battery. That at least was my experience with my previous SE OG.

 

[otetzone]

@Alpha Centauri Thank you very much for your detailed answer. I really appreciate your response.

I wish I could just stay as long as possible on 15.5 but as you correctly noticed, some apps might just stop working. It's what had happened to me on my SE OG on iOS 14. Happened to two apps. The rest of the apps are fine except that some no longer update while it's okay wtih me as long as they are working.

What made me post here was the idea that when the time comes, the iOS version signed wouldn't be as battery-friendly as 18.4. Mine is alredy by 87% and who knows how it would react to such a system update. In order to avoid this dichotomy I might just get a new 16e which seems to be the best of two worlds.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

@Alpha Centauri Thank you very much for your detailed answer. I really appreciate your response.

I wish I could just stay as long as possible on 15.5 but as you correctly noticed, some apps might just stop working. It's what had happened to me on my SE OG on iOS 14. Happened to two apps. The rest of the apps are fine except that some no longer update while it's okay wtih me as long as they are working.

What made me post here was the idea that when the time comes, the iOS version signed wouldn't be as battery-friendly as 18.4. Mine is alredy by 87% and who knows how it would react to such a system update. In order to avoid this dichotomy I might just get a new 16e which seems to be the best of two worlds.

I can almost guarantee that either 18.4.1 (less likely) or 18.4.2 (more likely) or following 18.4.3 (highly likely), will make us wish we stayed on 18.4. re battery.

Actually the first 13 Mini I bought with iOS 15, there was an issue with and I bought it back, received another but it forced me to go to iOS16 whilst transferring all side-by side at the Apple Store. That was only after a month really and found myself already being forced to update (there was no other option).

 

[splifingate]

I can almost guarantee that either 18.4.1 (less likely) or 18.4.2 (more likely) or following 18.4.3 (highly likely), will make us wish we stayed on 18.4. re battery.

That's my expectation/fear.

The Wheel always turns; hopefully, the past does not define the future.

 

[otetzone]

Actually the first 13 Mini I bought with iOS 15, there was an issue with and I bought it back, received another but it forced me to go to iOS16 whilst transferring all side-by side at the Apple Store. That was only after a month really and found myself already being forced to update (there was no other option).

@Alpha Centauri Funny thing I have noticed, when I bought the 13 mini it was on 15.0.1 or something and the battery life was outstanding. I thought I'd update it till the last iOS 15 version and be a happy-camper. However as I updated to 15.3 there was a huge battery decline. The same continued with 15.4 and only 15.5 got things straight. Maybe not as good as factory-installed version but decent enough compared to 15.4. It was a revelation to me that even the point releases might affect the battery life so bad.

Once 18.4 is so good on the battery I'm tempted to update but am really afraid to fix what's not broken if you know what I mean. And there's one more thing. After 15.5 one cannot see the battery percentage of one's airtags which is a bummer.

It's not fair to rely the responsibility on you but in my case would you update now to 18.4? I'm asking you because you seem to understand exactly what I'm after. I assume you'd stay with 15.5 if you were me just want a confirmation.

 

[FeliApple]

@Alpha Centauri Funny thing I have noticed, when I bought the 13 mini it was on 15.0.1 or something and the battery life was outstanding. I thought I'd update it till the last iOS 15 version and be a happy-camper. However as I updated to 15.3 there was a huge battery decline. The same continued with 15.4 and only 15.5 got things straight. Maybe not as good as factory-installed version but decent enough compared to 15.4. It was a revelation to me that even the point releases might affect the battery life so bad.

Once 18.4 is so good on the battery I'm tempted to update but am really afraid to fix what's not broken if you know what I mean. And there's one more thing. After 15.5 one cannot see the battery percentage of one's airtags which is a bummer.

It's not fair to rely the responsibility on you but in my case would you update now to 18.4? I'm asking you because you seem to understand exactly what I'm after. I assume you'd stay with 15.5 if you were me just want a confirmation.

One question: On the one hand, you said that you value battery life the most. On the other hand, you mentioned that apps “might” stop working.

As someone who hasn’t willingly updated an iOS device for about 12 years, I’m intricately familiar with incompatibility. I’ve instructed my family never to update. They’ve listened. But now, an iPhone 11 that remains in use is running iOS 14. iOS 14 will lose compatibility with a key, impossible-to-replace app so we have to update that one. It’s the first iOS device I’ve had to update for compatibility since 2013.

And it’s the perfect introduction to my question: iOS 18 still has a few months left. Do you need iOS 18 now? Is there an app you absolutely need that doesn’t work? If there is, do you have other devices you can run it on without that being inconvenient? (i.e., do you need constant, unfettered access?) If you do, I’d update. If you can circumvent this either with another iOS device, with a computer, or the app isn’t so important, I wouldn’t.

Worst case scenario, you reevaluate this by the end of the iOS 18 lifecycle, perhaps this situation changes and you can avoid iOS 19. Or maybe it doesn’t and you can stay until you upgrade.