iPhone 13 Does anyone else feel Apple purposely gimps battery life on models that are no longer “new” ?

[ACE_350]

Anybody remember when the iPhone 13 series was a serious battery beast? Every model except maybe the mini had exceptional battery life. And the 13 Pro Max was just insane.

How is it that iOS 16 drops and suddenly the battery life just magically diminishes? And you can’t say it’s battery health because I’ve watched battery test YouTube videos and the iPhone 14 beats the 13 almost by an hour each time.. which really just makes no sense.

You would think a trillion dollar company with as sophisticated as their software is would optimize it in a way to even improve battery life in older models year over year with new iOS releases.

 

[subjonas]

Anybody remember when the iPhone 13 series was a serious battery beast? Every model except maybe the mini had exceptional battery life. And the 13 Pro Max was just insane.

How is it that iOS 16 drops and suddenly the battery life just magically diminishes? And you can’t say it’s battery health because I’ve watched battery test YouTube videos and the iPhone 14 beats the 13 almost by an hour each time.. which really just makes no sense.

You would think a trillion dollar company with as sophisticated as their software is would optimize it in a way to even improve battery life in older models year over year with new iOS releases.

So you mean you think Apple purposely decreases battery life in older iPhones with each iOS update?
I mean, this accusation has been around since probably the beginning of iOS, since there is obvious motive on Apple’s part. And it’s possible that it’s true. But I’d say since there are probably millions of very smart people in the world who would love to scientifically prove that Apple is doing this and then take Apple’s money in class action lawsuits, but that hasn’t happened yet (or has it? If it has, why was it not huge news? And then why wouldn’t people continue suing Apple if it’s still going on?), it’s probably not likely. Not saying battery life doesn’t decrease with some iOS updates, but if it does (permanently, not just in the initial period after an update) it’s more likely that it’s just a consequence of iOS getting bigger/more complex. Or it could be the update causes particular apps to start drawing too much power, possibly in the background. There might be other possibilities besides foul play.

 

[anubis1980]

Anybody remember when the iPhone 13 series was a serious battery beast? Every model except maybe the mini had exceptional battery life. And the 13 Pro Max was just insane.

How is it that iOS 16 drops and suddenly the battery life just magically diminishes? And you can’t say it’s battery health because I’ve watched battery test YouTube videos and the iPhone 14 beats the 13 almost by an hour each time.. which really just makes no sense.

You would think a trillion dollar company with as sophisticated as their software is would optimize it in a way to even improve battery life in older models year over year with new iOS releases.

I have the 13 pro max , 97% health. Had issues with battery, iMessage not working etc so I finally took the plunge two days ago and did a complete reset , set up as new

Now I know it’s not good to run down the battery to empty but I did over two days as a test and got 13 hours screen time. I’m not the biggest fan at all of iOS 16 but this is now getting close to what I had when new , so I’m happier, I think a lot of issues with battery life tend to come from new versions of iOS and lack of optimisation

 

[FeliApple]

This has been the eternal, unsolved debate:

People who discuss this seriously do not (or should not) deny that iOS updates directly and irreversibly decrease battery life, throughout every iOS device in existence (iPads are obliterated too). Some people say that Apple does it on purpose, in order to force people to upgrade (claim for which there is no proof, and claim for which proof is nearly impossible to obtain), others say that it is a byproduct of increased power requirements.

I tend to gravitate to the latter: as we have no proof, I can’t say that Apple does it on purpose. I’m inclined to think that it is a byproduct of increased power requirements.

Some added commentary though: In my opinion, that specific debate is meaningless. Why? Because it doesn’t matter whether Apple does it on purpose or not. What matters is that iOS updates irreversibly decrease battery life.

In any serious discussion, there is one warranted criticism. I would even go as far as to say that is proof of planned obsolescence. Even if we take Apple’s side and assume it isn’t on purpose (like I said, I tend to think this is the case), the decrease happens. And it is irreversible. Why? Because Apple does not allow downgrades. As long as Apple not only refuses to allow people to downgrade, but they also force to update through restores, Apple will always be at fault. Apple has to know that this happens. It is impossible for them not to, especially if they have access to older iOS versions.

Through this practice, Apple has rendered millions of iPhones unusable as main phones due to this issue. And that’s excluding performance issues, which only add to the problem.

You notice it on an iPhone 13, which is almost the current model. Grab an iPhone 6s, grab an iPhone 7. Go further: Plus models have always been renowned for their battery life: grab a 6s Plus, an 8 Plus, any Plus. Battery life will be abhorrent when compared to the original iOS version.

And to address your final point: battery health is completely irrelevant. It doesn’t matter. Heavily degraded batteries on original iOS versions retain like-new battery life. Heavily degraded batteries are unusable if updated (ask any iPhone 6s user with an original battery on iOS 15), and replacing the battery improves it significantly, but isn’t anywhere near the original iOS version, even if the latter has a significantly degraded battery.

I repeat: as long as Apple continues to prohibit downgrades, Apple will always be at fault.

And using your opening question: do you remember when the iPhone 6s Plus was a battery beast? Back on iOS 9 and 10?

 

[eyoungren]

Anybody remember when the iPhone 13 series was a serious battery beast? Every model except maybe the mini had exceptional battery life. And the 13 Pro Max was just insane.

How is it that iOS 16 drops and suddenly the battery life just magically diminishes? And you can’t say it’s battery health because I’ve watched battery test YouTube videos and the iPhone 14 beats the 13 almost by an hour each time.. which really just makes no sense.

You would think a trillion dollar company with as sophisticated as their software is would optimize it in a way to even improve battery life in older models year over year with new iOS releases.

I cannot definitively disprove your theory, but it's not my job to prove you right either.

So, I will just say that my iPhone 6s+ took six years to hit less than 80% of battery health before the battery was replaced. That was 2021 and it's sitting on 99% battery health now. It's running the latest version of iOS 15 - but it was on iOS 9.0.1 for five years.

My 11 Pro Max has 100% battery health, although it was a May 2022 replacement for a February 2021 purchase (I dropped it). I routinely go to bed with my 11PM at around 80% battery or higher. iOS 16.

My iPhone 3GS, my 4 and my 4s do fairly well with battery life too - despite being as old as they are. The one thing that could support your theory is the battery in my iPhone 5. I'm on my 4th replacement of this phone because of battery swelling. Although, when it was my primary phone I didn't have any battery longevity complaints.

However, I do not use any of my phones like a lot of people do - substitute computers/media devices. I have computers and TVs around me all day. I use those. My phones get used as phones or as the occasional iPod.

EDIT: Oh yeah, my 6th gen iPad is on the iOS 16 beta. Bought new 2018, original battery. No problems with it.

 

[FeliApple]

I cannot definitively disprove your theory, but it's not my job to prove you right either.

So, I will just say that my iPhone 6s+ took six years to hit less than 80% of battery health before the battery was replaced. That was 2021 and it's sitting on 99% battery health now. It's running the latest version of iOS 15 - but it was on iOS 9.0.1 for five years.

My 11 Pro Max has 100% battery health, although it was a May 2022 replacement for a February 2021 purchase (I dropped it). I routinely go to bed with my 11PM at around 80% battery or higher. iOS 16.

My iPhone 3GS, my 4 and my 4s do fairly well with battery life too - despite being as old as they are. The one thing that could support your theory is the battery in my iPhone 5. I'm on my 4th replacement of this phone because of battery swelling. Although, when it was my primary phone I didn't have any battery longevity complaints.

However, I do not use any of my phones like a lot of people do - substitute computers/media devices. I have computers and TVs around me all day. I use those. My phones get used as phones or as the occasional iPod.

EDIT: Oh yeah, my 6th gen iPad is on the iOS 16 beta. Bought new 2018, original battery. No problems with it.

I have seen no indication throughout several devices to suggest with any proof whatsoever that battery health degrades any faster if the device is updated. That said, I don’t think battery health is too relevant - the only number that matters is battery life. Which suffers tremendously with updates, rendering many devices unusable.

iPads are far more resilient to health degradation too. Battery life suffers tremendously with updates as well, but they fare a lot better when degraded because their batteries are far larger. If I sustain that battery health is already irrelevant on iPhones, it is far more irrelevant on iPads: like I said, their batteries are too large to see an impact. That’s why you see people with pretty old iPads happy with battery life, especially if they’re light users: it doesn’t suffer as much, even degraded and updated. By this I mean, even if battery life suffers heavily in terms of screen-on time after updates, it remains usable.

Take my 9.7-inch iPad Pro: after being forced into iOS 12, battery life dropped immediately from 14 hours to 10.5 hours. Battery health is fine even 6.5 years later. In my experience, people wildly underestimate the battery life impact of iOS updates, but 10.5 hours would be enough for many users. An iPhone 6s user has lost more or less the same amount of hours on iOS 15, with LTE use. And they notice it, because the impact is too large for them not to. (Of course, in terms of percentage, 3.5 hours represent a lot more for an iPhone 6s on LTE than for a 9.7-inch iPad Pro with light use). And that’s why older, updated iPads remain far more usable than their iPhone counterparts.

 

[eyoungren]

I have seen no indication throughout several devices to suggest with any proof whatsoever that battery health degrades any faster if the device is updated. That said, I don’t think battery health is too relevant - the only number that matters is battery life. Which suffers tremendously with updates, rendering many devices unusable.

iPads are far more resilient to health degradation too. Battery life suffers tremendously with updates as well, but they fare a lot better when degraded because their batteries are far larger. If I sustain that battery health is already irrelevant on iPhones, it is far more irrelevant on iPads: like I said, their batteries are too large to see an impact. That’s why you see people with pretty old iPads happy with battery life, especially if they’re light users: it doesn’t suffer as much, even degraded and updated. By this I mean, even if battery life suffers heavily in terms of screen-on time after updates, it remains usable.

Take my 9.7-inch iPad Pro: after being forced into iOS 12, battery life dropped immediately from 14 hours to 10.5 hours. Battery health is fine even 6.5 years later. In my experience, people wildly underestimate the battery life impact of iOS updates, but 10.5 hours would be enough for many users. An iPhone 6s user has lost more or less the same amount of hours on iOS 15, with LTE use. And they notice it, because the impact is too large for them not to. (Of course, in terms of percentage, 3.5 hours represent a lot more for an iPhone 6s on LTE than for a 9.7-inch iPad Pro with light use). And that’s why older, updated iPads remain far more usable than their iPhone counterparts.

I guess battery life just doesn't matter to me so much. I put my 6s+ and 11 Pro Max on charger each night and they have no less than 80% of battery when I do - and that's usually because I used them a lot during the day.

It matters much more to people who use their phones as their sole device, or to consume media or play games, etc.

But…I sit here all day, every day. I see no need to use my phones for games or media. And this is just one (or two) of the computers I'm using every day.



So, if updates cause shorter battery life I really wouldn't know I guess. I'm just using my devices as phones.

 

[FeliApple]

I guess battery life just doesn't matter to me so much. I put my 6s+ and 11 Pro Max on charger each night and they have no less than 80% of battery when I do - and that's usually because I used them a lot during the day.

It matters much more to people who use their phones as their sole device, or to consume media or play games, etc.

But…I sit here all day, every day. I see no need to use my phones for games or media. And this is just one (or two) of the computers I'm using every day.

View attachment 2153986

So, if updates cause shorter battery life I really wouldn't know I guess. I'm just using my devices as phones.

Yeah, your reply reminded me of that time you told me why you updated your 6s Plus from iOS 9: the drawbacks from updating didn’t really matter to you because you aren’t a heavy user, like you said.

The important thing here is the user’s requirements, like I said in the “should I update my 6s Plus from iOS 10.1.1 to iOS 15” thread: you know updates will severely impact battery life, now, do you need the battery life? Maybe you don’t, maybe you need the app support, or maybe you want to update for some other reason. As long as you’re aware of the impact and assess it won’t affect you, it’s fine.

 

[jtylee]

my wife's iPhone 11 consistently outlasts my 12, to this day, she can go two days without charging.

 

[v0lume4]

I have the 13 pro max , 97% health. Had issues with battery, iMessage not working etc so I finally took the plunge two days ago and did a complete reset , set up as new

Now I know it’s not good to run down the battery to empty but I did over two days as a test and got 13 hours screen time. I’m not the biggest fan at all of iOS 16 but this is now getting close to what I had when new , so I’m happier, I think a lot of issues with battery life tend to come from new versions of iOS and lack of optimisation

Can you do a complete reset from the device or do you have to utilize iTunes?

 

[BigMcGuire]

Absolutely loving the battery life on my 13 PM.

 

[Mr. Awesome]

People who discuss this seriously do not (or should not) deny that iOS updates directly and irreversibly decrease battery life, throughout every iOS device in existence (iPads are obliterated too)

Not necessarily. iOS 12 breathed new life into my iPad mini 3. Was getting 1-2 more hours consistently.

 

[tranceking26]

No matter the version of iOS, my 11 has been very good battery wise.

I use it a lot, but lately I seem to finish the day with a healthy amount left for the next. I hope that continues.

 

[HouseLannister]

And you can’t say it’s battery health

it’s battery health

but seriously, not sure what YouTube influencer is telling you the sky is falling. The 14 gets less battery life than the 13. There is no one hour bonus magic just because you bought this year’s model. They have the same chip, but the 14 has more RAM and more GPU, so it eats up more battery, making the 13 a clear winner in most tests. It’s a very small difference, but it’s there and has been documented in a lot of battery tests and reviews.

iPhone 14 battery life vs. iPhone 13 — does it last longer than its predecessor?

Is the iPhone 14 more power efficient than the iPhone 13?

www.laptopmag.com

 

[MacCheetah3]

Does anyone else feel Apple purposely gimps battery life on models that are no longer “new” ?​

No — for me.

Anybody remember when the iPhone 13 series was a serious battery beast? Every model except maybe the mini had exceptional battery life. And the 13 Pro Max was just insane.

Because the 12 series had lower (design) capacity batteries than the 11 series, 2815 mAh vs. ~3050 mAh for the Pro models, which is not common. The 13 Pro bounced back with a 3095 mAh design capacity. The 13 Pro Max bulked up to a 4352 mAh.

And you can’t say it’s battery health because I’ve watched battery test YouTube videos and the iPhone 14 beats the 13 almost by an hour each time.. which really just makes no sense.

Again, fresh/new/design battery capacity. The 14 and 14 Pro Max stayed about the same while the Pro model was equipped with ~3.4% higher capacity battery.

iPhone 14 Battery Capacities For All Four Models Revealed Ahead of Launch

Apple does not advertise battery capacities for its new iPhone 14 lineup, but MacRumors has obtained this information from a Chinese regulatory...

www.macrumors.com

How is it that iOS 16 drops and suddenly the battery life just magically diminishes?

New/more advanced features, fresh OS install initial housekeeping/optimization, and (of course) a battery is aged/worn at least somewhat more on a previous model device/gadget.

You would think a trillion dollar company with as sophisticated as their software is would optimize it in a way to even improve battery life in older models year over year with new iOS releases.

Sure, but again, battery “wear and tear.” Additionally, unless previous OS/software versions were significantly inefficient, the only realistic means to lower impact is indeed what Apple does, prohibit/eliminate some features/functionality on older devices.

An anecdotal example:

My iPhone X battery recently surpassed 1000 full charge cycles, double the expected/design endurance. It also finally dropped below 80% (estimated) battery health, falling from 81% to 78% amidst the installation of iOS 16.3. Nonetheless, iOS still claims the battery is capable of allowing peak performance (i.e., no “throttling”). As for perception, the battery level does seem to drop much faster now when sinking below 50% charge.

 

[FeliApple]

Not necessarily. iOS 12 breathed new life into my iPad mini 3. Was getting 1-2 more hours consistently.

Well, iOS 11 was a disaster, so it doesn't surprise me that iOS 12 was better than iOS 11 in terms of battery life, but iOS 8 was far better than either.

I've mentioned this on other discussions, the point is not "every iOS version is worse than the immediate previous one", because although that happens 99% of the times, there are exceptions. One is iOS 12, like you said. The point is "an original iOS version will never be matched". I am sure, like I said, that iOS 8 is far better than both iOS 11 and iOS 12.

 

[MacCheetah3]

EDIT: Oh yeah, my 6th gen iPad is on the iOS 16 beta. Bought new 2018, original battery. No problems with it.

Mine feels sluggish, although, it’s probably ever increasing RAM requirements of software in general.

 

[eyoungren]

Mine feels sluggish, although, it’s probably ever increasing RAM requirements of software in general.

My primary use of my iPad is reading the News app, Google News and Flipboard. Usually in bed for about two hours.

Sometimes I might use it if I need to follow some sort of troubleshooting or instructions where holding a laptop is cumbersome.

Because this is really the only thing I use it for I have not noticed any sort of sluggishness. I'm sure if I was using it more this would not be the case.

 

[now i see it]

The cynic would also claim that there is code in every iOS update that specifically slows down older iPhone models- by design.
It’s hard to disagree.
I have older iPhones that got updated to their last version and they’re pretty much unusable now. Every action done on the phone- anything- now has a few second lag before anything happens. It’s excruciating to use them.
Granted, newer OS versions are more demanding, but why does every app now take forever to load? Every window experience a big lag?
The only conclusion a cynic can come to is that the device is intentionally slowed when running on newer OSes

 

[FeliApple]

The cynic would also claim that there is code in every iOS update that specifically slows down older iPhone models- by design.
It’s hard to disagree.
I have older iPhones that got updated to their last version and they’re pretty much unusable now. Every action done on the phone- anything- now has a few second lag before anything happens. It’s excruciating to use them.
Granted, newer OS versions are more demanding, but why does every app now take forever to load? Every window experience a big lag?
The only conclusion a cynic can come to is that the device is intentionally slowed when running on newer OSes

32-bit devices can’t pass Quality Control. They are abhorrent. All of them. I have no idea how anyone at Apple approved those updates. Battery life-wise they’re quite fine though. They aren’t like-new, of course, but they’re far better than current devices.

64-bit devices are the exact opposite: far more usable performance-wise, but again, I cannot understand how the battery life passed through QC.

 

[v0lume4]

The cynic would also claim that there is code in every iOS update that specifically slows down older iPhone models- by design.
It’s hard to disagree.
I have older iPhones that got updated to their last version and they’re pretty much unusable now. Every action done on the phone- anything- now has a few second lag before anything happens. It’s excruciating to use them.
Granted, newer OS versions are more demanding, but why does every app now take forever to load? Every window experience a big lag?
The only conclusion a cynic can come to is that the device is intentionally slowed when running on newer OSes

Right. There’s no way for us to know because we can’t see the code. But I look at my mothers phone, an iPhone 7 Plus. It’s noticeably slower than my iPhone SE (2022). But, the weird part is that the phone is slow, in a smooth way. There’s a noticeable delay when opening apps, pulling down the search bar on the Home Screen, etc. But there aren’t dropped frames. Dropped frames would indicate to me that the phone is buckling under the demands being asked of it. But it’s not that way. Instead, it’s just little delays here and there within the OS. Tin foil hat territory, but I do wonder whether it’s intentional sabotage.

 

[v0lume4]

32-bit devices can’t pass Quality Control. They are abhorrent. All of them. I have no idea how anyone at Apple approved those updates. Battery life-wise they’re quite fine though. They aren’t like-new, of course, but they’re far better than current devices.

Are you referring to what Apple did to their 32-bit devices?

Because if you are, I will never forget what iOS 7 did to my iPad 2. Turned the darn thing into a near-paperweight. It performed brilliantly prior to that.

It’s no question why I’m still on iOS 15.7. I’ll keep my performance and battery life, thank you.

 

[FeliApple]

Are you referring to what Apple did to their 32-bit devices?

Because if you are, I will never forget what iOS 7 did to my iPad 2. Turned the darn thing into a near-paperweight. It performed brilliantly prior to that.

It’s no question why I’m still on iOS 15.7. I’ll keep my performance and battery life, thank you.

Yeah, updated 32-bit devices are unusable. 64-bit devices are better, but they’re still pretty bad, especially in terms of battery life.

I’m still on iOS 12 with my iPhone Xʀ and 9.7-inch iPad Pro (this one should be on iOS 9 but it was forced out of it by Apple); iOS 10 on my iPhone 6s; and iPadOS 15 on my iPad Air 5. I will never update anything.

 

[M5RahuL]

The cynic would also claim that there is code in every iOS update that specifically slows down older iPhone models- by design.
It’s hard to disagree.
I have older iPhones that got updated to their last version and they’re pretty much unusable now. Every action done on the phone- anything- now has a few second lag before anything happens. It’s excruciating to use them.
Granted, newer OS versions are more demanding, but why does every app now take forever to load? Every window experience a big lag?
The only conclusion a cynic can come to is that the device is intentionally slowed when running on newer OSes

I have to agree with this assessment ! iOS 16 has neutered the otherwise amazing battery on my 13PM!

The battery health went from 101% to 96% within 2 months of installing 16!

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I don't know if Apple purposely does it, but there is no doubt certain iOS updates have a dramatic effect on battery life on older devices. These issues are sometimes fixed at a later date though.