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ahmede

macrumors 6502
May 14, 2011
372
276
It's taken Apple literally 1 year to fix the poor battery life on iOS 17
Food for thought ..... is this Apple's game plan to destroy your battery either for replacement or buying the next gen iPhone

A huge improvement on my 13 Pro with this RC version

Apple fanboys, steer clear with your comments
 

Reverend Benny

macrumors 65816
Apr 28, 2017
1,177
925
Europe
It's taken Apple literally 1 year to fix the poor battery life on iOS 17
Food for thought ..... is this Apple's game plan to destroy your battery either for replacement or buying the next gen iPhone

A huge improvement on my 13 Pro with this RC version

Apple fanboys, steer clear with your comments
13 Pro here and haven't experienced poor batterytime on my phone on any of the iOS 17 versions. But didn't install it untill 17.1.

The only thing I have noticed that is draining my phone is heavy use of 5G, and considering 5G is being rolled out and people start using it more I'd say that has an impact for some without them understanding why.
But, who knows. This update might have an impact on the 5G battery drain as well, fingers crossed that 5G tweaks is included that has a positive impact on batterylife.
 

Helmsley

macrumors 6502a
Sep 4, 2017
761
399
is this Apple's game plan to destroy your battery either for replacement or buying the next gen iPhone

I doubt it. My opinion is why would Apple intentionally ruin battery life (and get a bad reputation) which would then hurt sales of new devices. It doesn't make sense to me. Just my two cents.

Some people (maybe me, too) are OBSESSED with battery life. What you don't read about too much though is those who get great battery life and have no issues.
 

Helmsley

macrumors 6502a
Sep 4, 2017
761
399
My iPhone 13's battery health is now at 94% after 15 months. Good or bad? It has dropped suddenly in the past few weeks.
 

Stiille

macrumors 6502a
Jun 12, 2024
676
804
Mine 13 Pro was at 92% for over two years, this year it dropped to 84% battery health…
Glad I bought my 15 PM
 

cigz

macrumors 6502
Nov 7, 2016
265
481
Here's battery life on my 13 Pro Max on 17.6 beta 3. This was the best iOS 17 release in terms of battery life. I was actually for the first time since updating to iOS 17 almost able to hit 8h SOT (I didn't because I went to sleep so I put my phone on a charger). Unfortunately it's still way less than I used to get on iOS 15 and 16.
IMG_1199.PNG


aaaand... here's 17.6 RC - back to the BS I am getting since updating to iOS 17.
IMG_1200.PNG


Like I am sorry but at this point there's no reason for me to NOT believe that apple does that on purpose. How's that one beta release is giving me 3-4h SOT more than a version that's supposed to be released to the public? And funny enough that battery life on RC was around 80% on wifi, and on beta 3 it was LTE from 6am till 7pm lol
 

Helmsley

macrumors 6502a
Sep 4, 2017
761
399
Here's battery life on my 13 Pro Max on 17.6 beta 3. This was the best iOS 17 release in terms of battery life. I was actually for the first time since updating to iOS 17 almost able to hit 8h SOT (I didn't because I went to sleep so I put my phone on a charger). Unfortunately it's still way less than I used to get on iOS 15 and 16. View attachment 2400618

aaaand... here's 17.6 RC - back to the BS I am getting since updating to iOS 17. View attachment 2400624

Like I am sorry but at this point there's no reason for me to NOT believe that apple does that on purpose. How's that one beta release is giving me 3-4h SOT more than a version that's supposed to be released to the public? And funny enough that battery life on RC was around 80% on wifi, and on beta 3 it was LTE from 6am till 7pm lol

Give it some time to settle. I have poor battery life for a few days after installing updates. Then it seems to settle down.
 
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FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,088
I doubt it. My opinion is why would Apple intentionally ruin battery life (and get a bad reputation) which would then hurt sales of new devices. It doesn't make sense to me. Just my two cents.

Some people (maybe me, too) are OBSESSED with battery life. What you don't read about too much though is those who get great battery life and have no issues.
I reckon that people think (maybe myself included) that it isn’t intentional. I do think Apple doesn’t do enough. Battery life should be one and the same throughout every compatible iOS version. It isn’t. Not only it isn't as good, but also, eventually, battery life is a lot worse. Go five major iOS versions to the future and battery life is very poor when compared to the original iOS version. People have accepted this, and frequently attribute this to poor battery health or device age (both arguments are outright wrong).

It is what it is.
 

jazzzyJeff

macrumors 6502
Feb 22, 2024
343
525
I reckon that people think (maybe myself included) that it isn’t intentional. I do think Apple doesn’t do enough. Battery life should be one and the same throughout every compatible iOS version. It isn’t. Not only it isn't as good, but also, eventually, battery life is a lot worse. Go five major iOS versions to the future and battery life is very poor when compared to the original iOS version. People have accepted this, and frequently attribute this to poor battery health or device age (both arguments are outright wrong).

It is what it is.
How could you expect the same processor to do more stuff included in each of the following iOS versions with zero impact on the battery life? All this with a degrading battery over time.

If a processor from 5 years ago could handle the current OS iteration just as efficiently as the latest they wouldn't be spending millions each year on R&D and Intel would still be the king.
This is a fact.

Do you even hear what you're saying? Literally zero percent of what you said makes sense.

Now if you allocate sufficient resources you could always optimize better for least impact on CPU/battery but any big corporation would want to keep the spending to a minimum. It's not fair. It's just how they operate.
 

James6s

macrumors 65816
Sep 22, 2015
1,015
1,942
Cumbria, UK
Go five major iOS versions to the future and battery life is very poor when compared to the original iOS version. People have accepted this, and frequently attribute this to poor battery health or device age (both arguments are outright wrong).

It is what it is.

Of course this can be largely attributed to battery aging & poor battery health. Assuming no battery service, a 5 year old device regardless of 5 major iOS updates is going to have a very high cycle count & be suffering from probably significant battery degradation after so long in use.

There are a number of iPhone 15/15 Pro/Max users having lost 10% in battery health since launch now. Can you imagine 5 years on the original battery.

I know one or two people still using the 11 Pro/Max devices with battery health well down into the 70% maximum capacity battery health. Needless to say their device performance and run time are seriously impacted.
 

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,088
How could you expect the same processor to do more stuff included in each of the following iOS versions with zero impact on the battery life? All this with a degrading battery over time.

If a processor from 5 years ago could handle the current OS iteration just as efficiently as the latest they wouldn't be spending millions each year on R&D and Intel would still be the king.
This is a fact.

Do you even hear what you're saying? Literally zero percent of what you said makes sense.

Now if you allocate sufficient resources you could always optimize better for least impact on CPU/battery but any big corporation would want to keep the spending to a minimum. It's not fair. It's just how they operate.
If I can’t, then allow downgrading. The current standard is wrong. Devices are obliterated, especially in terms of battery life.
 

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,088
Of course this can be largely attributed to battery aging & poor battery health. Assuming no battery service, a 5 year old device regardless of 5 major iOS updates is going to have a very high cycle count & be suffering from probably significant battery degradation after so long in use.

There are a number of iPhone 15/15 Pro/Max users having lost 10% in battery health since launch now. Can you imagine 5 years on the original battery.

I know one or two people still using the 11 Pro/Max devices with battery health well down into the 70% maximum capacity battery health. Needless to say their device performance and run time are seriously impacted.
Not true. I use 7, 8-year-old devices that haven’t been updated with 60% health and battery life is like-new. Original iOS versions, though.

Why have those 11 Pro Max been degraded? Because they run iOS 17. Not one of those devices you mentioned is on iOS 13, right?

I have instructed my family never to update. They listen. Unlike 80% of MacRumors, we don’t upgrade often. Battery life? Like-new. We have an iPhone 8 with over 2100 cycles on iOS 12. Battery life? Like-new. I’ve tested it myself.

I understand why you think like that. The majority of users think like that. Why? Because nobody stays behind. Nobody tries a five-year-old device on its original iOS version. So nobody knows that it can retain battery life regardless of health. Like I said, people who upgrade a lot or who update attribute runtime loss to device age. They are wrong. The former because they really haven’t tried anything, as they always run the latest iPhone on its original iOS version; the latter, they have only tried garbage iOS versions.

I’ve been using original iOS versions on devices for a long time (iOS 4). It’s the same story. Battery life never degrades. I have pretty old devices still in use.

It’s sad that people keep letting Apple get away with it without even anything so minimal like user backlash simply because they don’t know.
 

James6s

macrumors 65816
Sep 22, 2015
1,015
1,942
Cumbria, UK
Not true. I use 7, 8-year-old devices that haven’t been updated with 60% health and battery life is like-new. Original iOS versions, though.

Why have those 11 Pro Max been degraded? Because they run iOS 17. Not one of those devices you mentioned is on iOS 13, right?

I have instructed my family never to update. They listen. Unlike 80% of MacRumors, we don’t upgrade often. Battery life? Like-new. We have an iPhone 8 with over 2100 cycles on iOS 12. Battery life? Like-new. I’ve tested it myself.

I understand why you think like that. The majority of users think like that. Why? Because nobody stays behind. Nobody tries a five-year-old device on its original iOS version. So nobody knows that it can retain battery life regardless of health. Like I said, people who upgrade a lot or who update attribute runtime loss to device age. They are wrong. The former because they really haven’t tried anything, as they always run the latest iPhone on its original iOS version; the latter, they have only tried garbage iOS versions.

I’ve been using original iOS versions on devices for a long time (iOS 4). It’s the same story. Battery life never degrades. I have pretty old devices still in use.

It’s sad that people keep letting Apple get away with it without even anything so minimal like user backlash simply because they don’t know.

Im sorry no offence intended but you are talking some garbage here. It’s impossible for a device battery to function like new with 60% battery health, original iOS or not. Nothing can defy the laws of physics that batteries are consumables which degrade and chemically age. There’s no argument here, it’s fact.

One of the 11 Pro Max’s are 4 years old on iOS 15 and last time my auntie visited it was at 76% battery health. So iOS 17 is definitely not the problem. The battery goes below 10% and charged back up to 100% frequently. Hence the battery degradation over 4 years of use.

The iPhone 15 series launched with iOS 17 and some are now entering into the low 90% & late 80% battery health.
 
Last edited:

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,088
Im sorry no offence intended but you are talking some garbage here. It’s impossible for a device battery to function like new with 60% battery health, original iOS or not. Nothing can defy the laws of physics that batteries are consumables which degrade and chemically age. There’s no argument here, it’s fact.

One of the 11 Pro Max’s are 4 years old on iOS 15 and last time my auntie visited it was at 76% battery health. So iOS 17 is definitely not the problem. The battery goes below 10% and charged back up to 100% frequently. Hence the battery degradation over 4 years of use.

The iPhone 15 series launched with iOS 17 and some are now entering into the low 90% & late 80% battery health.
I’ve heard that before. Try it. Health degrades, of course. But it has not a blip in terms of runtime.
 

jazzzyJeff

macrumors 6502
Feb 22, 2024
343
525
I’ve heard that before. Try it. Health degrades, of course. But it has not a blip in terms of runtime.
As @James6s already mentioned you’re not making sense when you claim you’re getting the battery life “as new” on a battery with 2100 cycles.
Even if you stay on the same iOS version, app devs keep adding new features which combined would drain the battery more. Take that along with battery age and you couldn’t possibly have the same stats 5 years in. And if you are then your tests are wrong.

Batteries degrade over time and that by very definition means they’re not functioning “as new” with every other variable being the exact same.
 

Reverend Benny

macrumors 65816
Apr 28, 2017
1,177
925
Europe
Cut and paste from the OP.

"It's all about the Battery and it's Health on here during the iOS 17 cycle.
This will help keep the other iOS 17 forums more focused and on subject. Thanks."


Would be great if we stick to the topic and users that are actually running different versions of iOS 17 or plan to upgrade in the near future post here.
 

Reverend Benny

macrumors 65816
Apr 28, 2017
1,177
925
Europe
Updated almost all my devices to 17.6, private and company devices, have to say that so far its looking good.
It's to early to tell if its a big difference but my daily driver (iPhone 13 pro) feels like it isn't draining as much battery as it normally does. Will be interesting to see how it survives 8 hours on 5G during work, its usually then the biggest drain is seen.

But so far it feels like 17.6 is an improvement over 17.5.1

My other devices (iPhone 11, iPhone 14, iPad Pro M1) isn't just as frequently as my iPhone 13 so really can't say if its better or worse.
 
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Populus

macrumors 603
Aug 24, 2012
5,853
8,326
Spain, Europe
Updated almost all my devices to 17.6, private and company devices, have to say that so far its looking good.
It's to early to tell if its a big difference but my daily driver (iPhone 13 pro) feels like it isn't draining as much battery as it normally does. Will be interesting to see how it survives 8 hours on 5G during work, its usually then the biggest drain is seen.

But so far it feels like 17.6 is an improvement over 17.5.1

My other devices (iPhone 11, iPhone 14, iPad Pro M1) isn't just as frequently as my iPhone 13 so really can't say if its better or worse.
Nice! Many thanks for sharing your experience rev, although like you said, it’s still early to tell.

Just in case, if you notice it to be worse in any of your devices (as one build sometimes behave differently depending on the device), please let us know.
 
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ahmede

macrumors 6502
May 14, 2011
372
276
I'm noticing erratic battery life since 17.6RC with similar daily usage patterns

For 2-3 days after the firmware update battery life is amazing then it progresses to dropping off a cliff.
 
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Reverend Benny

macrumors 65816
Apr 28, 2017
1,177
925
Europe
My daily driver has definitely improved battery life (iPhone 13 pro)
Since Apple doesn't provide a detailed changelog I can only guess what might have changed aside from the security updates.

My guess is that the modem, network and BT components must have received new drivers/update or something along those lines.
Still not back to my regular usage pattern but to be able to use the phone for 2.5 days without charging and a 40/60 mix between 5G/WiFi isn't something I have ever experienced on this device.
I don't expect these numbers to last when back to normal, but its still very good.

When looking at Iapplebytes which gives an indication of how well the battery last when the device CPU are being utilized, its not a massive difference, but Geekbench is far from a real life test and as far as I am aware of it doesn't test network connectivity and how that affects battery at all.
 
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