iOS 26 Battery Usage Observations (RESOLVED)

[BigMcGuire]

TLDR: See Post 4 for Solution to Question.

TLDR: After 2 weeks with my 17 Pro on iOS 26 I noticed some significant battery usage discrepancies. So with my 17 Air (during the last 4 days) I decided to do a test. I believe iOS 26 battery usage is not as expected.

Disclaimer: This is not normal usage for me - doing this as at test and my desk job makes it easy. Also a battery hobbyist.

I got an iPhone 17 Pro just over 2 weeks ago and noticed that the new Battery Usage screen on iOS seemed really inaccurate. So when I traded in my 17 Pro for an iPhone 17 Air on Sunday, November 3 - I figured I'd do a test. My work consists mostly of desk work. I also have chargers/batteries everywhere (they are a hobby of mine). So I kept my 17 Air plugged in as much as I could (some days - all day) and ... sure enough, I have 2 cycles despite only using, according to iOS 26 Apple Battery Usage, 20% of my battery during this time.

I'm convinced that this new health screen is not very accurate. I know because iOS 18 with my 15 Pro Max (when I'd do stuff like this) - showed everything.

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Note Tuesday only shows as a day showing use. Then when I click on View All Battery Usage:

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Showing two days for reference - maybe 15% on Tuesday and maybe 3-4% on Saturday. Yet, iOS reports 2 battery cycles.

Just interesting observations. This doesn't bother me and it isn't ruining my day. This isn't normal usage for me - but I knew iOS 26 wasn't reporting battery right, and this kind of confirms it to me.

Granted, this may be exasperated by the iPhone 17 Air and using Apple MagSafe Air batteries (there may be some battery usage there that isn't being reported by iOS 26). But I did see some "that's not right" with my 17 Pro...

I am not a fan of the new battery usage screens. I want a screen that tells me what is using my phone (battery or not). I used to be able to see why my phone was warming up - now, it's a total mystery.

Thank you for the opportunity to post, hope your Friday goes well.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Just rolled over to 3 charge cycles despite being on charger all day - interesting.

 

[BigMcGuire]

This may be Apple MagSafe battery caused and iOS 26 not showing it. I will test this over next week.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Alright, I've concluded, after looking at every day, and how yesterday I used almost 2 cycles in one day despite being on Apple MagSafe all day, that the way the Apple MagSafe batteries remain so cool is that they use the internal battery + external battery. The phone doesn't run off of them exclusively even in low power scenarios.

AND because Battery Usage screen Only shows usage when NOT charging - it won't show any usage

Hence this:

Note - I didn't use a cycle on Monday and only used the Apple MagSafe batteries for a few hours later in the day.

However, Thursday, I used almost 2 cycles despite using Apple MagSafe most of the day - note the green lightning symbol (Apple MagSafe) vs the square (when I plugged into wall).

And lastly, today - I used the MagSafe just for a little bit - and didn't use a cycle today... (spent most of the day plugged into the wall).

How interesting. Definitely a hidden cost to using Apple MagSafe batteries - you will use cycles - BUT it is super cool even when heavily used.