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The same here. My average is:

- I use the phone between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM
- During this time I can achieve 6h screen time and still have like 20-25% battery
- to have 10h screen time I would have to use the phone constantly for 10h and web browsing only or maybe tiktok scrolling

In total, I can make it through the day but no chances to have like 10 or 11h screen time and still have 20% battery backup.

I spoke with Apple (in my country we don't have Apple Store only resellers) about this issue(?) and I bought my unit directly from Apple Online Store (official, local branch). They told me that this usage seems to be normal even decent and the SoT may vary depending on apps we use. It is hard to compare. At the same time they performed diagnosis which returned all results 100% correct, no errors. As they stated, this diagnosis is enough to decide if the phone should be diagnosed further or not.

What I have done so far:

- clean 18.1 installation via DFU and Finder
- did not restore the backup - I logged in only with my iCloud account. Rest of the apps I have restored manually
- AoD, 5G, background apps refresh, raise to wake up: turned off
- I use WiFi 90% of the day
- Phone calls via WiFi activated

Attached my stats.

At the same time, before 16 Pro, I had 16 Pro Max for 7 days and the battery life wasn't impressive as well. While I was seeing peans about the battery, 18h SoT and stuff like that, my phone had 4h screen time within 50% battery usage. So I returned the phone.

Both units were manufactured in September 2024. 16 Pro Max was from T-Mobile official store and 16 Pro is from Apple. 16 Pro Max was working under 18.0.1 and 16 Pro is working under 18.1.

I have three options:

- to return this unit and try with another one which gives me no warranty that it will solve this problem(?).
- give it to the service point for the in-depth investigation but it will take 3-5 business days. If the phone will be sent to Apple in Prague, then it will take up to 8 business days which, in both scenarios, will close my 14 days return policy window.
- To keep this unit and accept that it works this way. I have never been in the situation when I would need phone to be charged in the middle of the day I to have no charger or possibility to charge it.

Alternatively we can wait until 18.2 which, as I read on one of the local Apple-related websites, officially introduces apps

I read about users who had replaced their units even 4 times and the battery was behaving the same way as ours.
My experience has been the same.
 
The same here. My average is:

- I use the phone between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM
- During this time I can achieve 6h screen time and still have like 20-25% battery
- to have 10h screen time I would have to use the phone constantly for 10h and web browsing only or maybe tiktok scrolling

In total, I can make it through the day but no chances to have like 10 or 11h screen time and still have 20% battery backup.

I spoke with Apple (in my country we don't have Apple Store only resellers) about this issue(?) and I bought my unit directly from Apple Online Store (official, local branch). They told me that this usage seems to be normal even decent and the SoT may vary depending on apps we use. It is hard to compare. At the same time they performed diagnosis which returned all results 100% correct, no errors. As they stated, this diagnosis is enough to decide if the phone should be diagnosed further or not.

What I have done so far:

- clean 18.1 installation via DFU and Finder
- did not restore the backup - I logged in only with my iCloud account. Rest of the apps I have restored manually
- AoD, 5G, background apps refresh, raise to wake up: turned off
- I use WiFi 90% of the day
- Phone calls via WiFi activated

Attached my stats.

At the same time, before 16 Pro, I had 16 Pro Max for 7 days and the battery life wasn't impressive as well. While I was seeing peans about the battery, 18h SoT and stuff like that, my phone had 4h screen time within 50% battery usage. So I returned the phone.

Both units were manufactured in September 2024. 16 Pro Max was from T-Mobile official store and 16 Pro is from Apple. 16 Pro Max was working under 18.0.1 and 16 Pro is working under 18.1.

I have three options:

- to return this unit and try with another one which gives me no warranty that it will solve this problem(?).
- give it to the service point for the in-depth investigation but it will take 3-5 business days. If the phone will be sent to Apple in Prague, then it will take up to 8 business days which, in both scenarios, will close my 14 days return policy window.
- To keep this unit and accept that it works this way. I have never been in the situation when I would need phone to be charged in the middle of the day I to have no charger or possibility to charge it.

Alternatively we can wait until 18.2 which, as I read on one of the local Apple-related websites, officially introduces apps

I read about users who had replaced their units even 4 times and the battery was behaving the same way as ours.

My theory is that something in 18.0.1 or 18.1 introduced idle battery drain. When I first got the phone it had 18.0 and I truly thought the battery was amazing, it could go 2 days without charging. There’s mixed reports of whether turning off Apple Intelligence helps improve battery life, but I haven’t tried it yet.
 
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My theory is that something in 18.0.1 or 18.1 introduced idle battery drain. When I first got the phone it had 18.0 and I truly thought the battery was amazing, it could go 2 days without charging. There’s mixed reports of whether turning off Apple Intelligence helps improve battery life, but I haven’t tried it yet.
I have random drainage issues, and AI isn't even available in my EU country😂
 
At some point I thought that the widgets cause it but now I think they don't.

When my phone is not being used, I think I lost 1% per 30 mins and I can't compare it with any objective benchmark. Today I spent some time listening Apple Podcasts (via LTE) and I lost ~4% in 45 min.

What is interesting, I see moments when I loose 2% battery almost immediately usually after the longer scrolling session. And today, I unplugged my phone at 8:00AM, 10 hours ago. Still have 49% battery and 3h 40min SoT and 1h 30 min idle. I think i could achieve 8h SoT max but using the phone non stop, without leaving it aside and scrolling web mostly.

Tbh, this topic tires me so much - I don't want to exchange the phone while I have no proofs that this is a hardware issue. Each time new protective glass generates additional costs. On top of that I see that there is many of us with the same problem. On the other hand, I don't want to feel that I spent so much money and my phone is worse somehow malfunctioning (which, based on my investigation is very unlikely).

When it comes to Apple Inteligence, is not available in EU but the benchmark I am referring to are iPhones from the US where AI is available and works in background as I can assume.
 
My theory is that something in 18.0.1 or 18.1 introduced idle battery drain. When I first got the phone it had 18.0 and I truly thought the battery was amazing, it could go 2 days without charging. There’s mixed reports of whether turning off Apple Intelligence helps improve battery life, but I haven’t tried it yet.
Just to make sure, you have your own 16 Pro form, lets say, day 0 when 18.0 was available and you started experiencing problems like this with 18.0.1? I had 16PM with 18.0 and 18.0.1 did not resolve this issue. I could not try 18.1 since I returned my unit.
 
Just to make sure, you have your own 16 Pro form, lets say, day 0 when 18.0 was available and you started experiencing problems like this with 18.0.1? I had 16PM with 18.0 and 18.0.1 did not resolve this issue. I could not try 18.1 since I returned my unit.
I can’t say for sure if 18.0.1 was when it started since I was traveling and wasn’t paying too much attention. I got the 16 Pro on release day and 18.0 had great battery life.
 
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Small update:

Today for the first time I saw the announcement that my phone is finishing the indexing and updating (sorry, it is in Polish but you get the idea of the meaning). It disappeared after one or two hours. And I see that the battery performance is slightly better today. I used 40% of the battery and achieved 3h 40 min SoT which could be scaled to 8h SoT and 80-90% of battery usage. So I have the same time as yesterday but in a smaller battery usage. Is it the reason to open the champagne? I don’t think so. It’s too early. But I keep my fingers crossed and hopefully my updates will be useful for someone who reads this thread 😎
 

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On my end it’s otherwise, on my use case it’s just fantastic. I use charge limit up to 90% and I end up at about 40% when I plug it in the night. It all depends if you are a power or a light user.

It’s certainly not a straightforward issue. Many of us aren’t heavy power users, and our phones don’t have exceptionally long battery life. Apple needs to make some optimizations in iOS 18 to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
 
It’s certainly not a straightforward issue. Many of us aren’t heavy power users, and our phones don’t have exceptionally long battery life. Apple needs to make some optimizations in iOS 18 to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
Ahh okay, didn’t know that. Hope it gets resolved quickly!
 
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Small update:

Today for the first time I saw the announcement that my phone is finishing the indexing and updating (sorry, it is in Polish but you get the idea of the meaning). It disappeared after one or two hours. And I see that the battery performance is slightly better today. I used 40% of the battery and achieved 3h 40 min SoT which could be scaled to 8h SoT and 80-90% of battery usage. So I have the same time as yesterday but in a smaller battery usage. Is it the reason to open the champagne? I don’t think so. It’s too early. But I keep my fingers crossed and hopefully my updates will be useful for someone who reads this thread 😎
So I have new unit for 4 days now. No changes (previous: iP16 pro 128 manufactured in September, now 16P 256 manufactured in October). Battery life remains pretty the same 🤡 so waiting for 18.2.
 
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