Battery Drain on iOS 26 and iOS 26.0.1.

Abhijitrabha wrote:

I have bought a new iPhone 15 and right then on 28 sept I upgraded my phone to 26 then again after 3-4 days to 26.0.1 .I am not facing any issues but for the first 10-12 days my phone battery was draining fast.Now suddenly battery performance improved

Yep, that is exactly what is expected and glad everything is working for you.

🛑 I regret updating to 26.0.01! My battery drains twice as fast and I cannot drag and drop apps on my Home Screen. Apple has no clue how to fix and said they don’t support users that go back to previous update that was much better than this latest messed up update. Apple should replace iPhones for those that have major issues instead of forcing us into a position of having to spend $$$$ on another iPhone‼️

Yes, I have the same issue. I ride my bike and listen to music for 1-1/2 hours…when I get home my battery is at 1% and it started at 100%. Something needs to be done if it is the new update that has caused this. It makes me want to go with a different brand altogether. I never had this issue until the IOS update.

According to my observation, iOS 16 was the last major version where you could actually expect quality and good optimization starting from initial releases.

With each new major version, it’s been getting progressively worse, now peaking with iOS 26. The backlog in AI development doesn’t help either. Perhaps its the main culprit.

Apple should really consider time limiting access to new iOS version to latest generation iPhones only. This would set right expectations and allow to be more truthful with customers and perhaps even avoid loosing customers to Android.

That’s interesting because I can unequivocally state iOS 16 that came on my 14 Pro Max, had the worst battery capacity life of any iPhone I’ve used since 2007.

I recently had to backup and restore my 17 Pro Max and since then my battery life is great. I’ve been on my iPhone for 4 hours this morning and I’m at 85%.

I know that doesn’t help you specifically. But consider it might be your specific device and Apple support and users here can assist in troubleshooting your device.

A few days ago, I bought a new iPhone 17 (base version). I have the impression that on iOS 26.0.0, the battery performed much better than after the latest update. On Saturday, my phone updated to iOS 26.0.1, and since then I can say with 100% certainty that during normal use (reading texts, browsing photos, checking notifications, or replying to messages — nothing more), the battery drains so quickly that even my old iPhone 13 on iOS 18 would last almost the whole day.

Does this mean that iOS 26 is really draining the battery so badly that, even with 100% battery health and only three charging cycles, the situation is worse than on my three-year-old iPhone 13? Apple really dropped the ball this time.

Does anyone know if Apple is working on improving battery performance in iOS 26.0.2 or 26.0.3? I’m really disappointed having a brand new phone with such terrible battery life is just awful.

I have the exact same issue, but with an iPhone 16 Pro with 55 battery cycles and 100% health. And agree, this is a software issue. I have 4 IPhone 16 Pro at home, and just mine is running on IOS26. And even after 3 weeks (enough for all background processes to run), and updating apps, and disabling features (which is an absurd- considering that I should not have to change settings and disable features after a software upgrade), the battery life is subpar and way below acceptable levels. And before anyone suggests any further adjustments, I would love to see Apple acknowledging this issue and providing a solution. This shouldn’t be my problem, with a $1,200 brand new phone. And I am an Apple user since the IPhone 3, so I know exactly what is to expect, even before some of the comment authors were born.

My normal usage around lunch time averages 25%. The last two days my battery has drained by 60-70% in the same timeframe. The difference is alarming and stark. to expect about 75% and instead be in the low 30% with very little use. This has never happened to me with an update previously. This is not normal

darren5280 wrote:

My normal usage around lunch time averages 25%. The last two days my battery has drained by 60-70% in the same timeframe. The difference is alarming and stark. to expect about 75% and instead be in the low 30% with very little use. This has never happened to me with an update previously. This is not normal

When did you update?

i updated yesterday Jeff. The battery drain is even worse on 26.1 than 26.0.1

i was on FaceTime with my daughter today for 30 minutes and my battery dropped 45%.

I left my phone on the charger with WiFi overnight last night and all morning and early afternoon today.

seems like it’s taking longer to charge too

not sure what the issue is but 26, 26.0.1 and 26.1 have all been complete duds on my phone

i guess we’ll just sit back and hope that the next one is better

The old "It's not our fault, really, despite the fact that other apps don't suffer from this issue" comment.

The bottom line is given only Meta's apps seem to do this, only they can fix it.

Meta has a reputation for being power inefficient with their apps, and it seems to be getting worse.

sk8gal wrote:

I am another user with dismal battery life…it started for me with iOS 18 and got worse with 26. iPhone 13 mini. Looking at daily battery usage I see Facebook is significantly more of a hog than other apps. I use WhatsApp but it is not using much battery. I’m going to try deleting Facebook from my phone. Good experiment. Will report back with results

Hello~ What’s your battery health on your iPhone 13 mini?

Understand your iPhone battery usage and health - Apple Support

~Katana-San~

bouthaina81 wrote:

Hello team Apple

i have iphone 15 pro max, in February 2026 will be exactly 2 years of use. 2 months ago i have checked my iPhone battery capacity and it was 91% and after the update of ios 26 it dropped to 88 last month and now to 87 ! Honestly it is very frustrating to drop this fast. This is not my first iphone but this is the first one that the battery drops quickly like only one month apart !! Can you do something abt it ?

What are your Charge Cycles? The battery drop you see is not linear and Battery Optimization will only happen when allowed to charge to 100%. Some months may not drop at all and other months may drop more. Your iPhone is expected to last 1000 charge cycles with the recommendation to replace the battery when the capacity falls below 80%, so that equates to about 1% drop in Battery Health for every 50 Charge Cycles on average.

As stated this is not linear meaning that when it hits 51 charge cycles it would drop 1%, that is just an average over time. The iOS update does not change the expected cycle count of the battery or change the number of charge cycles on your device.

sk8gal wrote:

Removing Facebook from my phone has helped. However, battery life is still poor. Battery health is 85%. Apps are up to date. Apple needs to address the issue.

Apple has addressed the battery consumption issue in iOS 26.01 and 26.1. What model iPhone and what version iOS are you using?

kateM_17 wrote:

Yes I had this issue. I have iPhone 15 and before the update it was at 90% but now it is 83%

And your Charge Cycles are.....?

That will have a direct impact on your Battery Health and the Charge Cycles do not change after an iOS update.