Level 1

145 points

Battery Drain on iOS 26 and iOS 26.0.1.

Good morning everyone,

I would like to report a VERY SERIOUS problem with the battery and performance.

I have a NEW iPhone 15 with 100% battery capacity and only 22 cycles (which I did myself; when it arrived, it was at 0).

However, after updating to iOS 26 (and even with iOS 26.0.1, the situation remains the same), I continue to have VERY SERIOUS problems with the battery life of my NEW phone.

Today, I was busy all day and did not use my phone from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., yet it still dropped from 90% to 45% WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING. No apps were open, the “Refresh apps in background” option was not enabled, the screen was set to turn off automatically after 30 seconds, and automatic brightness was enabled. So it's definitely not the phone's fault because it's BRAND NEW with a 100% ORIGINAL battery, nor is it the settings because it was in PERMANENT POWER SAVING mode. So the fault lies solely with iOS. There are no excuses.

I am writing this message to urge Apple to resolve this issue as soon as possible because, from what I have read on X, I am not the only one.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Thank you very much and have a good day.

iPhone 15, iOS 26

Posted on Oct 1, 2025 8:07 AM

Top-ranking reply

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

60,566 points

Posted on Nov 8, 2025 7:15 AM

andrea_filice wrote:

Yes, but unfortunately here in Europe Meta apps (especially WhatsApp) are fundamental.

I've already tried to contact Meta by WhatsApp, but the only answer I got is that an Apple problem by a stupid AI agent.

I understand, unfortunately it does not change the fact that those apps are consuming the battery. When you can remove an App and have your battery return to normal, then add the App again to test and find the Battery Consumption return, then you can clearly identity the fault and I would be concerned that they are using AI to tell you it is not their fault when it has been reported on extensively.

When you see the exact same reports for the Meta Apps draining the battery in the Android/Samsung Support Sites, it is much more difficult to believe it is the result of a singe phone manufacturer. Also the fact that the same is true for their apps other than WhatsApp, such as Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram makes it more than just a coincidence.

While Google has publicly called out Meta for their apps draining the battery, Apple has remained silent, other than allowing users to see the apps that consume the battery and let them make the choice themselves to use the app or not. I would hope Apple could apply pressure on Meta, but could you imagine the uproar if those Apps were removed from the App Store. It also is not a violation of App Store Submission Guidelines where Apple could legally remove those apps.

The battery draining varies across users with those apps due to their own personal Social Graph that Meta uses to capture data. Each user has different data points such as their contacts, likes, posts and also includes others who have included them in their contacts, likes, posts. When using multiple Meta apps, those same data points multiply. This data is sold to advertisers, whether you know it or not. They may say it does not identify you specifically, but that data is still being gathered on your device and is how they made $2.7 billion dollars in the last quarter alone on apps that are free to download and use.

That is their business model and they don't have any incentive to reduce this activity that would result in lower profits, as long as they don't lose their customer base. Could they make a simple encrypted Messaging app that does not result in this significant battery drain? Absolutely, and there are others where that is not the case, such as Signal or Telegram.

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409 replies

Oct 2, 2025 11:03 PM in response to andrea_filice

yes, even I am facing the exact same issue. I updates to iOS 26 2 days ago and my phone has been heating up while charging and the battery is draining almost 3 times as fast. I would usually be down to 50 percent charge from 90 at the end of my work day with extensive usage but now in down to 50 percent from 100 at 12.pm with very minimal use and low power mode on. This is a new iPhone 16 purchased is July of this year. Apple team please help

Mestesso

Level 1

8 points

Oct 3, 2025 4:11 AM in response to andrea_filice

Similar experience on my iPhone15 Pro. It's not new, but I noticed an extreme drop after updating to 26.01.

When I updated to iOS26, on the same day, besides the horrible UX/UI of Liquid Glass and several bugs (that you would totally expect from a small indie company such as Apple) I didn't noticed any major effect to battery.

26.01 however is destroying my battery. What a nightmare of an update.

Oct 3, 2025 10:22 AM in response to andrea_filice

this also happens to me.. i have background app refresh, low power mode, and clean energy mode all enabled while i have a newer iphone and my battery life is 93%. before downloading the update, after a full day, i would have around 45% but with the update, not even 2 hours later while being inactive has me on 29%. PLEASE FIX THIS!!

andrea_filice Author

Level 1

145 points

Oct 3, 2025 12:16 PM in response to Jeff Donald

Of course but no one takes away the fact that Meta apps in general are optimized very badly (like Whatsapp that we use here in Europe it is unusable), only that with iOS 18,17 (not 16 because it was a big update and I had problems) I have never had battery problems, so a fix from Apple would be ideal since 300 other people have the same problem as me.

andrea_filice Author

Level 1

145 points

Oct 4, 2025 12:31 AM in response to Jeff Donald

Of course, I don't doubt that they are badly optimized, but it's both Apple's fault and Meta's. It's not normal that a $800 phone doesn't even last a day on a single charge.

I charge him at night and let him do his things but obviously it's not enough.

lippe92

Level 1

38 points

Oct 4, 2025 12:53 AM in response to andrea_filice

With iOS 18, the battery on my regular iPhone 16 lasted until about 11 PM, reaching 20% by then. With iOS 26, doing exactly the same things, I now reach 20% battery around 4 PM. So yes, iOS 26 causes severe battery drain. The user interface, even though it hasn’t changed that much, seems to require much more power. Please optimize it!

[Edited by Moderator]

Goofy25

Level 1

48 points

Oct 4, 2025 4:50 AM in response to andrea_filice

While my iPhone 15 Pro is not new, I am experiencing severe battery drain after updating to iOS 26. I did the update the day it came out, so almost 3 weeks ago. Prior to the update I could go all day from 6:30 am to 10:30 pm and still have 30% to 40% battery power left. Put on the charger, connected to WiFi overnight each time. After the update I am down to 15% of less by 5:00 pm. No new apps, same settings as before. When using my go to news app that I use every day, I can literally watch the battery percentage drop while I am reading the news. 15 minutes on the app and I will lose 10% to 15%. Yes, I have updated that app, no change. After this situation began I researched online some possible solutions. Here is what I have done so far:

-Turned down the Liquid Glass feature (useless feature IMO) to the minimum available

-Turned off the Always On Home Screen feature I was using since purchasing the phone

-Turned on Adaptive Power

-Automatic Screen Brightness has always been on

-Cycled my phone off and on

-Updated apps

Nothing has changed…nothing. My wife and I own a MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, two iPhones, iMac, Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch 10, Apple TV, HomePod, HomePod Mini. I feel like we are pretty committed Apple customers. This has to be the worst experience we have had in all the years of being immersed in the Apple universe. Please…someone, do something to fix this very real issue.

Called Apple Support, ultimately got on the phone with a supervisor and while he was doing a screen share with my phone, disconnected the call and did not call back. Great service. I guess I need to inconvenience myself even more and make a Genius Bar appointment. Or maybe this is just Apple’s way to force me to spend $1000+ to purchase a new iPhone 17 so I can use my phone all day like I used to be able to do prior to the update.

henirc

Level 1

16 points

Oct 4, 2025 8:17 AM in response to moniquecardino

I have the same issue on my Iphone 13 Pro Max. Not the newest battery, but no problem lasting a day and a half with quite a lot of use. Now it is all drained in 6 hours. Hope this can be corrected, Apple…. Quite dissatisfied at the moment.

chodg25

Level 1

32 points

Oct 4, 2025 3:57 PM in response to andrea_filice

The 26 & 26.01 updates are DRAINING MY BATTERY! I text all day for my work and from 7:30am-12pm my battery is down below 40% I can barely make it to 3:30pm without being under 15%. This is total BS and needs to be fixed ASAP! I don’t appreciate having to buy more power cords and blocks to now try and charge on my 30 min lunch break! Apple ****** me off. Let us decide what features we want. FIX THE BATTERY!

trine19

Level 1

8 points

Oct 4, 2025 4:16 PM in response to andrea_filice

I did an update this week and I am having the exact same problem. I have an iPhone 15 that is one year old.

My battery health says it’s fine however my battery is draining after a few hours and I am not using it any differently than usual. Today I had to charge it three times and on a normal day I still have over 45% at the end of the day.

vimal265

Level 1

10 points

Oct 4, 2025 7:16 PM in response to Jeff Donald

I don’t know dude, maybe you don’t have problems while others do. It’s not hard to understand. Why does a $800+ phone drain so much battery only AFTER a particular big update? It worked perfect iOS 18. But I’m sure it’s all 1 big coincidence that a plethora of users are complaining at once

KASHI69

Level 1

18 points

Oct 4, 2025 11:10 PM in response to andrea_filice

the truth is ios 26 has battery drain issue ,some are saying use power save mode ,,why we use in power saver mode thats ios pblm not our pblm , i am facing huge battery drain in 26 ios then i update to 26.0.1 but still same issue ,, in have updated all apps and its been 20 days still facing battery drain issue ,, and there is no option to change to previous 18.5 ios ,, 70% battery when is restart it gets 64% ,, phone iphone 15 plus ,,,

Oct 5, 2025 1:55 AM in response to andrea_filice

I agree and have the same with a year old 16 pro. Battery is 100% health all apps closed and battery drains within 8 hours. My wife has the same phone and hers is worse son and daughter have 15 and 13 and theirs are worse. All on 26.01. Was on the beta and that seemed to have sorted it. Come on Apple not acceptable.

timon167

Level 1

24 points

Oct 5, 2025 2:28 AM in response to andrea_filice

This is a problem that is also occurring on iPads. I have a fairly new iPad 9th gen, and before the iPadOS 26 update, I could use my iPad for like 2 hours and it would only drop 15-25 percent, but after the update, after using my iPad for 2 hours it dropped by 40 percent

Cruiz24

Level 1

20 points

Oct 5, 2025 2:41 PM in response to andrea_filice

I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max. It has been doing fine until this new iOS 26+ update. All apps updated & restart done. This happens every time a new iPhone drops. I went from having 91 battery health to 71. That’s a dramatic change in battery health. It’s like I’m being forced to get a new iPhone.

Battery Drain on iOS 26 and iOS 26.0.1.