Apple may have created a problem with the latest version of iOS.
Since the launch of iOS 26 in September, reports have emerged across the internet that the new update was significantly reducing battery life even on the newest iPhones. For example, a user on Apple Support Forum posted a thread earlier this month claiming that their brand new iPhone 15 was impacted, and as they say, the only possible explanation is iOS 26.
“Today I was busy all day and didn’t use my phone from 8am to 4pm, but it still dropped from 90% to 45% without doing anything. No apps were open, ‘Refresh background apps’ was not enabled, the screen was set to automatically turn off after 30 seconds, and auto-brightness was enabled,” the user wrote. “So it’s definitely not the phone’s fault because it’s new with a 100% original battery, nor the settings because it was in permanent mode. So the fault lies solely with iOS. There’s no excuse.”
iOS 26 is both the cause and solution to your iPhone battery problems
There are also long Reddit threads about this. For example, in a threadUsers of iPhones as old as the iPhone 13 and as new as the iPhone 16 pointed out that they were getting several hours less battery life compared to what they had before the update. User Responsible_Film_778, who owns an iPhone 13 Pro Max, summed it up succinctly.
Crushable speed of light
“I replaced the battery last year with Apple and it was exceptional with iOS 18.6. I ended the day with 87% battery remaining with light use. Now I’m lucky if it’s above 50%,” the user wrote. “It seems to consume battery when scrolling through tabs or Liquid Glass enhanced panels. Really disappointed with this update. I have 98% battery health but it acts like it has lost 1/3 of its capacity. Hopefully a new update will come soon to rectify the issue.”
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Naturally, you don’t have to go far on X to find people angry about it either. User @Digitalix complained that his iPhone 16 Pro is now just a “half-day phone” thanks to the iOS 26 update.
Of course, all of this didn’t happen without any response from Apple. The company has a support page with information on possible degradations in battery life following software updates. According to Apple, this might only be temporary and might go away on its own as the company rolls out further updates to iOS 26.
“Immediately after completing an update, especially a major release, you may notice a temporary impact on battery life and thermal performance. This is normal because your device needs time to complete the background setup process, including indexing data and files for search, downloading new resources, and updating apps.
The new features are exciting and help you get the most out of your Apple product, although some may require additional resources from the device. Depending on individual usage, some users may notice a slight impact on performance and/or battery life. Apple continually works to optimize these features in software updates to ensure excellent battery life and a smooth user experience.
Users on the Apple Support forum and Reddit threads have also suggested possible fixes, and Mashable has previously written about the new “Adaptive Power” setting in iOS 26. This is similar to updating all your apps and then turning on the phone, which has helped some people, as third-party apps may not be optimized to work effectively on iOS 26 out of the box. There are also other steps you can take, like disabling ProMotion on high-end iPhones or enabling Low power mode.
We’re keeping our fingers crossed that anyone experiencing this issue can fix it without sending their phone to Apple for a battery replacement.
