Battery Drain on iOS 26 and iOS 26.0.1.

I updated to 26 on the day it came out on my 16 Pro Max, battery was dicey for a few days and then corrected itself, but 2 weeks later suddenly out of nowhere, the battery has completely tanked, this morning October 3rd 2025 I left the house with 51% at 6:30 am and ended up on 20% by 10:30 am with my screen on time being only 1hr 40mins?? The standby time has also worsened severely, I’m losing 20 a 25% battery overnight, for comparison back when I had the 13 Pro Max on iOS 15 that phone never dropped more than 5% which is honestly unacceptable. I have no idea what’s going on. Has anyone else experienced this? Where the battery corrected itself and then weeks later went downhill?

Your first 7 apps using the most battery capacity are all non-Apple apps. They account for almost 80% of your battery consumption. How is this Apple’s fault?

I get it that those are the apps you want to use and give enjoyment etc. But you need to be reporting the issue to the support teams for the apps causing your issues. I use none of those apps and I’m getting the best battery life I’ve ever had on an iPhone.

Sorry, you have an app issue, not an iOS issue.

Trust me, way more than 300 people are having issues with Meta apps. Facebook is really the only app doing better than in the past. Instagram and WhatsApp are really struggling right now. Just keep checking daily for updates. I’m a photographer and Instagram is a big deal for many photographers. But people are struggling because Zuckerberg doesn’t care. I get it.

Report your frustration to Apple and on Meta’s apps. Truthfully, they’re terrible towards their customers.

I am charging my iPhone 13 right now because it shutdown without warning on me. It was in low power mode at 47%, but instantly went from 47% to 10%… INSTANTLY! And I had already done all the things recommended to reduce battery drain. The problem is 100% software!

Do not try to gaslight us by saying it’s our fault and we need to be patient. ios 26 is bad on battery reading. Hopefully it improves in a few days, and hopefully there is an update, but the ios is messed up!

I have an iphone 13 pro with 94% battey health on ios 18.7 it lasted me the whole day with 5 to 6 hours of screen on time with this mew update ios 26.0.1 (4 days post update) i find myself having to charge the phone twice a day maybe 3 times and it’s so bad that i find myself losing aroud 10% every hour with the phone idle and no apps nor bothing running in the backround no app refresh no location on no nothing

[Edited by Moderator]

And so the saga continues. Used my phone this morning like I have done for the last two years. Read and replied to a few texts, read and replied to a few emails, made several phone calls, no web searches, no instagram, no news apps, no YouTube. I went from 100% at 6:00 am to 35% by noon. Before iOS 26 I would still be at or near 75% during the same time. As a repeat, battery health went from 100% pre-update to 80% post update. Jeff, if all of us are at fault and Apple has done nothing wrong, please explain the drop in battery health within minutes of updating to 26? Also, please explain why it takes 4 to 5% of my battery life just to do a restart on my phone.

I have done a force restart so many times and it still doesn’t change the fact my battery dies by noon. All I’m doing is texting and emails. This is ridiculous. It’s a software issue not a battery issue. The battery life was fine before 26 & 26.01 updates.

I am having the same Issue I have an iPhone 16 Pro that after the update gets hot for no reason. Just sitting indoors on the desk gets very hot an I use to go 13 hours on a charge now only get 3 hours. It gets to hot to put in my pocket. Also getting System services using 93% battery. This update made my device useless. Only had this device 6 months.

this issue needs to be fixed. and if this Update is killing peoples batteries they should give out replacements. My battery was able to charge to 100% before the update and now after it only able to go to 95%

This will be my last iPhone. to many issues with updates lately.

iOS 26 was tested extensively for months.

Don't say it wasn't tested just because you don't like the changes.

Also, what was your signal strength where you used your phone? Nothing will kill your battery faster than being in an area with only one or two bars of signal, as the phone has to use full power to periodically check in with the local cell tower and respond to pings.

As I type this I am setting up a replacement iPhone 15 for my daughter. She updated to the new iOS earlier this week and noticed the power drain and heat. She was concerned and asked me about it and I told her it was a normal thing with the iOS updates because they take a few days to re-arrange the files etc. The following day she called and said her phone was very warm and the battery had swollen pushing out the back AND the screen. Of course I told her not to plug it in anymore and we would file a claim through Verizon. Her phone was all original, purchased new through Verizon, and had never been repaired so it had an OG  battery. Maybe it was the combination of the new iOS processes running and a defective battery- we’ll l never know. I do think  needs to consider a way to make the updates less stressful on a phone. She had it less than a year- only 44% paid off.

Ok, I have read all the comments, and I am not alone. I have tried the suggested measures (updating apps, waiting for indexing to complete, restarting, etc. ), but none of these fixes the issue. I can literally take my phone off the charger, it is at 100% leave the house, and it is now on 66%. I don't play on Facebook, TikTok, or any of those. I have nothing showing up in the battery area. beyond emails and messages. I went from a battery that would last all day, maybe 80 to 70 % after a hard use, to one that, on a 20W charger, can barely keep up. charges like 2-5 per hour. This phone only had one thing changed, and that was I updated to IOS 26. Which, incidentally, my watch gets good battery life on the one that continued to function (series 9), the Ultra, it killed the O2 sensor (might have been a coincidence, but it was immediately after upgrading). So instead of attacking the others on here and saying it is their fault alone, it is not. There is a problem, and hopefully Apple will address it sooner rather than later. Unlike the 15 series and the Bluetooth issue, which was never addressed.

I have the following Apple products: iPhone 15 Pro Max (Current), 14 Pro, and 13 Pro Max, Watch Series 9, 2x MacBook Pros, Ultra Watch 1st gen.

My battery health was 100% before updating to ios26. I even checked before installing ios26, while installing i slept and checked it in the morning and It dropped to 90%. Its an iphone 13 with a brand new battery replaced by the apple store. And even weeks after and on 26.0.1 its still draining the battery. I will not use the phone all day and leave it at 100% a couple of hours later it has gone down to 60%. I have turned off background refresh and locations already. What is apples excuse now? Aside from trying to force people to upgrade to the new model?

Hello~ The iPhone 17 Air may drain a bit faster due to its thinner design. Click on below for some tips that may help…

If the battery in your iPhone or iPad drains too quickly - Apple Support

~Katana-San~

Hi! I just wanted to confirm that I’m experiencing exactly the same issue on my iPhone 17 Pro Max (iOS 26.0.1).

My phone is brand new, 100 % battery health, recently returned from Apple Service (no hardware issues found).

Despite a clean setup and no background apps, I’m losing around 50–55 % in about 12 hours of light use (mostly Messenger, web browsing and short calls). Overnight it also drops several percent while idle.

I could kick myself for doing the 26.0.1 update! It ruined my iPhone 13 ProMax! So upsetting!!

Drag & Drop doesn’t work on the home screen

Camera doesn’t give the 3 options to reduce-enlarge picture like previous version did.

Battery drains without even using the phone! Used to last all day and well into the evening before the **** 26.0.1 update. Apple said they don’t support going back to previous update and they don’t know how to fix the problems I’m having. What to go Apple!!