Battery drain with IPhone 13 Pro Max, iOS 16.5

IPhone 13 Pro Max, iOS 16.5

Though the remaining battery capacity is 89%, I noticed since about 3 weeks – perhaps after updating to iOS 16.4 – that starting with 100% in the morning the battery goes down to 20% in the afternoon, and to even less in the evening. More often than before I have to switch on Low Power Mode.

As far as I recall I did not change any settings and did not change my behaviour.

What can be the cause? What would be a remedy?

You have probably done this already, but if not open Settings > Battery and scroll down to see battery usage by app. Look for any app that uses a disproportional percent. You can switch between 24h and 10 days.

I am on iPhone 11 Pro with 85% Max Capacity and 16.5. I have seen no change with the last OS updates.

I am not sure if this is any use still, but if you are down at 20% why not try? Let the phone drain the battery completely and then charge it to 100% to reset the battery calculations.

2 Likes

In addition to that advice, despite reporting 89%, it could still be a failing battery. You can have Apple run a diagnostic, either at the store with an appointment, or you can call AppleCare and there is a way that they can run the diagnostic remotely. Then you’ll know if the battery should be replaced.

1 Like

I’ve had a sizable drain on my 13 Mini for the past couple of weeks, to the point where I need to plug it in sometime in the afternoon. Sometimes I have phone calls, yesterday I just had a 20 minute one and was under 20% by 5pm.

I don’t know if it coincided with a major update or some of the newer tiny ones.

Last night I applied the latest tiny one, and when I woke up it said it was ready for a major one.

I’m holding off to see how it does today, but I have a lot of running around to do so I’m not hopeful.

My battery capacity is a little less than yours I think. I always need to buy a new battery at the 2 year mark. :(

Diane

Dear P. Boersting, Doug Miller, Diane D

Thank you for your feedback. My situation is unchanged. As Doug suggested I will make an appointment at Apple and have them check my battery.

Norbert

1 Like

I see my 12 mini draining a lot harder lately than the 85% battery health would suggest (80% used to be Apple’s cutoff). It’s not just a recent update. Even days later and after restarts, it just plain depletes earlier in the day. Battery swaps for a while were sold basically at cost - was it $29? That actually says we want people to keep using their devices, we don’t want them in landfills, we actually put our money where our green marketing mouthes are. But I guess no longer. It’s hard to not see steep battery swap pricing along with the generally unwelcoming state of Apple stores as some odd obsolescence play. After 3 years I guess I should be expected to buy a new phone. Only luddites use 4 year old phones after all.

1 Like

Simon, I put 2 batteries in my original SE and at least one in the 4s. I never make it to 80% for battery health, I think the lowest I got was 82% but it’s a miserable experience by then. I am pretty sure I got the $29 deal even above 80% after they did their testing. But it’s always a pain, it takes time to go there and once my phone was broken so that was hours waiting for the new one to restore itself, plus I lost my screen cover in the whole mess and they wouldn’t replace it for me.

This is my third iPhone and I was convinced that they’d gotten the battery issue worked out but my 2 year mark is in October and my health is at 86% already.

Today all I’ve done is drive to another town to drop my car off. The music played through the phone on the way out. I got two texts on the way back. I took one picture and sent it via text. I’m now 90% charged :(

Diane

It’s $89 - significantly less than a new 13 Mini to replace your 12 Mini (which Apple no longer sells). I believe that the $29 pricing was below cost, back after “battery gate”, when Apple was suffering bad PR. For a while the pricing was $49 for older phones and $69 for newer ones, including the 12 mini, but recently went up by $20. But surely battery replacement is more green and inexpensive, is warranted and Apple replaces the device if they break it while attempting the replacement, so you can still have both (being greener and keep more money in your wallet.)

1 Like